Blind

In the blind home that Baba runs, the residents can see. Sharfu sees through fingers that weave bamboo strands into beautiful baskets. Even blinded by desires, Roni sees through her lovers. Bhola keeps a watchful eye over his friends through intuition and guile. Yet, when Baba, the guardian and mentor to them all, regains sight in an accident, all he sees is a corrupt and decadent world. Joginder Paul, one of the greats of Urdu literature, tells a powerful story about sight and perception, and how it impacts many facets of the human existence: territoriality, greed, selfishness, corruption, acceptance and discovery. Blind is a powerful metaphor for a country and a society that is crippled by spiritual and moral degeneration. Sparked off by a visit to a blind home in Nairobi, Paul’s story appears to ask: of what use is sight for those who only look but do not see?