Visually impaired teacher with a vision

Shivani Bhakoo

Ludhiana, September 6

Maya Rani ‘Mehlawat’, a visually impaired teacher, has been teaching blind students for the past over two decades. She is unhappy that the parents of visually impaired students do not bring them up in a normal environment.

I have no regrets in life. Those who are visually impaired at birth cope with life better than those who lose sight later. They feel disappointed. I teach them to be thankful to God. — Maya Rani

She says, “The parents are either too possessive and protective or they completely neglect their children. They need to adopt a normal approach towards them.”

Teaching at the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre, Haibowal, Maya Rani said children of these parents either become hyper-aggressive or feel too low and docile, both of which are bad.

“Why can’t parents give their children a normal lifestyle?” she questions.

On being asked if she ever felt bad that God had not been kind to her, she responds saying that she has always thanked Almighty for what He has given.

“I have no regrets in life. I try to teach my students too to be thankful to God. Those who are visually impaired by birth still try to be normal but the ones who lose sight later feel disappointed. We make efforts to take them out from this situation,” she says.