ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES
After
returning home from school, there are two people with whom I like to share all
my news. They enjoy listening to my tales.
The
first person is my nani. She is always anxious to listen to me. She waits for
me to return from school. She is quite old and often has back pains. She cannot
see or hear well.
Everyday
in the morning, papa reads the newspaper aloud to her. She
does
the rest of her work herself. If someone tries to help her she gets very upset.
Though she cannot see properly she is very fond of cutting vegetables. She says
– these days children do not know how to cut vegetables properly.
The
second person is my Ravi bhaiya. He lives with us. I call him Ravi bhaiya and
he calls my parents –bhaiya-bhabhi. I do not our relationship is but he is a
very loving brother. He is always ready to answer my questions. He never says –
I will tell you later.
Ravi
bhaiya teaches in a college. The students of the college respect him a lot. A few
of them come home to study from him. Ravi bhaiya is very fond of listening to
music and taking part in plays. He enjoys chatting with his friends and going
out with them. He has a good sense of humour and makes all of us laugh.
Bhaiya
carries a white stick when he goes out. Looking at him, moving around in the
house, no one can say that he cannot see. He likes to do all his work himself.
If someone tries to help him against his wish he gets angry. Whenever he needs
any help, he asks for it.
Some
of Bhaiya’s students take books from him and return them after recording them
on tapes. Ravi bhaiya listens to these tapes. Bhaiya has many other books too.
The pages of these books are thick and have rows of raised points (dots). He
reads by running his fingers on the raised dots. To have fun with bhaiya, I
sometimes change the place of his stick. He does get upset but never gets
angry.
After all, I am his favourite sister – Seema. I
had hardly reached the door that bhaiya spoke up – Seema, you seem to be very
happy today. Bhaiya recognises not only
me but all the other family members from the sound we make as we move.
He can even tell whether I am happy or sad. Bhaiya
! Finally I am in the football team – I shared my news with him. He patted me
and said lovingly – From today, you are my football coach!
Is
there any member in your family who cannot see, speak or hear ? How do people
help them with their work? Blind children who are blind could recognize the
others by touching? Close your eyes and listen. By just smelling can you guess
if it is some close to you.
You
read in the story that Ravi bhaiya cannot see. But he does all his work on his
own. He studies from a different kind of books. To understand how he is able to
do his work, close your eyes and play this game.
There
is a special way of reading and writing for people who cannot see. It is called
Braille. It is written on a thick paper by making a row of raised points (dots)
with a pointed tool. Braille is read by running the fingers on the raised dots.
LouisBraille belonged to France. One day, when he was three years old, he was
playing with his father’s tools. Suddenly, a pointed tool hurt his eyes. He
lost his eyesight.
He
had keen interest in studies. He did not give up. He kept thinking of
different
ways to read and write. Finally he found a way – reading
by
touching and feeling. This way of reading later came to be known as the Braille
script.
In
this type of a script, a row of raised dots are made on a thick paper. Because
these dots are raised they can be read by running the fingers on them. This
script is based on six points.
The
Braille script has undergone many changes these days. This has made reading and
writing simpler. Braille can now also be written using the computer.
THANK
YOU,
