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Deccan Herald » Fine Art / Culture » Detailed Story
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AGAINST ALL ODDS
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His words sprung from a well of silence
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As a child, R M Borgaonkar could not hear or speak, but today this courageous man can not only talk but has also written books. Bharathi Prabhu profiles him.
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His sprightly walk belies R M Borgaonkar’s age. At 85, this retired H A L employee is perhaps more active and busy than he was while in service. His day still starts at 5 am. He runs a household, walks 5 km every day and regularly meets friends. He travels once in two years to visit relatives in other states. More importantly, his literary activities are going on at full speed. His autobiography in Marathi was published in 2003 as also a collection of short stories in Marathi. This is an addition to two collections of English short stories and two more in Marathi that have been published over the years. He recently won one more prize in the annual short story competition conducted by a Marathi magazine.
Borgaonkar has also passed his senior grade Kannada proficiency exam. Now he can translate stories from Kannada to Marathi with greater ease and confidence. His story is not just about ageing gracefully but also about overcoming physical limitations.
His hearing aid and the difficulty he has in understanding speech make his hearing impairment obvious but when he says, “I became deaf in both ears at the age of six months after an attack of small pox,” you find the man’s achievement amazing.
Hearing impairment at birth or at any early age interferes with speech development. Now with technological advancement, not only can hearing impairment be diagnosed at an early stage but the child’s speech development can also be facilitated with appropriate treatment. In 1919, when Borgaonkar became deaf, such facilities were non-existent in our country. In fact, he did not get to wear a hearing aid till he was 43 years old. How did he learn to speak if he could not hear? Borgaonkar has this interesting tale to narrate.
“Being hearing impared, I did not speak or go to school till I was eight years old. I used to while way my time with the village boys. One day, unable to bear a bully’s taunts, I was about to hit him with a big stone when my mother screamed ‘nakos’ (no) and I heard that! I turned to my mother and repeated the word, albeit unclearly. My mother then realised that I was not dumb and she was overjoyed. A private teacher was hired who shouted the lessons into my ears every day. The tutor would be hoarse by the end of the day,” chuckles Borgaonkar in recollection. He also began to attend a Marathi school.
After struggling hard for years, Borgaonkar learnt to speak, read and write Marathi. Supportive teachers, a mother and elder brother who believed in him and his own grit and intelligence made the task possible. A reflective Borgaonkar says, “I realised that I had to learn to speak to be a part of this world. To learn more words, I read, spoke to people and tried hard to lip-read. Whenever people didn’t understand me, I wrote down what I was trying to say. I observed people’s reaction to my speech and tried to correct myself.”
Now, most people can understand him with a little bit of effort but few realise the hard work that has made this possible. Borgaonkar went on to complete his matriculation and then his degree with English as medium of instruction. Tailoring, a profession chosen for him by his family, never really interested him. Having read an article in the Reader’s Digest about flying, he realised he wanted to become an aeronautical engineer. So he came to Bangalore and joined H A L as an apprentice. He got married and raised two sons who are well settled now. He worked in H A L for 29 years. His wife, a poet and writer herself, was a source of immense strength for him. She also helped him speak better. By a curious twist of fate, by her middle age she, too, had begun to lose her hearing. She passed away in 1998 after 50 years of marriage.
Borgaonkar’s interest in people has led him to make friends with people of all ages and from all walks of life. His zest for life and positive attitude inspire all those who interact closely with him. Deccan Herald had carried his life story as a serial, from 27-12-81 to 17-1-82.
These days the old man is busy sms ing on his cell phone. “Distance communication for a deaf man— amazing!” he says. No less amazing is the way he has embraced life.
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Sunday, October 2, 2005
