Eradication Of Blindness - A Powerful Weapon For Change
Sarajul Miyan was a tailor by profession.
He loved his job as he got to express his creativity while making new dresses every day. He also enjoyed meeting and coming across different people in the process. His shop served as a melting pot of people from various walks of life.
It was always the centre of activity and loud cheers.
He lived with his wife, sons, daughter in laws in the remotest part of Basantpur village.
Going to the shop was something he looked forward to. Sometimes his wife joined him, skipping a day’s work in the fields.
His grandchildren were fond of staying at the shop, too. And time passed very quickly, until a few years ago.
He started seeing hazing and experiencing difficulty in stitching.
He hurt himself on many occasions. Despite that, he started each day with renewed enthusiasm.
He kept going strong and bore most of the expenses of the household. He continued being the loving husband and the doting grandfather.
Being at the wrong end of the 70s, he knew age was not by his side. He tried to eat healthily but failed to realise there was more to the story.
Feeling a sense of alarm, one of his long-time-customers coaxed him to show a doctor. Soon they got to know the exact cause of the decrease in his vision. They also realised his condition needed more attention.
Sarajul Miyan had developed bilateral cataract in both his eyes.
After struggling for five years, Sarajul Miyan finally gave up.
He decided to close his shop and put the shutters down. He found a new way to earn money. He began to take care of the cattle while staying at home and sold milk to survive.
Suddenly, the best part of his day was gone.
Time grew longer and days turned into years. He had a lot of friends, relatives and well-wishers. But his most faithful companion turned out to be his better half.
Sarajul Miyan’s wife was a very strong-willed lady. She took full advantage of being 20 years younger to her husband and increased her working hours. Sometimes she worked day and night in the fields to make ends meet.
She even stitched dresses whenever she got the time.
Drawing strength from the quiet voice of courage, she did her best to support him.
She went out of her way to generate extra income. But still could not manage to save enough for the treatment.
There were times when she thought she would request her children to help.
But how could she? They were the first ones to disown their parents when the news of their father’s cataract spread four years ago.
Her ordeal and Sarajul Miyan’s hopelessness came to an end when they came to know about the Akhand Jyoti eye camp in East Champaran.
We took it from there and performed a cataract surgery in one of his eyes. His vision was restored, and normalcy was brought back in his as well as his wife’s life.
Sarajul Miyan has promised to come back to our hospital for the operation of his other eye.
