I was flipping through an old book of mine, when out slipped
a paper! It looked more like a page torn from an old magazine! I picked it up
and saw that it contained some homemade recipes for hair packs. I presumed that
I must have saved the paper for those beauty hair packs! The page was torn from
a woman’s magazine called Femina, dated September 23-October 7, 1986.Then my
eyes fell on a beautiful face on top of the page. As I read on, my eyes misted,
my heart turned heavy and I felt a huge lump in my throat. What a coincidence that today is Woman’s Day
and I dedicate this Woman’s Day 2013 to a courageous, beautiful unknown woman, Avijit.
Here’s what is written in the column..
Sounds of Silence
Her world was silent, but that didn’t make any difference.
Like all young people, pretty Avijit, too loved life and films, parties, dancing
and good food. The only fact which made her any different from the rest of us
was that she was deaf and dumb.
She was an excellent model too. We first spotted her at the
beauty parlour at Hotel Siddhaarth, (India) where
she was a manicurist. Her expressive eyes, and her photogenic face, her long silky
hair, her height (5’8”) and lissome figure rendered her a photographer’s dream.
We shot various assignments with her for Fashioneete, L.W.S. Wollen wear and
Maharaja saris.
Avijit was the only
daughter of an army officer and became deaf and dumb after a crippling illness
in childhood. She was educated at a
special school for the handicapped at Kanpur and later completed graduation
through correspondence.
In 1984, Avijit got married to a young man from Shimla (he
was also deaf and dumb).but just after a year, on Karva Chauth day, Avijit met her tragic end. Her dupatta got
entangled in an open manhole and she silently suffocated to death.
--- Amichar
What a sad end to a beautiful young life, who loved to live
and live as normal as possible in spite of her different ability. I dedicate
this Woman’s Day to you Avijith, I salute your courage and your positive
attitude!
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