Humility in Ability!

As a part of my job as a Special Educator I was once given a task to install a voice feedback software in the computers to teach children with visual impairment. The software which was provided by the National Association for the Blind (NAB) came with a helpline number. The concerned person was Mr. Wasim, who sounded very experienced and guided me the steps of the installation over the telephone. Since the software did not match the system configuration I had to visit NAB to get the correct CD the next day. It was my first visit to the NAB Digital Technology Dept. I searched around the office for Mr. Wasim. The centre was like any regular computer institute, but instead of looking at the screens students were only listening. There was an understandable lack of eye contact and I wasn`t sure whom to ask without being offensive. At the entrance there were two young boys working on their computers giving super fast audio response to every finger move. The audio output was so rapid that I couldn`t make out anything from it. There was a  huge digital library section and some cubicles for the various officers in charge. I failed to see where the helpline people would be seated. I enquired from a student who pointed towards the counter at the entrance. I  enquired from one of the boys at the entrance counter. This young boy was swiftly doing some important work on his speaking express computer, without even trying to see. “Where can I find Mr. Wasim” I gathered the courage to interrupt. “Yes, please tell me, I am Wasim” he replied.  I was stunned  to find out that the person who very knowledgeably guided me about an advanced computer software over the phone was actually a young boy with near profound blindness. In the next half an hour that I interacted with him, understanding the nuances of the software,  I learnt the biggest lesson of humility in my  life. I felt like shutting my eyes since there was no eye contact and no need of vision and yet I could connect with him and share our common concern. He was indeed an expert of the digital technology being used to educate and employ the “people who do not use sight”. His fingers worked magically over the keyboard and he heard at the speed at which we would only reverse or forward. He must have fought such battles to have reached there and yet he spoke with an incredible warmth, peace and an infectious positivity. Suddenly all my pride came crumbling down and I was taken over by an amazing experience of nothingness. We are nothing, all the qualifications and achievements come from what we already had. There is no victory in it, nothing that we have conquered. This man and many other “differently abled”, truly “special” people have totally replaced their lacks with unimaginable strengths. Because our eyes are open, we have closed so many of our other sensibilities. We take our bodies for granted, splurge on the excesses. We spend all our life energies into petty calculations be it money or people.   As “fully abled” people for which we feel fortunate, we actually have nothing. We are often limited in our hearts, preconceived in our minds and ruled by our instincts. In this Special Education week, let us salute such warriors who have brought victory to all of us. Let us learn to respect and value each and every soul irrespective of its disability or ability.