handicapped

There is a music competition on television that I watch very often. I love the songs, the competitors, the host, the judges and the atmosphere created by the program. The recent series was on children.In the episode I am talking about, these kids had to sing their parents' favourite song. A small trivia on the parent-child bondage, then a clipping of the child and his/her parents, the parent says the choice of song, the child is questioned on what he/she dreams of giving his/her parents and the song begins.

Every time a new contestant came up, the ambience was getting more n more emotional. Parents wet eyes gleaming in the light, host teary, judges in tears, contestants, somehow holding the lump in the throat yet singing very much in tune and of course..your's truly with a whole box of tissues...streaming with tears!

Each child's dream was about buying a car, a house, of winning the national award for singing, of doing playback singing and getting rich, etc. One of the contestants, the most loved one and more on the mature side of his age, was blind. He sang like a canary and somehow, no matter what he sang, there was an extraordinary soul added to the song. It touched you, beckoned you to understand the lyrics and appreciate it, conveyed the meaning of the song in each word and in it's entirety. Even if you have seen the picturisation of the song, he could take you to a different world with your own imagination. His voice came from his heart and touched yours straight. This isn't out of a soft corner for he being blind, that I felt all this. But as they say, when God takes something from you, He gives you more in some other way. And God gifted this child with a powerful soul.

His dream for his parents was what touched me. He had two of them. One was to drive a car with his parents as his passengers from home to a restaurant where he would have dinner with them with his first earning and the other was to earn enough to be able to take his mother to all the seven wonders of the world.

Everybody on the sets was stunned by the simplicity of his dreams yet seemingly difficult. It made most of them realise what resources they have and how they are wasting it.With tears rolling down and blurred vision, I stared at this 11 year old boy,dressed in funky clothes provided by the sponsor, jet black eyes rolled up looking directly into the lights of the studio and not flinching, head postioned as if to look up, straining his ears to catch any sound at all. He patiently waited, rolling his eyes all over as if pleading for someone to see for him and tell him what is going on, until his patience ran out. He finally, addressed the host and asked what was happening. The host gave him a hug and said everyone was waiting for him to sing. And with a "oh"..there came another marvellous rendition.

Who ever said these human beings were handicapped? It is we, the so-called normal ones who are handicapped....coz we don't appreciate the simple gifts of life or derive happiness out of things that appear routine for us......until it is taken away from us one day!