Economic Times: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/sachin-tendulkar-serves-as-an-inspiration-for-navas-nizar-a-blind-political-science-professor/articleshow/25138421.cms?intenttarget=no&mailtofriend=yes In 1993, a 10-year-old blind boy was forced to conclude that in Kerala there was no escaping politics. Navas Nizar grew up listening to his father read to him newspapers everyday even as discussing politics was a way of life in his coastal town. The family was keen the boy follow international affairs and politics and understand the world better than his peers, perhaps to offset his inability to see the world. But it was only after he was sent to a residential special school for the blind that Navas realized that even here his mates were clear about where they stood. The arguments about state politics were intense and most boys at the school were either with the Congress or the CPI (M).
Navas soon came to know that there were others like him who faced a similar challenge and that many of his classmates shared a "visceral passion and determination to overcome it". And mercifully it took one name to deflect the boys' attention — and Navas's in particular — from politics to sports, cricket in the main: Sachin Tendulkar. "At the blind school, we swapped stories about our favourite events, personalities and about contemporary politics and sports, cricket in particular. Sachin was always on the top of the list of sports personalities that we discussed. He was 20 years old then and to know of him being spoken in the same breath of established figures like Mohammad Azharuddin and Kapil Dev was thought-provoking." Tendulkar the Teacher The boys would listen to the radio commentary and revel in the exploits of the young cricketer who had recently shown promise of becoming one of the greatest back then. "The Tendulkar phenomenon struck me then and there: here is an example of how to live up to one's billing and how to deal with a set of expectations. Sachin forced me to indulge in my first flashback to take stock of my life. He made me aware of the stakes my parents and wellwishers have placed on me. Sachin's first lesson for me is: performance is honesty, honesty is performance." Navas who teaches political science at the Dayal Singh College in Delhi says that from November 1993 till date, Tendulkar has been his "bridge to the world around me". Navas was the first child in his family, followed by four brothers and one sister. He was born with a visual handicap, an ophthalmic disorder called congenital glaucoma and the earliest seven years of Navas's childhood were spent visiting eye hospitals all over south India. Eventually it became known to the family that the ailment was incurable. Navas believes that there are some parallels in his endeavour to overcome his handicap and Tendulkar's rise from being the baby of the cricket world to becoming its youngest emperor. For instance, he suggests that family has played a huge role in supporting him as well as the cricketer who is set to retire soon. "I feel I am special, privileged. I had people to support me as in Sachin's case. That always reminded me that I have a responsibility to live up to them. They were demanding and constantly measured me. I remember the teacher asked me in school on my first day whether anybody in class could count up to 10. I could by then — thanks to the coaching given by my family — count up to 100 in four languages." According to Navas, once his father asked him where he had kept his Braille textbook and he was unable to find it. His father replied curtly and without mercy: "As it is you can't see; so don't become careless with your possessions." One of the foremost lessons that Navas has taken to heart after following Tendulkar's game is the art of preparation. Navas learnt to develop his memory better than most people and he can recall conversations, tastes and textures that he encountered years ago. He can also state with clarity about where he was on a particular day when any event of significance happened around him. He also developed a technique of asking a set of almost bureaucratic questions to anyone that he gets introduced to. These questions help him form a picture about the person and stay with him for life. -- Avinash Shahi M.Phil Research Scholar Centre for The Study of Law and Governance Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi India Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] 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 Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
