BANGALORE: When a bright and buoyant seven- year-old loses her eyesight due to brain tumour on the optic nerve, the world around her is bound to come crashing down.But one little girl stood firm, and let nothing stop her from completing her schooling, under graduation, post-graduation and even her thesis.Bangaloreborn Dr Sangeetha looks back at her years of growing up and says, “I wanted to show people that I could achieve what they thought I couldn't.” The first time Sangeetha's parents sensed something wrong with her vision was when she asked her sister to help her down the stairs from school.“They took me to many doctors, but because technology was not so advanced then, most of them dismissed my problem as squint or night blindness.” Only after taking her to NIMHANS did they come to comprehend the gravity of the situation.She had a tumour on the optic nerve and that had to be removed to prevent it from spreading to other parts of the body.“But I lost my sight,” recalls Sangeetha.Sangeetha says that her parents' support made her stand up for herself, though there were people who hurt her with unnecessary questions.School was something that she wanted to get back to.Thanks to the Integrated Education Scheme that National Association for the Blind (NAB) had been experimenting with, she went back to her old school.Sangeetha was the first one who completed schooling under the scheme.“Now such a system is compulsory.Students with handicap can be enrolled in normal schools,” she points out.And through the NAB's scheme, she sailed through college and all the way to earn a PhD, that she got for the topic, Role of Women's Organisations in Empowerment of Distressed Women in Karnataka'.Sangeetha has written two books, Women’s Organisations in Modern Era and The Empowerment of Visually Impaired Women Through Solution of their Socio-psychological Problems, and now is a documentarian at the Department of Women's Studies, NMKRV College for Women.“I have been documenting women from different walks of life — from IAS officers to women who operate the printing press.The RV trust is planning to publish books related to my research,” she says.It was during one such research round that she met Maya Chandra, a documentary filmmaker.“I met Maya to interview her for my research," says Sangeetha.Maya who was planning to make a documentary on eye donation wanted to know a little more about the world of someone who couldn't see.“When I heard that Sangeetha has pledged her own eyes, I was surprised,” says Maya. Interestingly, Sangeetha who can't see has pledged both her eyes.“I can't see because my optic nerve is damaged. But my cornea is intact. So I can donate my eyes,” she smiles.The telefilm that Maya is co-producing with Devi Eye hospital should be out by the end of the month. Sangeetha has met the Queen of England, won the National Award from the ministry of social justice and empowerment, travelled on her own to Pakistan to give a lecture and done quite a bunch of things ordinary people wouldn't do.“Sympathy is not what is needed. Opportunity is,” she says. Sangeetha admits that it is not easy to be a woman who can’t see. “First of all, people discriminate against you because you are a woman.Then because you are blind. Also you can’t come across many NGOs that separately deal with differently-abled women," she says.“Awareness is necessary. And I believe that will come with time,” she wraps up.Help is in the neighbourhoodDevi Eye Hospitals announced the launch of NammaNETRA Network, a neighbourhood network that promotes eye care and eye donation.The campaign will cover the surrounding areas of Koramangala and HSR Layout units of Devi Eye Hospitals and will be open to volunteers who can become nammanetra ambassadors, who in turn can get any of their family, neighbours, friends and colleagues for a free eye checkup and counseling session.The campaign will run for a month beginning on World Sight Day (today).The campaign will seek to educate as well as engage communities on vision care, vision impairment, vision-related disease and eye donation.There is an alarming increase in the number of people who are getting affected early because of diabetes related vision complications, cataract and glaucoma, lazy eye and refractive errors in children, CVS (Computer Vision Syndrome that occurs when an individual spends too much time in front of any digital or screen-based gadget), allergy-related infections and pollution in the city.Dr Balakrishna Shetty, founder and chairman of Devi Eye Hospitals said, “Eye sight is our own window to the world around us, yet most of us take such a precious gift for granted.In spite of the availability of so many qualified eye care centres in the city, people continue to be either ignorant or negligent with their eyes.Majority of the world’s blind people reside in the developing regions such as India.Though Bangalore and most other urban cities are relatively progressive, they still lack when it comes to eye care.They only respond if there is an issue.Timely detection can help both the individual as well as the physician to tackle the problem better and avoid any permanent threat or damage to vision.” NammaNETRA Network stands for Neighbourhood Extension (Education & Engagement) for Total Response and Action in eye care and has been regularly conducting eye screening camps in apartments, schools, clubs and offices and would continue to rollout awareness campaigns on eye health through literature, handouts, stickers, posters, informative films, workshops and so on.Regular eye-check up, healthy eating, adequate rest and following the 20- 20-20 Rule, where every 20 minutes, an individual takes a 20-second break and looks 20 feet away, can keep our eyes healthy.Dr Shalini Shetty, senior consultant ophthalmology, Apollo Hospital, gives a few pointers on eye disorders and the importance of regular eye check-ups Your best defense against eye disorders is to have regular checkups.See an eye care professional if you have a sudden change in vision or everything looks dim or if you see flashes of light.Other symptoms that need quick attention are pain, double vision, fluid coming from the eye and inflammation. Some of the common complaints that need to be examined at the earliest include Eye Pain: Pain may occur around the eye, in the eye, or behind the eye.Sharp eye pain that worsens with blinking or that is accompanied by a sensation of ‘something in the eye’ is often caused by a corneal disorder, such as an abrasion, foreign body, ulcer, or infection. Severe, deep, aching pain in the eye may be caused by acute closed-angle glaucoma, especially if accompanied by significantly blurred vision, a red eye, and a ‘steamy’ appearing cornea.Light Sensitivity:Sensitivity to bright light occurs normally during extremely sunny conditions or when coming out of a dark environment into bright sunlight.Pain resulting from bright light can be a symptom of a migraine headache or a number of eye disorders.Itching:Itching may result from allergy and is usually accompanied by watering.Inflammation of the eyelids and dry eyes may also cause itching.Itching may result from infection or infestation with lice or other parasites.Dryness:Dryness of the eyes can be caused by inadequate tear production, accelerated tear evaporation, or refractive surgery, vitamin A deficiency.
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