Journalism of Courage
Visually-challenged siblings Aniket and Abhishek Raut win accolades for both academic and cultural feats
The definition of what’s normal is up for debate in the Raut house. Is being blind since birth normal? Or is it normal that their two visually-challenged sons are studying with children who have sight and still doing really well in both academics and cultural activities? Their mother who had studied only till Class X when she got married is now a trained teacher who is also fluent in Braille. Is that normal? The Rauts haven’t really been able to decide if they are just regular people who are taking life as it comes or there is a bit of extraordinary in them.
However,recalling the days when their world tuned upside down,is not easy for their parents Rekha and Satish Popat Raut. Married in 1999,they were courting rosy dreams of their lives together when Rekha got pregnant with their first child. Aniket was born and the couple was over the moon. But,when six months since his birth,he still did not turn his head to sounds their lives began to turn topsy-turvy. Unaware that the blindness was because of a genetic disorder,they had a second child too. In some months it was detected that he too did not have vision.
We were overcome with sorrow of course but held on to hopes that maybe some doctor somewhere will help them see. Now our sons are 13 and 11 years old and they still don’t have sight. We have got used to it and have built our own world,different from others’ worlds but not lesser, says Satish,who works at a wine shop. He adds that they are still looking for some technology and medical treatment that will help their children see.
Rekha recalls how she had to train herself to understand that her sons’ needed a different approach. All children have to be held and helped when they take their first steps. We also did the same but I had to also tell them when things were in front of them or help them feel things so they knew. I taught them how I knew best and they learnt quickly. Aniket was only a year old when he began to say his name and address, she says. There is a file of certificates that bear testimony to the grit of the parents and the enthusiasm of the kids.
