I am not blind; I am differently able. Do you care about me?
‘I don’t want to depend on somebody for my needs, so I have decided to sell sweets and earn for myself’, said Mr. Paul; one of the visually challenged people in the Saidapet railway station. Humanity teaches us to treat one another equally. But human beings tend to forget every time and focus on our own profit. Fail to listen to others cry, and even not ready to give an opportunity to express their inner storming.
There is a crowd of visually challenged people sitting in the railway station and chatting at a certain time every day. Who are these people? What are they doing there? What makes them come together? What are their problems? This was coming again and again in my mind as I saw them every time at the station. Let’s find the answers to these questions.
‘ We have finished our graduation but no jobs, we have applied for work. Till we get a job we don’t want to waste our time’, Said one of the visually challenged people in the station. They have come from different places but reside in Chennai. Mr. Paul native of Thiruchenthur and he is staying in a house in Guindy. He has his relatives in his native but from his school days, he has been coming to the station to sell things. These people have finished their graduation, Paul is having B.A Tamil literature in Presidents College. The special people whom we met at the station were graduates. One has finished his B.A and BEAD, the other has finished his B.A. and preparing themselves for the competitive exams such as BNPC, Bank exams, Teaching, and other exams. They sell sweets, small equipment things in the railway stations.
They have a blind association in Nandanam, this association helps them to find a job and at the same time they fight to get jobs. This association has a place to sit and read, listen to someone, and they have details about these visually challenged people. Their small business of selling things in railway stations is not organized by the association. This is their own initiative. They have made their own investment and started a small business to help themselves. They are not an organized group but every day they come together in the station and chat with one another, tease each other and spend their time, meanwhile they do their business.
The life of a differently-abled is not very easy. Sometimes the officers do not allow them to sell things and ask them to get down from the train, people take and throw their things, cheat them with money and many other difficulties that they face in daily life. The very important message that they taught me was to stand on your own and should not get anxiety.