Ridmi overcomes the impossible ...:

Determination and courage her forte

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

Life goes on rhythmically with all its ups and downs. The Life of teenager 'Ridmi' (Rhythm) gives all its meaning to her name. Her life too flows on rhythmically despite the biggest blow she faced six years ago.

Sheer dedication, immense courage and commitment, gave Ridmi, the 15-year-old all the reason to rejoice. She never let her fate to dominate her future. Ridmi made herself to see the world from being in total darkness. It wasn't really a challenge for her as she was ready to undertake any task from her tender age.

"Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what" the saying of an unknown author and suits her. She... Ridmi Handapangoda who became a 'light' to herself, I feel, is proud but is a humble teenager although she obtain nine As in the last G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination.

Writing a story about a teenager who obtained nine As would definitely not draw headlines but Ridmi's story is different because she has lost the sight in both eyes.

Amma mata mokuth penne nee, ( Mother I can't see anything) she came running to Sujeewa, who was busy preparing in the kitchen, on May 14, 2006. Since that morning, her vision gradually got blurred.

While she was reading her faviourite poem written about a river, the vision of the right eye ceased forever. Ridmi Handapangoda of Werellahena attended Thakshila College, Horana.

Sujeewa, a primary teacher of Gothami Primary school informed her husband Ajith who was busy decorating the house with colourful tiny bulbs to celebrate Vesak. Ajith who was eargally waiting to show his little daughter how the tiny colourful bulbs illuminate at night was disturbed by the news, and prayed that it was not so.

"I got up early in the morning and started reading as usual. First it got blurred more than usual. But I continued to read and waited for sometime as amma told me to rest. But in the evening my vision got worse and I could not see at all. I ran outside by touching the walls. I tried to open my eyes but nothing was there except total darkness. It was dark and is still so dark", Ridmi giggles.

Both parents cried for a while and informed eye specialist Dr. Nalin Gurusinghe, who alerted the couple of the possibility of Ridmi losing her sight some years back. The nerves of the left eye were dead by birth and she saw the world with only her right eye which only had a eyesight of -14. Dr Gurusinghe after explaining the reality had referred the case to another eye specialist Dr. Saliya Pathirana, who explained to the young parents about the complicated lens replacement surgery, which has a very remote chance of correcting Ridmi's sight.

After losing the last hope, the couple could not prevent themselves from crying.

"I am not crying amma but why are you crying. I know Braille and I will study hard", little Ridmi's words gave strenth to her mother and father.

From Thakshila primary school, Ridmi entered Thakshila Central College, Horana as she secured 148 marks at the grade five Scholarship examination in 2005. "As I had very poor sight in the right eye, I had to get the pages close to my eye to see the letters.

As I knew Braille I did the examination in Braille", Ridmi recalled her past, where the little girl and her parents struggled so that she could continue her studies. "I must thank the Principal of my school H.K.A. Abeypala, former Deputy Principal and now provincial Director of Education U.V. Malkanthi, all the teachers and the staff who supported her to obtain nine As.

Special thanks go to her best friend Sharika Chathumini, who holds her hand whereever she goes in school and reads the notes written on the black board. While other 'friends' forget Ridmi who is the only blind student in school, Chathumini was behind her like a shadow always protecting her during school hours.

Ajith and Sujeewa never hide the fact that their only child is blind, decided to face the challenge despite grieving over her fate, they prepared Ridmi by teaching her Braille when she was in grade two. "We accompanied her whereever we go to give her confidence that being blind was not a problem in day-to-day life.", Ajith who thanked his boss of Halo Covers and Casing (Pvt) Ltd for giving him freedom during his working hours to attend to her activities - bring her from school and taking her for extra classes, she said.

The courage of the grade two student influenced two officers of the Special Education unit of the Horana to teach her Braille. If not for Mr Ratnapala, Director of Special Education and teacher Somasiri, who taught Braille converting all the examination papers to Braille and also converting her answers written in Braille to Sinhala or English for eight long years, Ridmi would not have been able to achieve her goals in education.

"From grade two they were there for me. Teach me translating the test papers and answer scripts of each examination. A few minutes before the test papers are distributed to the students, they get the paper for me and convert it to Braille.

One test paper turned into Braille contains more than 25 pages and my answer papers written in Braille are a big bundle of papers but they were there to convert them in the Sinhala language and English for me.

They even converted my essays and poems written in Braille to Sinhala.

They had a commitment towards me for the past eight years and never considered it as a burden. I owe them a lot", Ridmi became very emotional while expressing herself.

The school authorities have assigned a separate teacher who read the first paper of each examination, which contains 40 questions which had to be underlined.

