<div align="justify">Raise, aim and shoot. No, these are not instructions at a military training camp, but are those given by trainers at a special archery event organised for visually impaired people in the city on Sunday.<br /><br />Over 30 blind participants learnt archery at an event organised by GiftAbled in collaboration with Tiger Adventure Foundation and Christ University.<br /><br />A bell was hung under the archery board and a rope was tied to the bell. A volunteer would pull the rope to ring the bell when a participant was ready to aim. Trained archers taught the blind participants to aim at the source of the sound for hitting the target.<br /><br />Manjunath, a bank officer by profession who lost his sight very early in life, was overjoyed to hit his target. However, he was disappointed that he had done better when he had participated in a similar event last year, where he was able to hit the target in the first attempt. He says while most of his time is spent at work and with family, it is in events like these where he is able to learn new things. <br /><br />“It was an incredible experience as this is the first time I tried my hand at archery. I enjoy playing chess and cricket and have been a part of a few tournaments. The trainers and volunteers were very encouraging and supportive. These events help us show the world we are no less than others,” said Venkat Rao, a blind participant who is undergoing skill training course at Enable India.<br /><br />Prarthana Kaul, founder of Giftabled, said the idea behind this event was to help the visually impaired people understand archery and make them feel they are capable of doing it. “Before this, they never knew what holding a bow and arrow feels like. They went on to hit their targets that boosted their confidence greatly,” she said.<br /><br />“This is the first time we are training blind people in archery. Though we have trained the differently abled in a few sports, we have never taught people who are completely blind. Their enthusiasm and passion towards the sport is inspiring. We had a few participants who were able to hit the targets easily,” said D S D Solanki, trustee of Tiger Adventure Foundation.<br /><br />It was a humbling experience for the volunteers. “It is an eye-opening experience as we never imagined a blind person can play this sport. Seeing them hit targets makes us feel very proud,” said Sucheta Das, a student at Christ University, a volunteer.<br /></div>
<div align="justify">Raise, aim and shoot. No, these are not instructions at a military training camp, but are those given by trainers at a special archery event organised for visually impaired people in the city on Sunday.<br /><br />Over 30 blind participants learnt archery at an event organised by GiftAbled in collaboration with Tiger Adventure Foundation and Christ University.<br /><br />A bell was hung under the archery board and a rope was tied to the bell. A volunteer would pull the rope to ring the bell when a participant was ready to aim. Trained archers taught the blind participants to aim at the source of the sound for hitting the target.<br /><br />Manjunath, a bank officer by profession who lost his sight very early in life, was overjoyed to hit his target. However, he was disappointed that he had done better when he had participated in a similar event last year, where he was able to hit the target in the first attempt. He says while most of his time is spent at work and with family, it is in events like these where he is able to learn new things. <br /><br />“It was an incredible experience as this is the first time I tried my hand at archery. I enjoy playing chess and cricket and have been a part of a few tournaments. The trainers and volunteers were very encouraging and supportive. These events help us show the world we are no less than others,” said Venkat Rao, a blind participant who is undergoing skill training course at Enable India.<br /><br />Prarthana Kaul, founder of Giftabled, said the idea behind this event was to help the visually impaired people understand archery and make them feel they are capable of doing it. “Before this, they never knew what holding a bow and arrow feels like. They went on to hit their targets that boosted their confidence greatly,” she said.<br /><br />“This is the first time we are training blind people in archery. Though we have trained the differently abled in a few sports, we have never taught people who are completely blind. Their enthusiasm and passion towards the sport is inspiring. We had a few participants who were able to hit the targets easily,” said D S D Solanki, trustee of Tiger Adventure Foundation.<br /><br />It was a humbling experience for the volunteers. “It is an eye-opening experience as we never imagined a blind person can play this sport. Seeing them hit targets makes us feel very proud,” said Sucheta Das, a student at Christ University, a volunteer.<br /></div>
