Radha is a beautiful child of ‘approximately’ 8 years of age, ‘approximately’ as not even her parents know it exactly. She has a beautiful smile and with her hands she tries to see what her eyes cannot, for she was born blind.

Her younger brother attends our school, and very often Rhada would come and play with our pupils and would seat with them in class, carefully listening to what the teacher was saying. Because of this, I thought of looking for a special school for her, and at Sarnath I found ‘Jeevan Jyoti’, a place where many visually impaired children learn to read and write thanks to the Braille method.

In February we had visited the school with Radha and decided to enrol her right away so as to give her the education that her parents cannot afford.

Radha has been attending classes for a couple of months now and living at the boarding school where the personnel take good care of her. At the beginning she had some minor difficulties, but she got used to the new environment quickly and is happy now. I went to visit her and she happily sang to me ‘Rain go Away’ in English. Music and hands-on, practical projects are giving her new skills and tools she was unaware of, and her laughter moved me to tears.

She is a clever child, and her sensitivity allows her to live and see who is around her with the eyes of the hearth.

She is not alone; we are all by her side, her parents visit her regularly and she knows that there are many people who love her. Radha’s world is no longer dark; it is now bright and serene.

                          Guru Ratna