“Who, if not myself?” remained an ever-present question that fueled the dedication of Dattu Agarwal, now 66 years previous. Residing with visible impairment, Dattu persistently contemplated over the lives of people akin to his personal.
“Having been lucky to obtain high quality schooling and the backing of a supportive household, I couldn’t ignore the stark actuality that quite a few others weren’t as privileged as I used to be,” he displays in dialog with The Higher India.
This actuality, he provides, triggered in him an urge to increase a serving to hand to these in want.
Presently, he’s a guardian and trainer to 75 women dwelling with visible impairment. Throughout the precincts of his boarding college nestled in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, these women are supplied with extra than simply educational instruction — they’re additionally given clothes, shelter, and an opportunity at life.
“In lots of areas of India, woman kids are nonetheless regarded upon as a burden. I can’t even think about what life would entail for ladies with disabilities,” says Dattu, including that he needs to offer them an avenue to constructing a lifetime of independence.
‘Destiny introduced me right here’
Born and raised in Kalaburagi, Dattu suffered a bout of pneumonia on the age of three, which led to his visible impairment. “I don’t bear in mind the world earlier than I misplaced my imaginative and prescient. My mother and father had been apprehensive, but additionally fairly decided to make me self-sufficient and impartial. They despatched me to a blind college for boys in Kalaburagi on the age of 8,” he recollects.
After finishing his education, Dattu went on to check political sciences in Gulbarga College. “In 1985, I began to show in the identical college. I taught political science for greater than 35 years,” he says.
Whereas Dattu progressed in his life, he by no means felt that his impaired imaginative and prescient was like a incapacity to him. For others, he notes, this was not the case. “Feedback like ‘What’s going to he do now?’ and ‘He’s disabled and will probably be a burden’ had been fairly frequent. Such feedback take a toll in your psychological well being too. I needed to create an surroundings the place there is no such thing as a such prejudice,” he says.
“I discovered it very tough to seek out my footing. There have been sufficient avenues to assist me develop and achieve life,” he notes. “[But] I may see folks from my group struggling, particularly little women. There have been colleges for boys however none for ladies in my district again within the 2000s,” he provides.
He began saving and brainstorming concepts to assist folks with visible impairments.
“In 1990, I laid the inspiration of a belief by the title Hyderabad Karnataka Disabled Society. Underneath this, I additionally based a residential college for visually impaired women. The ladies belong to underprivileged sections of society.”
An opportunity at life and success
Dattu named the varsity Matoshree Ambubai Residential Faculty for Blind Women after his mom. “It was my mom who was my spine and largest supporter. Every time voices from the society turned an excessive amount of, she would rescue me and remind me that I can do something if I needed to,” he recollects.
“My mom can also be my greatest motivation and inspiration. She has taught me the whole lot I find out about life and society. She was a lady of outstanding perseverance and heat,” he provides.
When Dattu began the varsity, he had solely 4 women with him. “I went to villages in Kalaburagi district to speak to oldsters and inform them concerning the college. The mother and father didn’t need to ship their women to blind college as a result of they feared for his or her security,” he says.
“As they belonged to underprivileged sections, they didn’t perceive the necessity for educating their visually impaired women and making them impartial,” he notes.
‘Want extra colleges like ours’
The ladies at Dattu’s college are from six districts — Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Bellary.
“Initially, we intervened and went to villages to seek out women with visible impairments who wanted assist, however inside a number of months, the state of affairs modified. Folks would hear about us and method us straight,” he informs.
“Other than following the common syllabus, we additionally practice them in sports activities and music. This provides them extra choices and passions to comply with once they transfer out of the varsity,” he provides.
Amongst them is Idhma, who needs to be a lawyer. “My mother and father discovered about Dattu sir’s college after we had been at a watch camp in Hyderabad. I moved to the varsity and joined Class 7. Initially I missed my house, however everybody right here helped me settle in. I need to research more durable and develop into impartial in order that I might help my mother and father out financially,” she says.
In the meantime, Muskan (12) , who research in Class 5, says, “I left my village Madanapura 4 years in the past so I may get a greater schooling right here. Earlier than this, I didn’t go to any college as my mother and father couldn’t afford the charges. The college academics and employees are very well mannered and make us really feel snug.”
Sangeeta D Thakur, the pinnacle mistress of the varsity ponders on the significance of such colleges. “There are only a few avenues for ladies in Karnataka. Faculties like ours, which give free schooling and residence to the kids, are the necessity of the hour. If these kids don’t get schooling, they may find yourself in a sorry state. After I see them, all I see is expertise and creativity. Now we have had seven batches of ladies who’ve accomplished their schooling right here and have gotten into good schools,” she says.
Reflecting on his journey, Dattu says, “I consider that the flip of occasions once I was a baby and the whole lot that adopted in my life was destiny. My life would have been very totally different if I had not misplaced my imaginative and prescient again then.”
How are you going to assist?
Dattu’s college has 75 women, however for the final one 12 months he has stopped taking new admissions.
“Now we have been overburdened with new admission requests. Whereas I need to take each woman that I can, we would not have any house left within the dormitories,” he says.
A brand new constructing is below development and the varsity is in want of funds. “For thus lengthy the varsity has been working on my earnings and from donations from totally different sources. Nonetheless, now that I’ve retired too, we’re on the lookout for extra avenues of cash,” he explains.
When you want to assist Dattu in his trigger or fund the schooling of the ladies, you may attain out to him at 95353 93900.
Edited by Divya Sethu
