An evening with the blind boys orchestra

Agenda

·      I invited 10 blind boys to sing for us. 

·      I invited Anita from Ekansh ngo to help our kids interact with the blind boys by asking them questions on their favorite sport, actor, hobby…

·      She also taught our kids how to spell their names in sign language.

The good

·      Life is so busy, full of classes, social commitments. In spite of that several mothers made the effort to bring or send their kids for a charity event and we had a good turnout, 40 attendees (around 25 kids)

·      Kids hopefully learned that you can nurture your talent inspite of disabilities, where there is a will there is a way

·      Kids hopefully learned how difficult sign language is and how they take simple gifts for granted - like the gift to see and talk

The shockers

·      Inability of our kids to sit in one place for more than 15 minutes without looking bored and distracted, I pad culture and constantly “being on the go” with a packed schedule of classes has given them all attention deficit disorder

·      Inability to enjoy a good voice or good music, just wanting the latest/ cool Bollywood songs in order to have a good time

·      Inability of our kids to touch/ hug the blind boys while taking a picture, where is the empathy?

·      Inability to come up with enough questions to ask the blind boys, the genuine desire to get to know them better (must point out here that the girls were much kinder and more willing to interact than the boys, moms of boys need to work harder!)

·      When a sweet boy was asking simple questions like “what is your weight” the others made fun of him saying “he is calling THEM fat” is everything so trivial?  Do 9 year olds not have the maturity to be serious at times? In the US 9 year olds are helping their parents wash dishes, are we not treating our kids enough as adults?

So what is the solution? There isn’t one single solution. Key is to keep exposing them to variety of situations and use specific examples like today s event to teach them some values and keep reinforcing those examples time and again. Just like we plan classes for their physical wellness, we need to schedule time for their mental wellness which is going to be a serious issue for this coming gen !

Visit to Desai Eye Hospital in pune

My visit to HV Desai eye hospital in Pune today along with my son Vir

• ·      2500 surgeries per month, only 28% paid for by patients,
• ·      0.03% post surgery complications,
• ·      state of the art devices,
• ·      world class buildings,
• ·      recognized by global institutes as a center of excellence,
• ·      teaching school for post grad and PHD students,
• .    one of the largest eye banks
• ·      daily camps in remote places, patients carried by their buses for treatment all the way to Pune with free stay and food along with their treatment

and most importantly a team of passionate doctors  guided by a board of  wise corporate honchos – the perfect recipe for a charitable eye hospital.

Mr Nitin Desai the man and inspiration behind all this and his childhood friend Mr Pandya (the gentleman with no eyesight but a grand vision) are the most remarkably humble and loving souls (most achievers and philanthropists are humble, it reminds me “empty vessels make the loudest noise” – humility is almost as extinct as the dinosaurs these days)

Meeting such people energizes me, restores my faith in humanity and revives my optimism in my country.

But then what saddens me is the challenges they face- which seem so simple and easy to solve yet so insurmountable given the culture of our country

Need more paid surgeries but many opthals wont give referrals as they either don’t get commission or it cuts into their own hospitals

Need alliances with more hospitals so their students get more practical knowledge but alliances haven’t worked out due to hidden agendas of some hospitals and lack of quality hospitals in interiors

More than 2 years outstanding of government dues

But what Vir, my son and I learned in our visit is something priceless – no matter what the challenges are, when you are doing good, the “nasha” gives you the energy and optimism to do the best and be the best you can. 
Request all our readers to visit this hospital.

Thank you Sheetal Navani for organising this 

Thank you Mr Nitin Desai for inspiring us today !!!