Going Ahead With Living In A Better Way Than Most Of You Do Poem by Bashyam Narayanan

Kingdom of the blind
Welcome to our kingdom
Where we all stay blind

None having the sense of vision
None having the idea of colour
None able to dream a scene
As none can hold a figure in mind

But thanks to Braille,
Who made us read and learn
We study not to win a certificate
But to develop our physical
And mental skills so that
We can serve our community

We get up and move in a set direction
And after making a set number of steps
We reach our work site, which can be
A work bench or paddy field or any other place
Like the one where you people work

When we work, we work only
When we eat, we eat only
And when we sleep, we sleep only

We too have families
Sons and daughters and all of them
Blessed with blindness

We too laugh and we also cry
Only at the appropriate occasions
We never become emotionally down
For a thing that has not occurred

Nothing frightens us as the
Darkness, the most frightening, is always around us

We look ahead for a right future
And are not after a bright future
As you people long for

Though blind, it was never dark
In our mind, but it glows with peace and love
Love pervades our hearts,
Which are not penetrated
By the external just-material-revealing light

We know happenings around the world
We hear news, but do not see events
We do not desire much
The only desire we hold to our hearts is
To keep alive the desire to learn
And to apply what little learnt
For the benefits of our fellow beings

We may not have the sense of vision
Our other senses are in tact
And make up fully whatever lost
Because of this deformity
We hear, better than most of you do
We feel for others, better than most of you do
Our olfactory system is a bit more sensitive than yours
We fail not to smell the scent of soil
And the fragrance of even a little blossom
Our touch is more soothing than your touch
Many of us get a cure from our touch

We move with heartful of love
We live with a heart, full with contentment
We nurse a bubbling enthusiasm

We invite you all to this wonder world
And to enjoy the hospitality extended
By those, whom you think suffer
And struggle for survival

You will understand
Though we had a physical non-function
We are not handicapped and
Going ahead with living in a better way
Than most of you do