Darkness eludes glory for a year

PUNE, June 8: They will be cheered and wooed by the media and well-wishers. HSC toppers will have their moments of happiness on Tuesday whil...

PUNE, June 8: They will be cheered and wooed by the media and well-wishers. HSC toppers will have their moments of happiness on Tuesday while beaming parents and principals will be proud onlookers. Amit Durge too would have basked under the same glory, but darkness prevailed. The bright lights could not shine as it was only a year after the exam that he learnt of topping the SSC examination among blind students in the State in March 8217;97.

The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education defends its position as there is no such category of blind/ deaf/ dumb students. They all hail under the category of physically handicapped8217; persons, so we possibly cannot announce the names of all such persons who have stood first in each category, shrugs Rajan Phansalkar, chairman, Pune Divisional Board.

Neither the Board nor Amit are at fault, but thanks to the declaration of a single category for all kinds of physically handicapped persons including the blind students, gray areas continue to loom large regarding the students8217; merit. Despite the fact that blindness requires special attention, the physical disabilities of various types are clubbed together under one category proving to be frustrating for merit holders.

Amit Durge, a student of Laxmanrao Apte Prashala who was blind since he was seven years of age, appeared for Standard X examination in March last year and secured 79.20 per cent.

quot;I knew I would get a rank, but my father had to return disheartened despite approaching the Board several times,quot; Amit, who passed Standard XI with distinction in the Arts stream at Fergusson College, quipped.

It was when a Satara-based organisation Satya Shodh8217; felicitated the lad on May 20 that he learnt of actually topping the examination in the state among blind students. Inspired by George Washington Carver, Helen Keller and being an avid chess fan that Amit is, he shrugs indifferently upon receiving the award. quot;What8217;s the point, the moment has gone, hasn8217;t it?quot; While Phansalkar admitted that he stood first among blind students, he stressed that the Board did not announce these names 8211; only that of the student who secured the highest marks among the physically handicapped persons. Amit, however is not one to give up. This psychology student all of a sudden looks at you from his dark sunglasses and confidently states, quot;Hang on there, I8217;ll give you a better interview during the HSC results next year.quot;