Equivalent

Yesterday was World Braille Day! The birthday of Louis Braille who gave “sight” to the visually impaired through Braille. Yet how many of us even knew about it? That’s how easy it is to miss something if it doesn’t directly concern us….but wait a minute, we cannot be sure we will never need it. Visual impairment is something that can happen to anyone…..

I am Swapna Choudhary. I have been a bespectacled person since standard four. I did not realise that I lacked a 10/10 vision prior to that time. I used to feel that a blurry world was the norm! The day I received my spectacles was a happy one! It was a gift to see the sharper, well-defined world!

What does a visually impaired person feel? A sorry state or an impulse to vanquish the sympathizer who reinforces their opinion that they are not normal? Empowerment might seem like a complicated and heavy word but we all can be a part of it! An ‘equal but not the same’ approach is the need of the hour! Diversity and inclusion in its elemental form follows this principle!

There are many on-going efforts to empower the visually impaired. The National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) of Kolkata after years of effort made a Braille atlas in 2017. Do you know that the tactile sensation is accentuated in the visually impaired? A power not revealed to us. Maps are no longer forbidden!

37 million persons are visually impaired in India. There are capable teachers, translators, CEOs among them, you name it and a signature has been imprinted. Visually impaired persons scale new heights with hard work, perseverance and determination. We are all flawed in different ways. It would be a boring world if we were all the same. Diversity leads to innovation which is the fuel of industries across the world!