Vision for the Future.

(From Indian Express)

TILL A few days ago, Kewal's eyes were good only for crying. Yet the other day, when the bandages were finally removed from his eyes, he had no trouble identifying Dr Debaprasad Kar as the person responsible for restoring his sight. ''Who else could be happier than the person who has given me my eyes?'' he answers obliquely when asked how he knew his doctor. Try the Lions Club of Sirsa. Thanks to the efforts of the club, the Haryana town - hitherto known to make occasional headlines only because of natural calamities - has been the site of 16 eye transplants in three months. In a country where death-related emotions are sacrosanct, that must be something of a record. ''It all started four years ago, when I was hoping to regain vision in one eye,'' says Lions Eye Bank chairman Dr Vinod Gupta. ''My doctor told me I was on the waiting list for a transplant, and warned me to keep a suitcase packed, because a cornea could become available at any time. So for the next four months, I virtually refused to stir from the chair next to the telephone. I would even spend the nights there.'' It was during those dark hours that Gupta swore he would do something to alleviate the condition of the sightless in Sirsa. Unlike most good resolutions, this one didn't die. After the call he had awaited so intensely came through, and his vision was successfully restored, Gupta started work ...