I remember a time when I was very afraid of dark. I used to be so scared of it, that I could hardly go to the next room without somebody accompanying me if that room did not have lights for some reason.
Thankfully, today we have artificial lightings everywhere to ward off those feelings of fear. But thinking about those times raised a rather disturbing thought in me. What about people who always have to live in the dark because all they can see is darkness. Are they afraid of the dark too, like I was? What does their life feel like?
My life seems to be pretty straight forward with these eyes. I name different things in the world based on how they look. I understand what is happening around me by reading about it. When I have some time to entertain myself, I watch TV. I check if the fruits and vegetables are fresh by the way they appear. I understand what somebody feels just by observing their facial expressions. I know as soon I notice, that a smile from somebody means, the person is happy and a frown from somebody means, the person is irritated.
I believe what I see!
I know that this is how I have been living all my life because I have eyes. A person without them will have a very different perception of the world and a totally different way to experience it. But will there really be nothing they are missing out on?
Well, there probably isn’t as much as the society makes them think so. They only need a little bit of support and a little bit of confidence from us (and not sympathy) to help them get on with their lives. But don’t all of us need that from time to time?
History has got some remarkable people who never let blindness come in their way. Helen Keller, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Louis Braille are just to name a few. However, there could be millions of others who have the same fire in them but are not able to reach where they want to go because they haven’t got the same cooperation from their societies.
This month I would like to donate to the charity, Vidyaranya Education and Development Society (VEDS) in India, whose vision is “To build a just and peaceful society”. One of their projects is to run a residential school for visually challenged children. In just INR 1900, the education cost of a poor visually challenged child for one year will be covered.
Liink to the charity website
Link to the online donation link