She answered the questions orally and the teacher underlined her answers. The teachers gave a few extra minutes for her to write the second paper.

Ridmi needed a strong school bag as she always needed to carry the Braille writer and papers for it in addition to her text books.

The Braille writer worth Rs. 125,000 was gifted to her by a friend of her father's in the US and now she is happy as she was lucky to own a modern Braille writer - the Mountbatten Braille writer, which is worth of over Rs. 284,000.

This facilitates printouts and was gifted to her by Dr. Gurusinghe and his sister in the US.

"When I was in grade 6,7,8 I had a problem of getting textbook in Braille and I had to convert books into braille for me to study. My mother or father read the normal text books and I typed them in Braille. The teachers took extra time to explain pictures drawn on the blackboard and I solved Mathematics in my mind to get the answers.

At home my 'aatha' (grandfather, who is 76-year-old) read the books for me to type them in Braille". Ridmi kept a record by securing the first place in class defeating over 50 students in each class from grade one to 10 and becoming grade first for over four years continuously.

Apart from her achievements in studies she had won heaps of certificates for essay writing, poems and singing at school competitions. " I take a liking to whatever subject I listen to.

When you love your studies, that love will help you to do your best and also to remember the subject. When you hate studies and when you do it for the sake of doing it, the lessons will not register in your mind. When I am studying I continue to study till I complete that particular lesson.

I use to make questions out of the lessons and answer them within a time frame. Some days I was not aware of how many hours I had studied but know it was time for me to get ready to go to school", the teenager who mostly responds with a very charming smile said.

She learned the ABC of computer handling from a university undergraduate, and Ridmi does her writing using the special software called 'JOSE' designed for visually impaired persons.

No time for 'listening' to tele-dramas in her timetable but she eagerly waits to listen to the daily news round-up.

"I am very proud of my daughter. Parents and teachers can push their children to study but when children lack interest, all their efforts are futile. But here it's a different story.

She pushed us to get our help to study. She was never tired of studying and she always wanted to do things independently", Ajith, always keeps a close eyes on latest technology-medically and educationally-related to blind people, said.

Ajith and Sujeewa explored all the possible avenues to restore his daughter's vision but never sought assistance from the unseen forces. " As strong Buddhists we had religious ceremonies to invoke blessings on her and taught her to do the correct things despite her visual impairment. Though I didn't encourage her to cook and other things which I thought might harm her, I allowed her to help me in the kitchen and do other small activities at home. Ajith advices her that blindness is not an excuse to be untidy and especially as a girl we wants our daughter to do her things in a proper way", Sujeewa said.

"One day after school she was crying as her favourite water bottle was taken by another. She complained saying :"Thaththa why did the person who can see take my bottle> Though I can't see I never take some one else's things". I laughed and explained the nature of human life and not to worry over lost things but to get courage and try to get a new one", he said while Ridmi was smiling.

The parents said obtaining nine As was not a big surprise for them when considering her past records and marks for the last ten years and all the teachers expected her to get nine As. " There are over 50 students in her class and being the only blind student we never expect her to come first in class. But in each examination she became first in the class. This is mainly due to her commitment and love to study", Ajith said.

There were times when Ridmi's parents cry silently when they see incidents like Ridmi combing her hair in front of the mirror or asking the colour of her dress from her grandfather. However, recalling the courage of the teenager they gain confidence.

Now she is saddled with another ardous task - converting Advanced Level books into Braille as they are not available in the Department of Education. Dreaming to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a teacher, Ridmi has already selected the subjects for the AL examination. She wants to study Political Science, Sinhala Language and History in the Arts stream.

Being a 'voracious reader, the first question she asked her amma when she was getting each school holiday was how many books she and father were going to read to her. She has a good collection of story and poetry books.

But now the couple is facing a problem of reading books which suits her age. " How can I read famous novels like 'Golu Hadawatha' (Silent heart), to her?, he asked. However, Ajith has been able to purchase some CDs of some famous books sold by the Blind Graduates Association.

While Ridmi's father is preparing to face the next step in Ridmi's adolescence his 'chooti duoo' is still a small girl who wears sarees and plays the role of a teacher with her best friend Chathumini. This is her favourite game which also helped her to remember lessons.

"Dennath ekka saree adagena dennata denna uganna gannawa ( The two friends dress in sarees as two teachers, they teach difficult lessons to each other)", said Sujeewa who kept her old sarees for Ridmi to play.

Ridmi has a message for nangis and mallies' ( Sisters and brothers):" Never think that you can't do anything. Always believe in yourself and do everything with courage. Study daily and never postpone anything for tomorrow. Do it today. Love your studies. Always keep in mind that nothing is impossible".