Prejudice? Never again
There was a blind gentleman who I was once asked to be a scribe for,
in 2005. He was writing the CAT exam, which is a very tough exam. I was
sceptical. It’s difficult enough to crack without being blind. Shiva
walked in, glasses on and stick in hand — typical, I thought. And then
he literally blitzed through the entire exam. If he didn’t score 100 per
cent in the math section, it was because I wasn’t reading the questions
fast enough. He broke my every perception of him.
Later, at the canteen, even though it was politically incorrect, I
asked him what it was like to be blind. Didn’t he feel deprived? Shiva
finished his
and took me outside. We walked, with my left
hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, he switched to my right; halfway down
the road, he stopped, asked me to find a soft pebble, walk ten steps
away and turn to face him. “Drop the stone,” he instructed. “Ok, now
pick it up.” We did this thrice and by now, people had gathered. Then
Shiva said, “Throw it at me.”
I refused. But Shiva was adamant. So I finally threw it, and a few
seconds later, Shiva put out his hand. The stone hit his hand, and he
caught it on second bounce. He later explained, “While walking together,
I judged you to be about 5 feet 7. I switched to your right and found
out, by the pressure of your hand on my shoulder, your right hand was
not your dominant hand. By the echo of the stone when you dropped it, I
could roughly make out its weight. We were at a uniform distance. Simple
physics told me, in around 8-9 seconds, it should fall on my right.”
Shiva continued, “The problem with people like you, Sukumar, is that you
sometimes see darkness even in light. We have to see light even in
darkness. So next time you think your thoughts might prejudice yourself
into judgment think that for every disability you have, you might have
some supreme ability.”
Since that incident, I’ve never discriminated someone for the way
they looked on the outside. The mind is like a parachute. It only works
when it’s open. Keep an open mind because you may find inspiration in
the people you least expect it from.
- See more at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/wknd/wknd_article.asp?xfile=/data/wkndtopstoriesnew/2013/March/wkndtopstoriesnew_March13.xml#sthash.chVbLw8J.dpuf
Prejudice? Never again
There was a blind gentleman who I was once asked to be a scribe for,
in 2005. He was writing the CAT exam, which is a very tough exam. I was
sceptical. It’s difficult enough to crack without being blind. Shiva
walked in, glasses on and stick in hand — typical, I thought. And then
he literally blitzed through the entire exam. If he didn’t score 100 per
cent in the math section, it was because I wasn’t reading the questions
fast enough. He broke my every perception of him.
Later, at the canteen, even though it was politically incorrect, I
asked him what it was like to be blind. Didn’t he feel deprived? Shiva
finished his
and took me outside. We walked, with my left
hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, he switched to my right; halfway down
the road, he stopped, asked me to find a soft pebble, walk ten steps
away and turn to face him. “Drop the stone,” he instructed. “Ok, now
pick it up.” We did this thrice and by now, people had gathered. Then
Shiva said, “Throw it at me.”
I refused. But Shiva was adamant. So I finally threw it, and a few
seconds later, Shiva put out his hand. The stone hit his hand, and he
caught it on second bounce. He later explained, “While walking together,
I judged you to be about 5 feet 7. I switched to your right and found
out, by the pressure of your hand on my shoulder, your right hand was
not your dominant hand. By the echo of the stone when you dropped it, I
could roughly make out its weight. We were at a uniform distance. Simple
physics told me, in around 8-9 seconds, it should fall on my right.”
Shiva continued, “The problem with people like you, Sukumar, is that you
sometimes see darkness even in light. We have to see light even in
darkness. So next time you think your thoughts might prejudice yourself
into judgment think that for every disability you have, you might have
some supreme ability.”
Since that incident, I’ve never discriminated someone for the way
they looked on the outside. The mind is like a parachute. It only works
when it’s open. Keep an open mind because you may find inspiration in
the people you least expect it from.
- See more at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/wknd/wknd_article.asp?xfile=/data/wkndtopstoriesnew/2013/March/wkndtopstoriesnew_March13.xml#sthash.chVbLw8J.dpuf
