The real visionaries
The White Cane Day was a day to not just reach out to the visually-impaired but also recognise the steel will that most of them have cultivated.A case in point being the members of the Poona Blind Men's Association (PBMA), who are a happy and a confident bunch, as amply evident on the White Cane Day function held last week. Lalita Pawar, 25, is from Thane and was born without sight. She has been staying at the institute for the past seven months. "I had not thought about education, but now that I am here I want to graduate so I can get a job as a telephone operator," she beams.Her best friend Parveen Pir Mohammed Sayed says, "I want to study the Naturopathy course that the Institute offers and work or start my own business on those lines."
These girls are vivacious, articulate and ambitious. With the aid of special equipment, computer software and their own Braille Press the Institute has instilled a sense of self-sufficiency in these people, which was evident as they enthusiastically participated in the festivities and felicitations.
Ask them of the most precious gift they feel thankful for and they chorus unanimously, " Our friends! Initially it is a little difficult for us to adjust but now we cannot imagine life without each other."