HELEN Keller is probably the most famous deaf-and-blind person of all time. Born in 1880, her world of sight and sound came to an abrupt end when she was 19 months old. For nearly seven years thereafter, Keller existed in a world of silence and total darkness - a fate unimaginable by most of us.
In that initial long, dark tunnel travelled by Keller, there was to be a shining light and it came in the form of Anne Mansfield Sullivan, Keller's beloved teacher. The meeting of the teacher and the pupil was a rendezvous arranged by destiny. It was an encounter that simply could not be avoided.
Anne Sullivan, herself partially blind, was also born into a life of despair and neglect. That she had survived and overcome the great odds made her a most suitable teacher for her young ward.
It took three years before Helen Keller learned to speak. This is a tale of a magnificent journey undertaken with great love and care. It is also about hope,
courage and an unshakeable faith in the human ability to live the best one can under abnormal circumstances.
Helen Keller's story should be read slowly. The pace must be unhurried and the heart at peace with itself. Keller has many valuable lessons for each one of us who has taken for granted all our natural gifts.
The book also contains letters written by Keller to people who met and befriended
her. These are illuminating and insightful, revealing a person who had found strength in her own ability to walk confidently among others endowed with physical attributes superior to hers.
Despite all her handicaps, Keller forged ahead to fulfil her own immense
potential as evident later in her adult life. Her personal story inspired
generations of individuals similarly born blind and deaf to follow in her
footsteps with steadfast confidence.
This is Keller's greatest contribution to society. To all those who suffered physical handicaps, she gave hope. To all those born into a soundless world, she gave encouragement. And to the rest who are blessed with normal functions, she taught us humility, compassion and love.
Helen Keller walked through this world at a time when it was in dire need of a human beacon of hope and joy. It must surely be one of man's greatest lessons to find out that one of the greatest among his kind was a woman who was born with some of life's greatest disadvantages.
This book is a sterling reminder that the rest of us have no cause to complain about life being unfair to us at any stage of our lives.
Helen Keller's story is one of the greatest autobiographies ever published. For her to be able to tell it with a happy ending makes it a treasure to be savoured.
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