LIVING LIFE TO THE FULL
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad: She might have missed the sight of Aamir Khan's eight-pack
abs in 'Ghajini' but still enjoyed every bit of the movie. Her recent
trip to a village
might be sans any colour or shape but she can recount every minute of
the journey. She loves the rain and enjoys the sound of music. Life
could not be
better for her than this.
After living with visual impairment for almost 17 years now, Payal
Kapoor has perhaps learnt how to live life, despite all odds. A
successful professional
as a Relationship Manager with the Residency Hotel, Payal juggles
domestic chores (cooking and cleaning) and ~professional commitments
with ease. Her visual
impairment is a "non issue'' as she deftly makes client calls,
introduces the hotel to them and encourages them to patronise it.
On World Braille Day, Payal shares the story of how she lost her
sight at the prime of her youth at 22. But she narrates it hearteningly
in the same
vein in which she discusses the long drives she takes with her husband
to the city outskirts or reads a book on the computer.
That Payal was not born blind but lost her sight at a much later age
makes her dogged determination to strike back more significant. Payal
lost not
only her complete vision but also her sense of taste, smell and touch at
22. She still cannot hear from the left ear, a result of the cerebral
attack that
she suffered then and an infection that damaged her optic nerve.
A student of hotel management and then a front desk employee at
Krishna Oberoi (Taj Krishna now), Payal says she stayed in denial for
six years (after
being declared visually impaired). "After visiting every church, temple,
dargah and baba in the country, I realised that there was no cure to
what had
happened and I had to live with it. Enough is enough I said and decided
to move on,'' says the 39-yearold without any lump in her voice.
A rehabilitation programme along with words of encouragement from
family and friends brought some hope and she soon became a counsellor
and rehabilitator
herself in no time. She says she had realised the power of technology
and how it could bring back normalcy into any blind person's life. She
even started
visiting government hostels and schools for the blind to teach them
spoken English and other day-to-day skills. "I thought it was my moral
responsibility,''
says Payal who is also the chief functionary of Maitree, a group that
works for the uplift of the visually challenged.
Advanced technology, love and support of dear ones has helped Payal
deal with her disability.
NO LOOKING BACK: Payal Kapoor who lost her sight 17 years ago
Times of India 4th Jan 2008
To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with
the subject unsubscribe.
To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please
visit the list home page at
http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
