The dark world of the visually impaired throws up many challenges. Yet, the indomitable spirit of many a blind can set an example for those who take 'ability' for granted. But society too needs to pitch in with sensitive response, observes Ranjita Biswas as the country observes National Eye Donation Fortnight from August 25 to September 8

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Joyce Kane is 54 years old but she calls herself 'eight years old' because "I have been blind for these many years. This is a whole new world, a dark world, which I am still learning to fathom. Before that my world was different, full of light and colours." She lost her eyesight after a surgery due to diabetes related complications.

Kane was in Kolkata recently, her first trip abroad from the US, to talk about how she has learnt to live with dignity despite the disability and diabetes, which she has been nursing from the age of seven. Kane is known for her work in this area and is the president of the National Federation of the Blind, Southern Connecticut chapter.

To chaperon her around is her constant companion, Corey, a German Shepherd dog. The visually impaired are provided service animals like Corey in the US, something quite unimaginable yet in our country.

"The greatest thing I lost eight years ago was not my eyesight, but my independence," Kane said. But she is not one to sit back and wallow in self-pity. She was determined to be as independent as possible though her husband and family took good care of her. A book called Walking Alone and Meeting Together on the blind movement in the US inspired her. She learnt to make use of the modern tools that have made life a lot easier for the blind today. She even learnt to manage her diabetes medication schedule. Today, she informs, there are even tools like the 'Talking Rx' which reminds the blind that it is time to take medicine.

Ultimately, it is a message that one can overcome that comes through Kane's spirit. Back home too, there are women like Kanchan Gaba, a Calcutta High Court lawyer, who is also secretary of the West Bengal branch of the National Association for the Blind. Like Kane, Gaba was not born blind but lost her eyesight when she was in the third standard. But she never let the handicap mar her desire for an education or participation in other activities and even went for mountaineering expeditions in the past.

She laments that, "The need of the disabled was never a focus in India. Even after higher education you are ignored and the constant struggle to prove yourself is tiring." Only as recently as 1995 a law (Disabilities Act, 1995) was enacted after a prolonged self-advocacy movement. Even now, there are a pitiful number of facilities for people with disabilities even in public places and transport system.

The country's socio-economic status may not be able to provide chaperon dogs as in America, but there are small little things that can make a difference, Gaba points out. Even today, for students beyond 12th standard, there is no reading material written in Braille. Somebody has to help by reading out the lessons. Banks can easily introduce the speech mode in the ATMs to facilitate withdrawal. Except for the foreign banks and one or two private banks, the banks in general do not issue cheque-books either, because "it's a policy matter they say".

"Personally, I find that dealing on a one-to-one basis is not difficult, but when it comes to policy-change it is very tough to achieve. Yet it needs just a little flexibility and understanding , we call it 'reasonable adjustment' to make a difference to the visually disabled," says Gaba.

But there are positive stories as well. Transtek, a leading Kolkata-based healtcare BPO on medical transcription, is offering new hope for the visually challenged by churning out blind medical transcriptionists.

Working in association with the Ramkrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy, Transtek has successfully trained six blind youths in their academy and even absorbed two of them in their own company.

The beaming faces of blind youths like Aditya Modi and Sandip Chakraborty, who have been absorbed at Transtek, speak volumes about the job potential of the blind in medical transcription industry.

"We can do like the sighted if we are given a chance. Blinds can make medical transcription a good career option because you only need to know have hearing senses for that," says Aditya.

There is also a certain denial to recognize the problem even among the general public though the country has 2.25 million blind people, about 25 per cent of the whole world's blind population. A hit film like Black where the blind and mute Michelle McNally (Rani Mukherjee) character's struggle to live a fruitful life brought sympathies and rave reviews no doubt, but health officials rue that "I pledge my eye" campaign has failed, despite having glamorous star Aishwaraya Rai as a brand ambassador. Not only is there a huge shortage of corneas for transplants, less than 1 percent of the pledged eyes actually fructify. Whereas there is need for 1 lakh donated eyes a year in the country to correct corneal blindness, only 25,000 could be collected between January, 2004 and August, 2005. Of all the organ transplants corneal transplant is the most successful, according to medical practitioners.

The ongoing eye donation fortnight (August 25-September 8), initiated by the government's health department, is an effort to create more awareness among people about eye donation. One reason for the reluctance to donate eyes, or for that matter any part of the body, in Asian countries is due to strong religious beliefs. It is often seen as causing 'harm' to the departed. Orbis, an international NGO which is committed to saving eyes and eliminating avoidable blindness, have "Grief Counsellors" who train hospital staff to motivate relatives of terminally ill patients to donate eyes. Now Orbis is also in discussion with hospital staff in the country.

Lack of awareness also concerns eye-care. Many of the subsequent eye-troubles can be avoided if proper care is taken in time, say doctors. That's why, Gaba informs, the Association has recently launched the "Avoidable Blindness Campaign" in collaboration with a well-known eye-care pharmaceutical firm in Kolkata. "Many parents are not aware that their children, crammed into crowded schools, may have eye-defects, short-sightedness etc. since their wards don't have any problem reading from the blackboard. The fact is, the rooms are small and the distance in not sufficient enough to gauge the if there is any defect. So proper check-up is important. We are going from school to school to facilitate the check-ups." The campaign will cover 100 schools in a one-year span targetting one lakh students.