"I Vs Eye"; An Eye opening Interview with Professor Habeeb C

'Do I see darkness in my eyes? Do you see in yours? Darkness hasn't woven our lives together. Dreams. Its only Dreams that can make anyone's eyes clearer, giving the ability to see' 

The above excerpt is taken from 'Music in Light' was part of many other essays, short stories, poems, interviews and memoirs that created history on 20th January 2015. An eye-opening anthology was released by the Centre for Advanced Studies and Research in English Language and Literature, Farook College, Kozhikode which is the start to the end of the many blind stereotypes we have about the visually impaired.
Dance along with the rhythm of these poems, ponder on the theories and academic essays that sparks a new light, smile at how Sudheer explains how 'being blind can be fun too', relax in the short stories and play and question yourself along with the interviews. All in all, 'I vs Eye, an anthology of the visually impaired' will make you see like never before into a world that we were blind to.

Here, Mr. Habeeb C, the main Coordinator and brain behind this project tells us more about 'I vs Eye '. Mr Habeeb is currently working as an Assistant Professor of English in Farook College. He is also the vice president of Kerala Federation of the Blind. A writer, who writes in local dailies and publications and whose papers are published in academic journals, he states very clearly why this book must be read by all, which I wholeheartedly second.

Tell us the story of the origin of “I vs Eye”

Into the world of  "I vs Eye", with Mr.Habeeb

When I was doing my PG, a teacher of mine, Mr. M Aboobakar, in a talk organized by the department of Malayalam, suggested an idea  of having a “literature of the visually impaired” and once I studied in detail the constructs and representations the main stream literature offered to the visually impaired, I understood that we need to create a counter  tradition or literature of our own, to challenge the existing stereotyping . I have been through the sentiments, the glorification, and the occasional few denials the society offered to people like me.  That doubled the need for such a literature.

When my professor DR. Asha was here prior to my joining as a permanent faculty for 2 -4 yrs, we used to conduct our very own long discussions on such topics . So naturally when the department  was in search for a topic to be incorporated in the CPE  Project, It was she who hinted doing this topic. Being a researcher on the same issue, I was aware of the politics, the social necessity, the cultural importance, and the community benefits that such a publication can make .We thought we would do this publication in order to foster such a tradition and culture, in the mainstream academia.

What is the inspiration behind the Catchy title “I vs Eye”

Mr.K Jayakumar,VC, Malayalam Sarvakalashala

In early 1920s and 30s, when we were living in an age where the Spivak like belief that the subaltern cannot speak for themselves but somebody else must speak for them  was prevalent, people like Father Gabriel  and father Thomas Carroll wrote on behalf of the visually impaired. So in one such books by Father Thomas Carroll, “Blindness: What it is, What it Does, and How to Live with it ”, he says that “the loss of Eye is equal to the loss of I”. He meant that in the absence of eyes, man’s existence is itself meaningless. We still believe in the notion that eyes are the gateways to knowledge. Scientifically many people claim that a visually impaired person loses 70% of information that are otherwise gathered through eyes  so they need to sharpen their other senses.

Secondly from time immemorial ,being blind was identified as synonymous as darkness. Whatever anxiety, whatever frustration, that you suffer from in the absence of light are considered as the feelings of the original blind. But the actual blind neither experienced light nor darkness. When one does not know what is light, how can he know darkness?  Etymologically, the term blind represents window blind, or something that blocks light.  In all other contexts, where the term blind is used is negative like blind faith, blind admiration and so on.  So it was to demystify the belief that in the absence of sight or light, a person’s presence is dead, that I chose this title, “I vs Eye” where the self or essence is more important and not the eyes or perception.

This anthology introduces a new theory, ‘Literature of the visually impaired’.  What is the future of such a literature?

