Lead, kindly light

For Debyojyoti Roy, helping the blind and differently-abled is his passion and the philanthropic work which he carries out, gives him pleasure.

Roy's National Institute of Professionals provides computer training to around 30 blind students and the course is certified by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

This is not all. He encourages the physically challeneged to take to sports. He himself has organised chess and cricket competitions for the blind. As many as 60 visually impaired players participated in the All Bengal Chess Competition for the Blind, held on June 28 this year. The players were selected from the blind schools and organisations from different districts in the state. Grand-master Dibyendu Barua inaugurated the chess competition.

" Their playing technique is very similar to the normal people with just a few differences. Blind players are allowed to touch the pieces of their opponents during the game, which is not allowed in normal circumstances. And each board has small holes and the pieces have nails at the bottom which are attached into the hole. The competition was held in five rounds. Blind people need to be pretty persistent when playing chess. They cannot see the other person's strategies, whereas ordinary players can work out their next moves well in advance," says Roy, a commerce graduate.

According to him, blind and the differently-abled need some sort of motivation to carry out their skills. There is no proper platform for them to showcase their talents and that was the reason why Roy took the initiative to organise the competition.

"Also, we have been giving away awards to Puja committees for the last two years who arrange special lanes for the blinds and differently-abled to enter into the pandals. This year too we will take them to pandal-hopping for a day. We have already asked the organisers to provide special privileges," says Roy.

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