You Are Blinded By What You See

 

I felt tired and really did not feel like waking up at 6 am to get to BNI meeting (Business Networking International – meeting starts at 7 am). I could think of hundreds of reasons why I should stay in bed and switch off the alarm. I somehow trusted my gut that it will be really worth my time. It took loads of effort, but I did it. I got there still being partly sleepy and grumpy.

When I walked into the room, I saw an Indian man wearing sunglasses.

I learnt  quickly that his name is Krushna and he is blind. To make it even more surprising, he works as a bank manager working for HSBC, for this reason he comes to the morning meetings. That was a real eye opener for me. I thought my tiredness and need to sleep was a good enough reason to stay in bed. For him the lack of sight was not good enough excuse. Things are so relative. I came over, introduced myself, exchanged business cards and complemented him. That morning meeting really made an impact.

Then couple of months passed by.  When we sent our email campaign to promote a new series of seminars, I was really surprised to receive an RSVP to our event from Krushna. I scratched my head and thought, is it the blind man? Really? I checked my cards and yes, it was him! How did he email me back and  saying he will be there? Just before the event I also got a comment on one of my Facebook posts from him. That really stretched my imagination. I paused for a moment and tried to imagine Facebook without actually seeing it.

Krushna missed the beginning of our seminar, he came a bit late on his own, without any guide. When he walked in scanning the floor with his white stick, the whole room froze before he sat down. He listened to the presentation and asked questions.

After the seminar we went out to one of the local “mamaks” across the street to have some food. Just as he sat down, he knocked on the table with his fingers, felt the chairs and he said, “Oh, this is the Penang chain of mamaks!” and he ordered from the menu his favourite food. What struck me in the conversation we had was how clear he was about his dreams, his future, what he wants to do. He visualises many things, very precisely.

When we asked him about the eyesight, he mentioned he lost it 7 years ago because of medical complications and the doctor’s negligence. After discovering that his sight was totally lost, his mum told him to “accept and move on” and he took it to heart and decided he will live as normal life as possible.

Couple of weeks back, we arranged to meet up for some food near in Masjid Jamek. When I got off at the train station I gave him a call to ask for the name of the place where he was waiting, but instead of giving me the name he asked, “Where are you now and what are you facing?” And then he said, “Look to your left, can you see McDonalds? Go around 100m to the first traffic light you will see the bank then turn right and I am in the restaurant on the right hand side”. A blind man was giving me directions based on landmarks

On another occasion when we were going out to a restaurant, he asked me pick him up from the Malaysian Association of Blind in Brickfields. When I met him half way through the corridor, he asked if I could go to his instructor to let him know that I picked him up. To my surprise the instructor was a blind man too. Imagine a blind man teaching other blind people how to use computer software! Sounds more like a good joke.

Apart from working for HSBC, Krushna tries to live his life as normal as possible. He goes salsa dancing, loves meeting up with people and taking on more and more new challenges.  Recently Krushna started giving inspirational talks, teaching about how “we are blinded by what we see”.

Having met Krushna redefines the boundaries of what human beings are capable of and every single meeting with him reminds me of what a small percentage of human potential we are currently using. We are just very comfortable and conditioned to live so much below our real potential.