Mubashir Naik
When Ubaid was Digonosed with an eyesight disability/problem at the age of 4 months, His father Manzoor Ahmed pledged that he would leave no stone unturned to give his child the best treatment, but after seven eye Surgeries, Manzoor Ahmed wanted to give up in frustration, when the Doctors said, “Ubaid’s eyesight will never recover to normal.”
That is when the quest of Manzoor to use all his resources grew to provide his child every possible treatment.
Initially, Manzoor was anxious as to how Ubaid will pass his whole life sitting at home in darkness, but, he decided to take him to school to make the people around him understand that he is no less than any other child around him.
In the school, Manzoor says, he told teachers lucidly not to force Ubaid to study or compel him to do his homework, but deep in his heart, Manzoor knew that Ubaid will never be able to study as suggested by Doctors, ‘due to the problem of his eyesight.’ After spending a few years in Iqbal Memorial School, Ubaid surprised everyone and suddenly his father believes, his son can achieve, what he aims for.
Ubaid Ahmed was born in 2000 in a remote village of the Babore area of Doda district in the Chenab Valley.
“At the time of his birth, Ubaid looked like a normal baby but a few months after he was born, apprehension arose in his parents that something was not right with his eyesight as Ubaid used to play only with torchlight, natural light seemed darkness to him,” his father Manzoor Ahmed told The Kashmiriyat.
“We took him to a local hospital in Doda, where Ubaid’s problem of eyesight was diagnosed. Doctors in Doda suggested us to take him to PGI Chandigarh for further treatment. We took him to PGI where four back to back surgeries were made within the period of two months. Ubaid’s eyesight improved. A few years later, we took him to PGI for further treatment but due to the overcrowding there, we returned to Lakhanpur, where one more surgery was conducted. After Seven surgeries, Doctors told us that no treatment can make him, look like a normal child,” said Manzoor Ahmed.
We admitted him to a school, not for his education but to make him feel that he is no less than other children of the society.
Ubaid is studying in Iqbal memorial School Babore of District Doda’s since nursery. Although Ubaid’s parents were told by doctors that their child may never have a clear vision, his parents admitted him to the school just to ensure that their child does not devoid of hope for good.
“I knew that he will not be able to study well nor could he keep pace with other kids, I do not know what thing has brought him here, perhaps it’s compassion and sympathy,” said Ubaid’s father with tears rolling down his eyes.
“Once, Ubaid was admitted to our School. I made a special request to my staff members to take special care and interest in Ubaid’s case so that he shall not feel less than any other student in the class. From day one, we start taking good care of him, took special classes, and made him feel like a person of good fortune,” Umar Iqbal, the principal of the school told The Kashmiriyat.
He said that Ubaid enjoyed kindergarten classes and proved himself to be of a good intellect but his pace slowed down as he grew up, subsequently he lost his interest in studies. “During primary classes, he wanted to give up studying, the reason being, poor handwriting due to poor eyesight.”
“This demotivated him so much so that he would hunch over his desk to hide his homework during the writing assignments and would offer different excuses for not being able to do the assigned work. After all our hard work, witnessing such activities of Ubaid worried us,” said Umar Iqbal, the principal of his school.
Bringing back Ubaid on the right track was the most challenging task for the teachers and they took it as a challenge. They left no stone unturned and used all devices to motivate him through different teaching techniques and fortunately after a persistent uphill battle, the teachers succeeded in developing his interest in reading books.
Today Ubaid is quite interested in books. He is motivated to the extent that he does not waste his time, rather he keeps himself busy all the time with books. In him, I see, “A Character of Stephen Hawking.” said Umar Iqbal with a smile on his face.
The journey of Ubaid is both surprising and inspiring. “I used to have blank dreams, where I would see a colorful world, me being a doctor, but the morning I woke up and again saw the blur world. But I kept pressing myself and seeing my Father’s dedication to providing me a good education, I pushed myself to a time like today, where I spend at least 12 hours a day on books,” Ubaid said, adding that he dreams of becoming a Doctor.
“Everything has changed for me. My favorite subject is history but I want to be a Doctor.”
“History is as tasty as luxurious food for me. I enjoy reading our past. I do not get satisfied until I read History. I want to visit all the historical places throughout the world, ” Ubaid told The Kashmiriyat.
Ubaid’s dreams are not limited by his disability, rather he dreams of taking to the skies one day so that he can see the world.