On 13th November I read about the passing away of Col Amit Roy, former Principal Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling in New Delhi. Col Roy has left a rare and extremely courageous contribution toward empowerment of Persons with Low Vision, Vision Impairment & total Blindness.
My mind races to 1989 when Darjeeling was in the midst of Gorkhaland agitation, rampant violence and normal work was completely disrupted. He volunteered responding to our request to try and initiate a mountaineering training course for empowering Blind persons with body-confidence, independent mobility & group living at altitude. In October 1989 the first Special Basic course for the Blind was initiated at HMI reaching Dzongri La with courageous decision and perseverence of two persons: Col Roy & Mr Nima Tashi, thethen Deputy Director, Field Training. Rest became history.
How important was this course for the Blind was gradually borne out by several courses conducted for children & youth with loss of hearing, mental retardation and cerebral Palsy, evolved over the years till 2016.
In this blog on behalf of all persons with disabilities I take an opportunity to convey our heart-squeezed homage and following the HMI emblem "May you climb from peak to peak" we would pray "May your noble deeds remain immortal in history and continue to inspire others to overcome hurdles, physically & mentally".Sir, RIP
Hena Basu 15 November 2016
My mind races to 1989 when Darjeeling was in the midst of Gorkhaland agitation, rampant violence and normal work was completely disrupted. He volunteered responding to our request to try and initiate a mountaineering training course for empowering Blind persons with body-confidence, independent mobility & group living at altitude. In October 1989 the first Special Basic course for the Blind was initiated at HMI reaching Dzongri La with courageous decision and perseverence of two persons: Col Roy & Mr Nima Tashi, thethen Deputy Director, Field Training. Rest became history.
How important was this course for the Blind was gradually borne out by several courses conducted for children & youth with loss of hearing, mental retardation and cerebral Palsy, evolved over the years till 2016.
In this blog on behalf of all persons with disabilities I take an opportunity to convey our heart-squeezed homage and following the HMI emblem "May you climb from peak to peak" we would pray "May your noble deeds remain immortal in history and continue to inspire others to overcome hurdles, physically & mentally".Sir, RIP
Hena Basu 15 November 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment