Random Words

Bend, who has been left alone to his devices in the city that would facilitate him some reading time and space, is suggested by his better half to check out the Blind Men’s Association (BMA). He is convinced that he is good with elocution, and blind students might enjoy some way ward story books or classics read to them. Bend can picture random changing expressions on the disabled blind faces, and seeking entertainment makes it a point to visit the institution. Seems, he has found a way through to read, and to be heard.

BMA is a well known not-profit in the city of Ahmedabad. In addition to Blind men of all abilities, the institution also facilitates other disabled individuals with counselling, training and employment. BMA has a long history of successful establishment, and has a strong charity and volunteer base as well. Bend, on enquiries is directed to Mr. Luhar, a proactive blind man himself, who then asks Bend to help prepare seventh grade adult students for their exams next week. Thereafter, the summer vacations would come, and as the newer fresh term starts, Bend can facilitate general interaction to English studying students, so that they can get more comfortable with the language. 

This exams pressure is like a designed evil who grips almost a billion people of India just before the summers. One needs to perform well enough to get out of its clutches. Summers, thereafter is a fanning time to cool down and move on to the next level. The charm of springs is under defeat by the devil. BMA and its blind students also have to take their share of this. Bend takes about three four classes and the blind receivers are more than happy to re-run their modal verbs, question making and similar stuff of structured grammar. Anyhow, Bend is not to break easily and takes out time towards the end of the wayward classes. Bend steals some last minutes of the devil’s aura of exams to test read a random paragraph from Samuel Mark Twain’s ‘Adventures of Tom Sawyer’. 

When the Sunday-school hour was finished, the next morning, the bell began to toll, instead of ringing in the usual way. It was a very still Sabbath, and the mournful sound seemed in keeping with the musing hush that lay upon the nature. The villagers began to gather, loitering a moment in the vestibule to converse in whispers about the sad event. But there was no whispering in the house; only the funereal rustling of dresses as the women gathered to their seats, disturbed the silence there. None could remember when the little church had been so full before. There was finally a waiting pause, an expectant dumbness, and then Aunt Polly entered, followed by Sid and Mary, and then by the Harper family, all in deep black, and the whole congregation, the old minister as well, rose reverently and stood, until the mourners were seated in the front pew. There was another communing silence, broken at intervals by muffled sobs, and then the minister spread his hands abroad and prayed. A moving hymn was sung, and the text followed: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

The blind students did not understand the paragraph, perhaps not even a line fully, for it became slightly difficult for them to express when Bend asks them of opinions. They could not remember the names perhaps because they were Anglican. Expression is what they are not taught, actually a common misery with the education system in India, giving an impression that the students are shy kinds. But, on persuasion, almost all finally utter words they could grasp, since they have heard these words before and perhaps also understand their meaning. The words (name of the student next) are:

Church :. (Vaaradhaana)

Life :. (Taleb)

Pray :. (Chandrakant)

Sunday:. (Bawal)

Minister:. (Mansook)

Family:. (Mansukh)

One can join the above words to probably get a sense of what is happening in a typical story book.

Lesson- ‘together we sense better’.