Shared by a Dear Friend of mine ...

I am sharing this wonderful experience I recently had in Singapore.

I was invited to one Friday evening event by one of MNC Vendor organization who had organized the event to raise funds for the visually handicapped people in a center for the blind.

As usual, since it was a Friday evening, I first thought to skip the event considering it could be a bit boring and rather spend the evening relaxing by some other means.

But being alone and sometimes finding it difficult to kill time, I thought it fit to accept the invitation and registered online for booking. Moreover it was free :) which was another motivation to go to the event.

I was looking to the event to pass some time, meet few people and nothing else.


When I went there, there were approx 40 people from various industries invited for that event. I found some Indians and naturally talked to them about how life is in Singapore etc etc.

Initially we were shown a video about the visually handicapped center .

What their activities were, how the institute was  helping the blind people in Singapore
to live a more fulfilling life, etc .

It was a short 15 minute video and quite inspiring to know how people from different walks of life spend time in helping these blind people without expecting anything in return. 

They shared their satisfaction and their fulfillment that they get by helping the visually impaired people.

After the video, we all gathered in a hall and were briefed about the next event.

The theme of the next event was "Dining in the Dark". 

And this was the event that turned out to be the most inspiring and worth sharing.

What it meant was that we all 40+ people were going to have Dinner in a pitch Dark room !!!!

The next 2 hours were completely planned, organized , directed and executed by three blind youths. 

One was a girl ( Leader ) and other two boys were assistant to her forming a team of three blind volunteers.

The blind leader first gave us tips for dining (These were the ACTUAL STANDARDS THAT THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE FOLLOW IN ORDER TO MAKE THEIR LIFE EASIER )

1. When you sit at your table the things will be placed as follows :
     at 3 o clock of your dish : You will find a spoon.
     at 9 o clock : Fork
     12 o clock : spoon.
     2 o clock : Empty Glass
     Dish at the center with Paper napkin tucked at 6 o clock.

2. There were two large Jugs that were to be circulated. 
The Jug with plain walls contained water and the Jug with the curved walls contained orange juice.

3. When we got your Jug based on our choice we had to pour it in our glass. 
We had to dip our forefinger in the glass so that when we fill it and the liquid touches our finger , we have to stop pouring.

She (The leader) asked us, whether everyone had understood . 

We all said yes but everyone was as confused as the other as we tried to recollect as to what she had said by confirming with each other.

The next One and Half hrs. that we spent were full of fun and learning.

In a completely pitch dark room where we could not see ANYTHING we enjoyed a delicious meal even though we could not see it.

All 40 of us were taken in groups in the dark hall . 

Each one was directed by a visually impaired person till he/she sits on a chair (We were finding this awkward because it is we who are supposed to guide the blind people to their
destination and help them)

We were Served a full five course dinner by this team of three blind people - Welcome drinks, appetizers, starters , main course and desserts.

The amazing thing was that the team of three visually impaired people were serving vegetarian dishes to vegetarian people who were sitting randomly in
the room !!!

While registering online we were asked question to choose from "Vegetarian"
or "Non vegetarian".

I obviously chose Vegetarian , being one.

We were so nicely hosted that we did not had to wait in between serves . As we were ending finishing one dish , we were served with next the course without any delay.

After approx 1 and half hours of Dining in the dark , the leader asked whether everyone had finished eating.

After confirmation she switched on the lights of the dining room.

We left the Dining room with tears in our eyes.

We realized how lucky we are and how we have been gifted with our beautiful eyes to see this beautiful world.

We realized how difficult the lives of the visually impaired people are, that they have to cope with their day to day activities without the gift of the vision.

We realized how uncomfortable we were for just two hours without being able to see anything and how they must be living their lives.

We realized how unfortunate we are , that we do not value such simple things in life we have and cry and run after what we don't have .................for whole of our lives without having time to adore for the things we have.