THE QUEST FOR THE BEST

“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

        

HER ETERNAL GLORY

HER  ETERNAL GLORY

 “JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, I’D NEVER EVEN SEEN A STAR. NOW, WHEN I LOOK UP IN THE SKY, I CAN SEE SOME OF THE BIGGER STARS. IT’S AMAZING.”

                            This is what you’ll probably say when you get your vision back. This was quoted by an American Paralympic Swimmer Trischa Zorn Hudson after her sight was improved. Meet Trischa Zorn, born without irises and was hence blind by birth. She was born on June 1, 1964 in Orange, California.

                            Trischa began swimming at the age of 10 at the  Mission Viejo Nadadores swim club in Southern California. and just six years later made her Paralympic debut at the Arnhem 1980 Paralympic Games in the Netherlands. She won seven gold medals in her debut Paralympic games and set three world records. Thereafter, she went on further to create numerous records  and today she is regarded as the most successful and decorated Paralympians ever. The American competed at seven Paralympic Games between 1980 and 2004 and won an incredible 55 medals  (41 gold, nine silver and five bronze). She competed in Paralympic swimming (S12, SB12 and SM12 disability categories). She was inducted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2012.

                            Her contributions were not just restricted to the pool , She wanted to educate and motivate the disabled people in the United States. She wanted that all of them should find the purpose of their life and work accordingly and strive for excellence. She is seen as a guiding source of light for the blind in the United States. She has taught for ten years since 2001 in Indianapolis Public schools as an Elementary Education Major (Special Education). She developed an Inclusionary Model to help students integrate with regular classroom experience and advance the opportunities and experiences of children with special needs.

                           In a popular interview to the Los Angeles Times in 1995 , Trischa Zorn said, “I thought with what I have overcome with my disability that if I could just reach these children in the inner city … that I could be a good role model for them and that would satisfy me.” In 1993, she was named female athlete of the year by the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes, and in 1994 was named one of the nation’s top 10 female athletes of the year by the USOC. Eighteen years later, in 2012, she was inducted as the first American woman into the Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame. She even has a national award by her name. The United States awards the annual Trischa L. Zorn award to the swimmer with disability who has achieved national or international excellence. She ended her career on a winning note in 2004 Paralympic games held at Athens, Greece.

                       She is the first congenital disabled person in the United States to undergo an artificial iris implantation. Her vision improved significantly after the surgery and saw the world for the first time. With her vision being accelerated continuously, she went on to become a lawyer and completed her Juris Doctor degree from the Indiana Law University in 2005. When asked about her charity work she says that she always wanted to affect  people’s life positively and that was her passion. She also served as the USABA on Board of Directors from 2005 to 2016 and currently is working as an attorney for the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Fiduciary Unit.

                            Trischa Zorn can be seen as one of the most successful blind person in the recent times. She has shown us that with a strong will one can achieve what once seemed impossible. She can be seen as a shining star, a star unaware of its eternal glory which is a source of inspiration for us.                        

-       Shreyas J Kadam.