Anupam- The Dreamer

As a thinking human being with ability to understand, analyse and visualize, we often make out our own sense of this world. This experience can vary from person to person. But, we often take for granted the “senses” that enable us to make this sense. Don’t get confused in the jargon of the words, I am talking about our basic senses of- seeing, hearing, talking, taste and touch.

There was one heart-warming reel making rounds on the eve of Diwali. A girl was helping her hearing-impaired father to sell the Diwali products on his roadside shop with her gestures. She acted as an interpreter between the customer and her father. It is one such instance that made me ponder how important are our senses to our lives, which we otherwise take for granted. Can you imagine what would your life be like without the “ability to hear”? If you really imagine, I am sure more than 99% of us would become crazy even at the thought of it. If some day we wake up and witness that our hearing ability has vanished, then this is how our day would go like- we cannot hear what others say, which means we cannot reciprocate back to them, we cannot hear the songs we like, we could not enjoy the sounds of nature, we will not be able to truly appreciate many things happening around us. Suddenly, our world will turn upside down. This is not to say that you cannot live without this ability! There are people who don’t have this ability, yet some of them are braving the odds and living life. But, we must appreciate their courage that they have learnt sign language and somehow managing to lead a “normal” life.

Similarly, take the case of the “ability to see”. If we imagine that suddenly we have lost our eyes, then this is how the world be like- we would not be able to walk easily, we cannot travel without aid, we cannot see the beautiful world, its colours, the beautiful places, etc. etc. It is hard to imagine a single task in life without the ability to see. Yet, again, there are visually impaired people in the world who have made a mark, like Louis Braille who created the Braille script to help others like him to read, and Srikanth Bolla, who studied in the prestigious MIT and later founded Bollant Industries. They did not let this inability to see the world stop them from doing great things. But, if we imagine our life like them, how many of us would still be willing to live a life like that?

Likewise, take the “ability to talk”. Can we like without talking for even a single day? A few may say, yes! Now, I want to ask them, can you live without talking for your whole life? They will now say, we would prefer to be dead instead! The ability to speak, to express our thoughts, in our voice to people, is an essential ability that has been bestowed upon us by the God. Communication, which is a basic tenet of any organization theory, is a nullity without ability to speak. You can say that we can communicate by writing also. Fine!  But, can you write for your whole life each and everything, when your ability to speak has gone away? Certainly, many would faint by the mere thought of this!

Taking this argument a little further and away from the basic senses, can we imagine a life without the limbs- arms and legs? Again very very difficult! What we take for granted in our daily lives, is a dream for few of our brethren out there, who are not so fortunate enough to have these. Some are born without these, and some lose them by accidents. It is next to unimaginable that if we lose our hands tomorrow to some accident of fate, how will we lead our lives. The mere thought of this will send shivers down your spine! Many can lose hope to even live! It is very easy to have pity on someone who has no hands, but at the same time it is very very difficult to be in their shoes and imagine life. You must have heard about the legendary paralympic archer Sheetal Devi, who is a champion and shoots the arrows without both hands. Can you do even 10% with your legs of what she is doing with her legs? Seems next to impossible!

So, there are people out there who are not as fortunate as most of us with even the basic things of life, which we ever take for granted! Despite these difficulties, they are trying to make their own sense of the world and serving as an inspiration for others. Some others who are not able to do great things are somehow navigating their lives. They deserve our empathy and dignity of life from other people. They don’t ask us to share their pain, yet as a fellow human being, we must do whatever we can to make their lives a little less painful.

All this should make us realize that how fortunate are we who don’t have these basic “inabilities” in life. We take many things for granted, like the basic “senses” and “limbs”, and we fail to realize in routine life that a healthy mind and body are one of the greatest gifts that God has provided. So, if you have that gift, be grateful, and make the best use of them. Everyone of us is not so lucky to have those gifts. Maybe, we can also do something for them. Maybe, that way we can also make a better sense of our own world and help them to make theirs….

Till next time….