Hi all, Although the passion with the author writes is unquestionable, if the blind say that they are innocent because they are blind or that they can concentrate better due to their disability could be their personal views and I hope society does not start believing the same. With best wishes,
Ketan On 3/14/14, avinash shahi <[email protected]> wrote: > How beautifully written piece talks about ourselves. > Now I understood why Mr Raj has been so upbeat about reporting and > writing about blind people in particular and disabled in general. > We should certainly invite author of the book Sipra Daas to discuss > her photographic journey in the lives of blind people some day in > Delhi. > http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131124/ground.htm > > They don't know what darkness is > It is society that continues to remain both blind and dark about the > world of the visually impaired and their extraordinary capabilities. > Raj Chengappa > > There are so many sordid happenings in the country these days that the > little good that occurs is often buried in a welter of negative news. > Among them was the President of India releasing a book titled "The > Light Within", a photo chronicle of the many visually impaired people > in our country, which I had the pleasure of introducing. The pictures > taken by Sipra Das, a journalist and former colleague, show a deep > understanding of the lives of the people who cannot see and yet > demonstrate an extraordinary ability to experience the fullness of > life shorn of self-pity, diffidence or bitterness. > Billamangal Sardar visits home in Kolkata once a year, only to be > greeted by neglect. > > > Among the many telling photographs in the book that I liked is that of > J. Kaul, a New Delhi teacher. While he listens to a transistor, his > wife Usha, who has also lost her sight, lovingly sews a button onto > his shirt. Kaul says that when he met Usha "it was love at first > sight", and adds, "Who says I am blind? I cannot see with my eyes but > I can see with my heart. That is something you cannot." > > Then there are moving visuals of Vishal Rao, a sightless 29-year-old, > playing his flute in a boat in the backwaters of Mumbai. Vishal says > his impairment actually gives him greater powers of concentration, > which helps him pick up skills faster than most other people. Rao > says, "I enjoy beauty of all sorts, it does not matter how it is > conveyed, whether through sound, touch or smell." > > Many of them like Nakul Adhikari even joke about their handicap. A > physiotherapist in Mumbai, he says with a smile, "A normal girl will > get pure love from a blind boy like me for I will never look at > another woman." > > Yet, as the pictures in the book and the brief write-ups next to them > show, we as a society continue to discriminate against the visually > impaired. There is a photograph filled with poetry and pathos of > Billamangal Sardar, a 14-year-old from Kolkata, at the seashore > enjoying the feel, the smell and the sound of the sea surf. He says, > "Some people feel that I am helpless and a burden. My family and > friends have no idea what I am capable of. They think I am abnormal. I > do not react because I don't think it's worth it." There are many such > moving pictures in Sipra's book that will help you fathom the world of > the blind and no more look upon them with pity or discomfort. > > I have a personal anecdote that helped me understand their world > better. I met a visually impaired couple in Agra while visiting Taj > Mahal in the mid-Eighties. The irony of the situation struck me as > they went around touching what is the world's most beautiful monument > of love. > > On the return journey to Delhi, we were seated in the same railway > compartment and I struck up a conversation with them. When we alighted > I offered them a lift home and was surprised when after a few minutes > the man scolded the taxi driver for taking a wrong turn. I asked him > how he knew that, and he said he had memorised the number of turns to > his house and the time taken before each so that no taxi driver could > cheat him. > > I was impressed and after that spent days with them understanding > their life. They lived in a government accommodation in Delhi with two > children, both with normal vision. He worked as a teacher in a music > school and knew the road to it by feel and sound. He knew he was > walking in an open area by listening to the way the birds flapped > their wings - if they flew freely it meant there was no building > obstructing flight. He told me that at night when he slept he dreamt > only "in words". For me, the most memorable statement was when I asked > him whether he knew what light was. He said: "I don't know what > darkness is." > > The visually impaired do not live a life of darkness - they shine, as > the title of Sipra's book says, with the light within. It is society > that continues to remain both blind and dark about their world and > their extraordinary capabilities. We need to dispel the darkness that > shrouds our attitude towards them and work towards changing the > misperceptions that we have about the abilities of the visually > impaired. > > [email protected] > > > > > -- > Avinash Shahi > M.Phil Research Scholar > Centre for The Study of Law and Governance > Jawaharlal Nehru University > New Delhi India > > If any time you wish to be unsubscribed from our Mailing List, please send a > message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe keeping the message body blank. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://sayeverything.org/mailman/listinfo/sayeverything_sayeverything.org > > Website: http://www.sayeverything.org > -- Ketan Kothari Phone: [r] 24223281, Cell: 9987550614 MSN ID: [email protected] Skype ID: Ketan3333 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..