The Visually Impaired community suffer from two major obstacles because of the loss of sight; one -the disability to communicate effectively by writing or reading and Two – the obstacle of mobility.  For mobility there are certain solutions like white cane, use of a sighted guide, a trained dog etc. But regarding written communication, Braille was the only available medium. However, it was a costly affair even in the age of computer printing and was not a medium of integration.  So, the limited availability of the literature for the blind is a great obstacle. Then came a time where cassettes were available, but that again did not create an integration or autonomy wherein the degree of self-reliance was questioned and dependence was of a higher degree.  

Dr. Asha receiving the copy from Mr.K Jayakumar

After the emergence of the screen readers and OCRs, there is a kind of equality offered to the visually impaired to read anything they like.  A wide range of accessibility, universality of resources and creativity was fostered by the technology. Hence, we now see a wave among the visually impaired who feel that we are no longer content with the sentiments thrown onto us and that  the social attitude of “othering” must change.  The only obstacle for such a wave is that the visually challenged community is not fully aware of themselves.

There  could be a few periodic journals, publications, souvenirs done by different organizations, but considering the literature of the marginalized as a topic, , we don’t see anything about the literature of the Visually Impaired. UNCRPD (United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) see disability as another range of human diversity. So quite recently there is a branch called, ‘ Disability studies’ which tries to attain the theorization of the disability. They have published a ‘disability study reader’, but even there, most of the issues addressed are the issues of the deaf and dumb.

This movement thus has a lot of or can gain a lot of momentum in the future. The Visually Impaired community all over the world should be aware of the need for such a movement in literature, which requires not only literature but also a properly theorized literature from within the community.  Even if it may not become potent enough to change the stereotypes, it can make the mainstream, aware of the fact that there is another side of the coin which you always fail to see.

The book was also released in Braille and Audio format. What is its significance today ?

 Braille of course is important in the sense that once you have mastered computer you do not throw away your pen or books.  If I listen to a screen reader, and read something, I am only hearing.  If I want to read something of my own, I must touch. There are many debates on whether creativity can be fully developed only by writing or a technological way of drafting will also be powerful enough to foster your creativity.  But there are still people who say that they cannot type, so you require Braille itself. It is the oxygen of the visually impaired.

 In English and other major languages, you have screen readers, which can read the book, and the technologies used in mobile phones have revolutionized the life of the visually impaired.  However, it does not diminish the importance of Braille.  You cannot determine the importance of one type with comparison to the other. Each one has its own importance.

Jeffin, BA eng.Student receiving the AudioBook from
Dr. Yaseen Ahraf

There are two important reasons why I chose to publish the book in three formats.  Even if I had only published in print and an e-copy was available, it could have solved the problem to a great extend. But I wanted to extend this canvas to an older generation among the visually impaired. To them Braille was more competent .To make the society aware of the inclusive possibilities , publish this book in Braille. Publishing a book in Braille with the UGC fund was something unimaginable to us in the past.  I thought I would accomplish that unimaginable dream in the present.

Is this anthology the first of its kind in India?

A few books, probably consisting of partial literature of the visually impaired , a few experience memoirs of the visually impaired or biographical snippets , a few poets here and there could have been published but an organized anthology of this kind with a theoretical introduction and preface to it, is being published for the first time in India and that too done by a main stream academic institution. It is very recently that the mainstream academia in Kerala started discussing issues like the literature of the visually impaired and its significance.  Even though people have been watching a film like, “kakakuyil” for the last one decade, only when we tell them that there is a big fallacy in creating a visually impaired person able to hear one person and touch another and not able to understand the pranks that are being played on them , they understand its ridiculousness. In such a wilderness, I think, it is for the first time, such a creative movement is occurring which I am sure will kindle a fire among the mainstream academia to do further such publications.

Dr. Asha Addressing the gathering 

What do you think a reader should expect from such a book?

