We the "normal"

Sometimes traveling by train is boring and again it depends on the co passengers. But I had the good experience of traveling by the Deccan Queen, in which there were two blind men sitting opposite me.
What an experience. They were playing chess !!
It was a pleasure to observe and learn from them.
The minute they sat down, they set up the small magnetic chess board in between them. I observed their moves and found that for every move, they had to practically feel all the pawns on the board. Not only were they playing, but they were talking about every thing under the sun. The weather , the politics, anything.
When the train neared Lonavala, one exclaimed
“Lonavala jawal ala, chikki gheyache kaay?” (we are approaching Lonavala, should we buy chikki?) I am still trying to figure out how they gauged that? The distance? The smell of chikki?
The game progressed, the ticket checker came, one fished out the tickets from his pocket, got it examined and continued playing.
“Arey wah , Hatti marla ?” (bravo you killed my Elephant?)
There was not a dull moment through out my journey.
My observation was that the blind/deaf/dumb people “talk” more than a normal person.

For a photo exhibition of the Flickr group, the students from the nearby school were called for the inauguration. The fact that they were challenged (hearing impairment and mute) did not hinder their enthusiasm. (click on the pictures below to see complete picture)

They examined each and every photograph and discussed among themselves the finer points.

I just went on clicking their gusto and animated talk.


We “the normal” people are the dumb ones as we rarely converse.

The real anguish of a deaf and mute couple was well enacted by Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhadhuri in Gulzar’s Koshish.

By the way how does a blind man solve a Rubik cube puzzle ?
Designer Zhiliang Chen has come up with a new Rubik cube.
There are six different basic materials involved. They are Metal, wood, textile, rubber, plastic and stone. Different materials give people different senses, which thus enabled the blind men to play.