“BEHIND EVERY CHRONIC ILLNESS IS A PERSON TRYING TO FIND HIS WAY IN THE WORLD.”
These lines by Glenn Schweitzer indeed were written a long time after the death of Sir Louis Braille, but what he meant to say clearly illustrates from the life journey of Louis Braille. Louis Braille, we know him today as the inventor of the ‘Braille system’ of writing used for the blind and the visually impaired, but many of us are not aware of the difficulties which Louis Braille encountered in his life. Today, we will try to unfold some of his life’s important incidents which proved him as a genius. ( Here Genius is referred in the sense of being successful )
Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, a small town about 45 kilometres east of Paris, France on 4th of January, 1809. His father owned a workshop in the town and they had hectares of land and vineyards in the countryside. Louis was born as a normal child and things were pretty normal until he turned three. Louis could just walk by the time. One fine day, he was with his father in their workshop when things turned out worst for the three year old tiny tot. Louis was playing with some of the tools in there to make a hole in a piece of leather with an awl. He was looking closely at the surface and he squeezed the awl hard against the leather little realising that the tool had torn apart the leather and struck him in one of his eyes. His parents rushed him to a local physician and then to a Surgeon in Paris but during those days, as opposed to today, medical sciences were not advanced enough to cure these type of infections, sadly there were no treatments available to heal the infected eye. Louis cried in pain and in two weeks, the infection spread to his second eye likely because of sympathetic ophthalmia.
Louis’ life had taken a tragic turn after the incident and he managed to survive the trauma. Louis, 3 at the time, would ask his parents that why there is darkness everywhere, little knowing that he’ll never be able to see his parents and the world again. At the time of Louis, not many schools were available for the blind. His parents decided to send him to the National Institute for the Blind Youth in Paris. Louis with his diligence had impressed his professors and was a bright student then.
There was a popular system used at the time of Braille, the Haüy system for the blind. It was a conventional system and accepted by many schools. According to Louis, it was a great foundation method but it lacked the necessary depth and information. The content in these books did not met to its fullest because of the raised letters. Meticulously, Louis decided to invent a new and better method which can overcome the drawbacks of its predecessor. He wanted to bridge the gap in communication between the sighted and the blind. He worked passionately and invented a new system – ‘ The Braille System ’. Although Louis was acknowledged by his peers and professors but his system was not implemented by the university throughout his life. He gained posthumous fame for his system.
Louis’ life was full of illnesses. He had witnessed one severe when he was a child and this continued in his adulthood. He had a respiratory illness, it was suspected as tuberculosis when he was forty, the condition worsened and he was forced to quit his position as a teacher. Louis had lived with the illness for 16 years. He worked tirelessly for the blind, he had passed many sleepless nights before he invented his system and finally on the 6th day of January, 1852 barely two days after his 43rd birthday, Louis counted his last breath due to the respiratory illness. Long time he battled it but lastly he lost it. He was a warrior and a true fighter. Louis’ life may have been short but the things he have done will be the guiding source of light for the future generations. Long live Louis Braille.
Now, I leave it on you ? Would you call him a ‘Genius ?’. Be like Louis. Be inspired and inspire others.
- Shreyas J Kadam
Ref : Louis Braille – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Braille , Image courtesy -royalblind.org
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