They must know that there is a world beyond their understanding. There are many things that they misrepresent or understand as a result of the misrepresentation. At the same time there are many things that they must understand that are originally there. I have referred to that in my preface in the book, this anthology gives you the kind of anxieties , worries , the wilderness someone goes through when one fine morning, they simply go blind and the kind of comfort that they acquire once they are ready to survive in that situation.  Out of the many aspects  there are two things that one can understand from this book. One of course is the autonomy of the visually impaired – his feelings, his thoughts, his perception and the other thing is , how the society perceives them. Many people ask me how a visually impaired person can enjoy a dream. Even the theoretical, terminological things that are usually associated with the visually impaired community are often used or understood in a wrong sense.  Therefore, this anthology is an answer.  As K.E.N said, it is a kind of revolutionary explosive dialogue with the society, which had crippled, manacled, and denied a community a long time as a result of their misperceptions.

As a student and professor of literature, what do you think is the literary value of this book?

I think this will enlarge the canvas of literature and make the universe of literature diverse with a new dimension.  My attempt is to introduce this text or at least one piece from this anthology or similar to this in all our pg, degree courses in Malayalam and English, so that the theme can be discussed and awareness can be created among the students when they perceive it.  I think that the literature canon must incorporate a space for the literature of the visually impaired as well when they discuss the literature of the marginalized.  The literati have a lot to expect from this community in the future.

When a sighted person write a short story, the kind of language that he uses maybe always giving importance to his vision. So even the language will be somewhat different from the sighted writers.  The thematic perspectives that are given importance could also differ. When you read the poem by Satyasheelan K, ‘Request’,

Disturb not meWith the world of retina the Beauty of its own creation and imagination.

 You will find that only a Visually Impaired person can write that.  Therefore, we are adding a new chapter to the literary universe, a new area, a new zone to the existing literature and like everything else; it has its own worth.

Mr. Habeeb C addressing the gathering 

What were the obstacles you faced in making this come to a reality?

Collecting the resources was very difficult, at the beginning, I know that if half of the writers, or even some of the writers among the visually impaired in Kerala was ready to contribute, we could have increased the size of the anthology by large.  However, many of them are hesitant to give their writings.  Not many academic people thought much about this theory when I presented it.  They asked me ‘what was the importance of such a literature?  Why there is a separate literature for the blind.  Isn’t it like the literature of everybody else?  Is it possible to have a literature of their own?  Why do you want to publish such a book?’  

My teachers like Dr. Asha, Dr. Prakash and Dr. Basheer helped me a lot in making the authorities hear about such a possibility. Here everyone gives importance to the showy kind of things. Like inaugurating, an Assistive Technologies Centre spending five lakhs, to which nothing is done.  You want to establish a digital library not with a purpose to change but to show other people.  This book was not something that could give them initial benefit by showing anything to the public.  Therefore, there were strong doubts at the beginning.

Even when I was telling my own friends about it, they were doubtful of its authenticity.  They were unwilling to write, to shed their inhibitions, to come into the main stream and contribute.  To chalk out the things, to edit it, to do everything was not very easy.  I was not good at technology in its full sense.  Mufeeda T, the editor helped me a lot in the editing and technical part.

What is the present response?

Whoever received it are acknowledging us, congratulating us on its success. But there are a few proof errors and mistakes we could have avoided if we were careful. Some of them are quite into those but all of them are on the whole, especially the title, the layout, the preface and the introduction, are all highly felicitated by the readers.  We are about to send this to the mainstream academical institutions, colleges, and universities.  Due to the Kalotsavam, we were not able to receive the required attention it needed with the media but my teacher told me that he has given a copy to the secretary  of the Kerala Sahitya academy who assured to publish a review of it in the journal of the Sahitya academy. We feel that through such reviews and few media interventions it could be made popular .As a result of all this encouragement, we have also decided to publish, a Malayalam version of the similar book with collecting more write-ups in Malayalam for the same.  My desire is to ask the writer, K. Satchidanandan to write its preface.

Saying it like it is 

Well, we wish you all the best for all your future prospects, Mr Habeeb and thank you for the lovely interview.

 We have a new page added to the literature of this world. A different Chapter. Jawher Khan writes in this anthology, 

'we are not what we are, we are what the texts tell us what we are',

 and its time to change what the texts say.