Their poorly lit room is quite big, with traces of dust everywhere: roof, plywood walls, and wooden floor. The dust has apparently accumulated over the years in the room cum workplace, which is separated into two parts.
Huge bags of cotton, finished quilts, cushions and pillows are kept on the one side, while the other side is used for stitching quilts.
As they sit to stitch their livelihood in this room, the brothers defy the dependency sense, normally associated with their tribe.
In Kashmir where blinds are reciprocated with advice to beg on the streets, the never say die attitude of Teli brothers worked as a torch in the darkness.
”This ‘nerve-racking’ indifference towards the specially-abled people eventually forced the Teli brothers to be their own help.
Time, training and toil only vindicated their decision.
And today, the brothers live separately, but earn together by making quilts, cushions, and mattresses for customers. They receive sizeable orders from a local quilt-dealer. They’re quite popular in town, and their popularity comes from their never-say-die attitude.
But their sheer ability to stitch with precision often leaves people in wonder.
Training is fine, many argue, but how do they manage to pull off such flawless work—that too, with such consistency?
“By birth,” Hussain answers, “we weren’t able to see things but there’s a unique world inside our mind. We’ve our own interpretations of things that normal people can’t understand. Now our muscles have memorized the surroundings. It’s the light of our soul which guides us — as they say, in Kashmiri, it’s our Waeniji Gaash.”
But to restore their normal Gaash, their father, back in the day, had undertaken some exhaustive clinical trips. To his chagrin, however, evenbest in the business—the renowned eye surgeons of the valley—couldn’t heal them.
Back in their workshop, the blind brothers continue to defy their crippled disability. Their quilt-making skills leave one dumbfounded. They seemingly possess some special sense, which’s lighting their darkness through their astounding skills.
The brothers are truly the guiding light for others
