Ah – the road less travelled! How it beckons, rewards or scares us! These five story-journeys venture into the Amazon rainforest and the corporate jungle of Singapore, the wilderness of Rajasthan, and on two forays into China: one seeking perfection and the other, the Answer to Life’s Most Important Question (which is included free with your ticket!)

Date: Saturday, 3 December 2022

Time: 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM Singapore Standard Time SGT 

Location :The Black Box. 42 Waterloo Street (42WS)187951

Register here!

This is a hybrid session for adults. You can view it online or join us face to face. We look forward to enjoying an evening of stories with you.

Scattering Love and Empathy 

10^th October– World Mental Health Day

15^th October-World White Cane Day

22^nd October– World Stuttering Awareness Day

24^th October– World Polio Day

Have you ever wondered why we observe so many different days? Are we creating awareness around us?

“We find our joys in the littlest of things.” This was the sentiment expressed by a friend with a differently abled child. 

The needs of the differently abled are not special. How those needs are met may be different, but their needs are the same as anyone else’s. 

Our first thoughts are often pity and sympathy, but are seldom empathy. Perhaps what is needed is inclusion and empathy. We are uncomfortable in their midst; they aren’t. We see them differently; they don’t see themselves differently.

Perhaps in their world social norms and etiquettes do not exist. Maybe that is different from our world, where so much emphasis is placed on norms which are considered a valuable tool to excel at life. 

We need to understand what they need. We can try and understand that the differently abled can be independent in their own ways. Simple tasks that we take for granted do not come easy to them but that does not stop them from trying. 

Maybe we do not know how to interact with the differently abled, so what if we learnt to do it right? Let us take with us a little understanding, patience and an open mind.

Let us work towards creating a world where differences are embraced, strengths recognized, opportunities created to nurture those strengths, and the littlest of achievements celebrated.

We have heard of innumerable instances where the differently abled have gone on to achieve remarkable things. Keanu Reeves credits acting for helping him cope with dyslexia and has a deeper love of Shakespeare’s works than he would have from reading them. Ludwig Van Beethoven was hearing impaired. When his 9^th Symphony premiered, he had to turn around to see the audience cheering. He could not hear their rapturous applause. Helen Keller, an American author, activist and lecturer was the first deaf and blind person to graduate from university. Stevie Wonder, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer has been blind from infancy. 

Given a supportive environment, many have gone on to achieve big things in life.  

This West African folktale may give us a little more fodder for becoming understanding and celebrating our differences. 

The Man Who Saw With His Heart

Once there was a blind man who lived with his sister in a hut by the edge of a forest. Blind though he was, he seemed to know a lot about the world. He loved sitting outside his hut and chatting with the passers-by. They shared stories of their adventures with the creatures of the forest; he listened and soaked in as much information as he could. He sometimes accompanied people into the forest. 

It always seemed to people that he saw not with his eyes but with his other senses. 

A fine hunter who frequently passed by their hut and who had observed the kindness of his beautiful sister began stopping to chat with the blind man. Clearly what he longed for was the blind man’s sister’s affection and soon they fell in love and were married. The sister had only one condition, that her blind brother would continue to live with them. 

All was well for a while, perhaps it was the honeymoon period but soon the hunter began getting irritable. He had no time at all for her brother. At others he was downright insensitive and said, “What use is a person with no eyes?”

Every day the hunter would go into the forest with his traps, bow and quiver full of arrows, and every day the brother would ask, “Please, let me come hunting with you in the forest.”

But the fine hunter would shake his head and be very dismissive of him and say, “Do not waste my time.”

One evening, the hunter returned home in a good mood. He had hunted a boar and a rabbit and knew the meat would last a few days. His wife cooked the meat, and when they finished eating, the hunter turned to the blind man and said, “Tomorrow you may come hunting with me.”

The brother was happy and indeed so was his sister, the hunter’s wife. The next morning, they set off into the forest, the hunter with his traps, bow and quiver of arrows leading the blind man by the hand. Suddenly, the blind man stopped and whispered, “I hear rustling. There is a snake!”

The hunter looked about him quite puzzled but saw nothing.

“There is a mamba,” said the blind man, “but it is all right; he is slithering away from us. He will not hurt us.”

They went along the path and there, sure enough, was a snake taking cover under some dried leaves. The hunter asked, “How did you know about the snake?”

“Because I see not with my eyes but with my other senses.”

As they walked deep into the forest, once more the blind brother said, “There are wild boars around but do not worry, they are at a distance. Listen, listen, that is the sound of a bird’s wings unfolding, it is preparing to fly.”

They continued deeper into the forest until they came to a clearing. The hunter set one of his traps and guided the blind man on how to set another one. Then the hunter said, “We will come back tomorrow and see what we have caught.”

Excitedly, the next morning, they walked into the forest to where the traps had been set. The blind man knew his way through the forest to where the traps were laid. 

The hunter saw straight away that there was a bird caught in each trap. And he saw that the bird caught in his trap was a tiny bird that was brown in colour, and the bird in the blind man’s trap was beautiful with feathers of orange and gold. Those plumages would make a lovely gift, thought the hunter.

The hunter gave a loud whoop and said, “There is a bird in each of our traps, let me get them out.”

He gave the blind man the tiny brown bird, and he kept the beautiful bird for himself. They then started for home.

As they walked, the hunter said, “If you are so clever and see not with your eyes but with your other senses, then answer me this, “Why is there so much anger and hatred in this world? Why are there so many wars?”

The blind man answered, “Because there are so many people in this world who take what does not belong to them.”

Now that the hunter felt remorseful, he took the little bird from the blind brother’s hand and gave him the beautiful one instead. The blind brother said nothing. 

As they walked, it was now the blind brother’s turn and he asked, “Can you tell me, “Why is there so much love and kindness in this world?”

The fine hunter stood transfixed; he did not know what to say. And so, the blind brother answered his own question, “Because the world is also full of so many good people, people like you, who reflect and learn from their mistakes.”

From then on, the fine hunter always took his blind brother-in-law hunting into the forest. If he heard anyone ask, “Blind man, how is it that you are so wise?” the fine hunter would reply, “Because he sees not with his eyes but with all his other senses, and he hears with his heart.”

“There is no greater disability in society than the inability to see a person as more.” ~ Robert M. Hensel

References

• Tales of Wisdom and Wonder by Hugh Lupton
• The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa by Alexander McCall Smith