We’ve often heard the words of wisdom- ‘If one door closes, another one opens’ . We come across a number of achievers in our day-to-day lives, but the ones who leave a mark on our minds are the ones who achieve despite limitations; the ones who are never heartbroken when one door closes. We met a rare achiever who stands as an evidence for the same, and this story of a 22-year old from Belgaum left us in a state of surprised admiration.
Basavaraj Shankar Umrani is a student of B.Ed at Athani, Belgaum. Completely blind by birth, Basavaraj has never ever had a glimpse of the external world, but his mind sees and interprets things that no normal person could ever perceive. He is gifted with a brain of unparalleled capacity. He has immense memory, shocking levels of perception, and mathematical and analytical skills that exceeds even the greatest brains in the country.
The Walking Computer
Basavaraj Umrani found his first love in mathematics at the age of eight. Various media houses and people around him recognized him for his extraordinary analytical skills.
Basavaraj can perform addition and multiplication of large numbers, within seconds, and without any aid. He can also accurately tell us the time of the day and the weekday of any date from the year 1900 to 2100.
This visually impaired was rightfully called ‘The Walking Computer’.
Cricket Funda
Basavaraj says that he is very fond of cricket and remembers all the names of cricketers from a number of countries, along with the statistics of their performances in different matches. His father says that Basavaraj can replicate cricket commentary in both Hindi and English in accurate form from any matches.
To awe us more, Basavaraj demonstrated this to us with pride! Apart from his love for cricket, he also recognizes currency notes, does programs on tricks for mathematics and personality development, and pursues music as an added passion.
Appearances On Various Media
Basavaraj has been recognized by a number of major people and media houses, where he has made appearances in different forms. He was interviewed by Malavika Avinash and Shivraj Kumar on their TV shows, and has also hosted a couple of short segments on a number of Kannada news channels. He has also been recognized by a number of political personalities who have personally offered him financial aid. A long list of awards have found their way to Basavaraj Umrani, which include local, state, as well as national awards. He is a well-known personality in his area and people around him say that he is just as beautiful by heart as efficient he is by his brain; if not more.
No Sight, Only Vision!
Basavaraj Umrani has so much more in store in the future. Being just 22, his abilities, thoughts and words are way beyond his age. He says that he wants to get into the profession of teaching, but not limit it to one place. He expresses a willingness to travel around the country and fill people with hope and positivity towards life.
Basavaraj wants to meet people like himself, who are differently abled, and bring them to limelight. He firmly states that people like himself do not seek sympathy, but only seek opportunities. He wants to create such opportunities and give people like himself a larger purpose.
All the while Basavaraj spoke to us, he only spoke of positive ideas and demonstrated unmatched skill; not a word of complain or regret escapes his mouth.
The zest that Basavaraj Umrani has towards life is rarely found, even in completely abled people. It makes us wonder if being differently abled is actually a blessing, for Basavaraj lacks eyesight but is as happy as a man can be. He considers the walking encyclopaedia, Shakuntala Devi, his inspiration and the divine spirits as his strength. When asked how he mastered all these skills and abilities, he repeatedly says that it’s all God’s gift.
By the time we finished talking to Basavaraj, we had thousands of reasons to thank the forces. But what we were most thankful was for having crossed ways with him. The conversation lasted for about an hour in Belgaum, but his innocent smile and the strong voice shall keep echoing in our minds and hearts forever.
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