Click on the new slide button …

Empty slide

शेरोजा के जन्मदिन पर उसे ढेर सारे उपहार मिले। किसी ने खूबसूरत पेटिंग्स दी तो किसी से उसे मनपसंद घोड़ेवाला खिलौना मिला। पर एक उपहार था जो इन सबसे बिलकुल अलग था। दरअसल, शेरीजा के अंकल ने उसे चिड़िया पकड़ने वाला एक लकड़ी का पिंजरा दिया था। "माँ-माँ! देखो न, अकल ने कितना सुंदर उपहार दिया है। यह सबसे अलग है और विशेष भी।" शेरोजा ने माँ को पिंजरा दिखाते हुए कहा। "अरे, यह खेलने की चीज नहीं है और चिड़िया पकड़कर तुम करोगे क्या?" माँ ने हैरानी से पूछा। "मैं सुंदर सुंदर चिड़ियों को पकड़कर इसमें रखूँगा। शेरोजा ने तुरंत कहा, मुझे चिड़िया की आवाज बहुत पसंद है। वह मीठे सुरों में मुझे गाना सुनाएगी।" "हाँ, उसे पिंजरे में यूँ ही नहीं रखेगा। उसकी पूरी देखभाल भी करूँगा। दाना-पानी दूंगा और रोजाना पिंजरे की सफाई भी करूँगा।" उसने प्रसन्नता से कहा। शेरोजा को भूख लगी थी, इसलिए वह पिंजरे को वहीं छोड़कर खाना खाने के लिए चला गया। 'अरे वाह! इतनी सुंदर चिड़िया ! यह तो बहुत प्यारी H है।" वापस आने के बाद शेरोजा ने पिंजरे में एक नन्ही सी चिड़िया को देखकर कहा। "माँ! देखो न, मैंने कितनी खूबसूरत चिड़िया पकड़ी है।" शेरोवा ने खुशी से लगभग चीखते हुए कहा। "मेरे खयाल में यह बुलबुल है। जरा देखने दो कि इसकी धड़कन सही है या नहीं?" चिड़िया को

have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight, silence would teach him the joys of sound. Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I asked a friend, who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, what she had observed. "Nothing in particular," she replied. How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I, who cannot see, find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my handslovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after the winter's sleep.Occasionally, if i am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song At times, my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must I should most like to see if I were given the use of my eyes, say for just three days. be revealed by sight. And I have imagined what On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and companionship have made my life worth living. I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that 'window of the soul-the eye. I can only 'see' through my fingertips the outline of a face. I can detect laughter, sorrow, and many other obvious emotions. I know my friends from the feel of their faces. For instance, can you describe accurately the faces of five different friends? As an experiment, I have questioned husbands about the colour of their wives' eyes, and often they express embarrassed confusion and admit that they do not know. I should like to see the books which have been read to me, and which have revealed to me the deepest channels of human life. In the afternoon I should take a long walk in the woods and intoxicate my eyes on the beauties of the world of Nature. And I should pray for the glory of a colourful sunset. That night, I should not be able to sleep. On my second day, I should like to see the pageant of man's progress, and I should go to the museums. I should try to probe into the soul of man through his art. The things I knew through touch I should now see. The evening of my second day I should spend at a theatre or at the movies.

Aaditi