Helen keller

Certain people create history by their contribution to the mankind and certain others creates history by their selfless devotion to the cause of the under privileged, in spite of their physical deformities. Helen Keller belonged to the second category. She left indelible impression on the mosaic of the world by her attempts to help physically challenged persons. She became a role model for millions of people by her selfless service.

Helen Keller was born on 27^th June 1880 in Tuscumbia, USA. At age of 19 months , She had a high fever which caused her to become deaf and blind. No longer could she see nor hear. She felt lost. She would hang on to her mother’s skirt to get around. She would feel of People’s hands to try to find out what they were doing. She learned to do many things this way. She learned to milk a cow and knead the bread dough. She could recognize people by feeling of their faces or their clothes. She made up signs with her hands so she could “talk” to her family. She had 60 different signs. If she wanted bread, She pretended to be cutting a loaf. If she wanted ice cream, she would hug her shoulders and shiver.

Helen Keller was a very bright child. The family knew they had to do something to help her. They found a teacher named Anne Sullivan herself had been blind, but had an operation and regained her sight. She understood what Helen was feeling. Latter Ann Sullivan also became known to the world for her commitment towards Helen Keller.

Helen had an amazing memory, and she had skills very few people have ever been able to develop. She could put her fingers to a person’s lips and understand the words which were being spoken.

While she was in college she wrote her book called  “ The story of My Life” published in 1903. With the money she earned from the book she was able to buy a house.

On 28 June 1904 Helen Graduated from Radcliffe College, becoming the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She became distinguished as a lecturer and a writer. Her autobiography “ The story of my life” (1902) was dramatized by William Gibson in “ The Miracle Worker” (1959) which bagged many awards. In her autobiography , she told how she had been helped to overcome blindness and deafness.

Also her life is the subject of a motion picture, The Unconquered(1954)

She became famous and traveled around the world speaking to groups of people. She met many important and well-known people as she traveled. Through out her life she worked and raised funds for the American Foundation for the blind. After the World War II (1939-1945), she visited wounded veterans in American hospitals and lectured in Europe on behalf of the physically handicapped.

In October 1961, Helen suffered the first of a series of strokes, and her public life was to draw to a close. She was to spend her remaining years being cared for at her home in Arcan Ridge. In 1964 Helen was awarded the Presidential Medal of freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. On June 1, 1968 Helen keller died peacefully in her sleep. Helen was cremated in Bridgeport and a funeral service was held at the National Cathedral in Washington DC.

In a competitive world like this, where we are engulfed with a myriad of problems,  the life of Helen Keller should be an example to all of us. Whatever the problem be, what is pertinent is how we face them. We should not be weakened by the set backs that may happen in the course of our life. Helen Keller fought all odds despite being deaf and blind. Her devotion of her life to the welfare of people like her shows her unflinching commitment towards the sufferers of the world. And it is this fact ,that singles her from many others.

 “The public must learn that the blind man is neither genius nor a freak nor an idiot. He has a mind that can be educated, a hand which can be trained, ambitions which it is right for him to strive to realize, and it is the duty of the public to help him make the best of himself so that he can win light through work”.