Dinner in the Dark

Have you ever thought of closing your eyes for a few moments while doing your daily routine? Try it, and you will very well understand how visually-impaired people go about their lives, some with enthusiasm and a ready smile, despite having lost their sight and without much help from others. With an aim to sensitise Rotarians about the needs and daily hassles of sightless people, RC Chandigarh ­Shivalik, RID 3080, organised a novel fund-raiser called Rotary Dinner in the Dark (RDID) which was inaugurated by DG Jitendra Dhingra and attended by a galaxy of district and club office-bearers.

A four-member team of visually-impaired youth volunteered for the programme and were supported by Rotarians. Simply put, the sightless people guided invitees in a pitch-dark room to their seats and dinner was served in a dark environment. “Dining in pitch darkness, being hosted and served by visually-impaired, was a new kind of sensory experience as we had to navigate with touch and feel to get our food, drink and at the same time, hold conversation with our colleagues,” said Aneesh Bhanot, Club President. Apart from creating awareness on the special needs of sightless people, and the ‘daily struggles’ they undergo, the RDID mobilised funds for annual scholarships for visually-impaired, meritorious students for their higher studies.

The gift of vision

The novel ‘dining in the dark’ made the Rotarians realise “how lucky they are with perfect eyesight to enjoy the colours of the world. Also, the event imbued in us a deep respect for people who had lost their vision,” said Bhanot.

Another lesson drawn from the event was that people should value simple things in life such as eyesight and “not just fritter away precious moments in life grudging and being crazy over material pursuits.”

DG Dhingra inducted Shiv Kumar Sharma, a visually-challenged person, as an honorary member of RC ­Chandigarh Shivalik. Three members —
Dr V D Singh (and spouse Monica), Ashok Laroia (and Indu), and President Aneesh Bhanot (and Shanti Bhanot) — were honoured by the DG for donating to the scholarship fund.

Dhingra himself sponsored a ₹21,000 scholarship for the current year. “Till now scholarships worth ₹3.8 lakh were disbursed to visually-
challenged students from poor families over the past two years,” he said.

District Secretary Ajay Madan, AG Brig Daljit Dhillon, District Public Image Chair Dr Rita Kalra and PDGs Yoginder Diwan, J P S Sibia and Shaju Peter, besides club presidents and secretaries, had this unusual experience of dining in the dark.