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| Helen Keller |
It was a cold winter afternoon in 1920. A large number of
people were waiting outside an exhibition hall in the city of New York to
purchase tickets. Inside the hall, the manager seemed to be highly pleased. A
large number of people had arrived, many more than his expectations. A new kind
of exhibition was being presented on that day.
The curtain went up. The stage was set up like a reception
room in a house. A young man who sat beside a piano rose and bowed
ceremoniously. He introduced a majestic middle-aged woman to the audience. It
was Anne Sullivan Macy. Anne made a brief speech. Everyone listened attentively
to her sweet-sounding words. Later another woman, beautifully dressed and
pleasant-looking, walked on to stage. Anne clasped her hand. She just looked at
the audience and stood revealed.
Later, that woman – Helen Keller – spoke. She struggled hard
to let out each word. The audience too struggled to grasp what she said. Still
they, kept their ears strained and sharp. A long applause resounded in the hall
when Helen stopped speaking. These two were among the most famous people in
America those days. Anne Sullivan was a bold educationist and civil rights
spokesperson. Helen Adams Keller was her deaf and blind disciple. Despite being
handicapped, she had made a name for herself as a writer, women’s liberation
activist and a social worker.
The audience was immensely touched by Helen’s speech. Her
words could be summed up this way: “My teacher told you how her one word
touched the darkness of my mind and how I woke up to the bliss of life. I was
dumb; now I can speak. I am obliged to the hands and hearts of others for this
achievement. Through their love I came to see my mind; I could see God, I could
find happiness. In fact, we all live for helping others and for being helped.
By remaining united we can do a lot of things. Only love can break down the
walls that stand between us and our happiness. The greatest commandment is to
love one another. I would like to thank God at the top of my voice for all the
love, happiness and hope that would be coming to me.”
Why did Helen Keller give such a message? Both Helen and her
teacher needed money to live. They got ready for this show in the hope of being
paid. The audience had come to get a glance of this ‘living miracle’ much more
than hearing a lecture. Most of them were curious as if they were viewing a
rare creation. But Helen Keller’s glory lies in the fact that she suffered all
such humiliations and fought bravely for the rights of the physically
handicapped people. She declared that the physically handicapped people had the
right to live like the normal people.
Helen demanded humanitarian consideration and equality for
them. Even today, the life of Helen who successfully conquered obstacles in
life is indeed a source of inspiration and zeal for millions of people.
The eventful life of Helen Keller has ever been an
inspiration for the physically disabled and for those who suffer discrimination
of any kind. She advocated and struggled for their rights till the end of her
life.
