Dr Asangba Tzudir
Generally, human capacity is measured through conventional standards of physical ability, while we tend to ignore or forget that sense perception is far deeper than what the eyes see or the ears hear, and this is what enables the differently abled to perform and do things in quite interesting ways while seeing their amazing abilities to adapt where they frequently experience the world through alternative pathways, discovering newer forms of beauty, meaning and the ways of doing which many of us, in our hurried normalcy, tend to overlook. They continue to remind the normally abled that limitation does not always narrow down a person's perception and the world around them, rather in many ways, it broadens in ways that challenge our understanding.
From amongst many that attest to this truth, the case of Helen Keller also stands out, being blind and deaf from her early childhood, and having grown without the very senses most people depend on. Yet, Keller developed an amazing sensitivity to the world around her wherein she saw the beauty of God while feeling the venation of leaves, or the rustle of branches that felt like vibrations against her skin. Her expressions convey the wonder of creation in a language beyond sights or sounds. While the normally abled perceive with the eyes, Keller perceived with her fingertips. This demonstrates that the differently abled often see more clearly in ways that many sighted individuals never learn to.
Being differently abled, of course is challenging but it can cultivate strengths that remain inactive in those who primarily rely on the more dominant senses. A visually impaired person may develop an extraordinary sense of touch, memory, and awareness. Someone who is hard of hearing might observe body language, emotional expressions, and other details with more depth and clarity, or a person with limited mobility may express deeper patience, empathy, and observation, and which enables them to see newer meanings. To say the least, while it may be a test of patience, it should be taken as an opportunity to learn to be patient and for the values it holds.
The experiences of the differently abled challenge us to reflect on how narrowly we have defined perception, intelligence, or even beauty. They help the normal abled realize that seeing is not merely about the eyes, but about understanding, that hearing is not only about sound, but about attentiveness, and that, movement is not just mobility, but an intimate engagement with life and the importance of listening intently, to dialogue and learn.
In expressing inclusivity, normally it addresses issues related to access to texts or assistive devices or facilities like wheel-chair ramps, or celebration of their day in acknowledgement. While these are essential, our perspective here needs to broaden by recognizing the differently abled as co-contributors to the society and not merely as recipients of reserved assistance and privileges.
Coming to the art of learning, their ways of perceiving the world and engaging with diligence and sincerity can reshape how communities approach education and learning today at a time when learning needs to be rekindled. When we pay attention, we become sensitive and also help us to look again, even reading again to finally understand, conceptualize and get newer ideas, which will be a springboard to awaken the thirst to learn.
The thirst to learn is generally missing among learners today. This is happening at a time when Naga Society has lost its way to the truth, so also encountering a severe crisis of identity. The differently abled teach us something profound, that learning does not begin with comfort or convenience but through patience, curiosity, and the refusal to give up. They teach us how they navigate life considering their challenging barriers that many of us never face. Is this not a moral lesson for the normally abled to help rediscover the deeper meaning of learning and the pursuit of truth?
It is time to learn from their persistence where every step, no matter how small or slow, is still progress. One might want to give up in the face of challenges and obstacles in life, but that is precisely where we need to adopt their ability to find meaningful pursuits beyond obstacles and taking a cue from their resilience thereby transforming into motivation and translate to responsibilities towards our own abilities. Where learning needs to be backed by skills, we need to imitate their creativity and focus and the way they innovate newer ways of doing. These are sparks that also reignites the thirst to learn.
In essence, the differently abled seem to be telling the normally abled as learners that there is a need for a paradigm shift largely in the way we think. That, the pursuit of knowledge and truth is not a grueling intellectual activity but a beautiful journey shaped by patience, imagination, resilience, humility, creativity and meaning.
(Dr Asangba Tzudir contributes a weekly guest editorial for The Morung Express. Comments can be emailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
