Karnataka - Udupi   

He has no fear of heights

Ganesh Prabhu

THE CLIMBER: Prabhakar Shetty

UDUPI: Prabhakar Shetty, 58, from Karambally Janata Colony in Udupi, is an example of what the indomitable human spirit can achieve.

Prabhakar became blind at the age of two. He was born into a poor family at Anjar near Udupi and came here to stay with his grandmother. By the time he was 20 years old, Prabhakar was tired of hearing people say that he would not be able to do anything because he was blind. Being poor, the family needed money to survive.

It was at this point that Prabhakar decided to learn to climb coconut trees. His persistence paid off. Initially, he used to climb the tress with bare hands and legs. As this is not very safe, he began using a coil of rope tied around his hands and feet to help him climb.

In his youth, Prabhakar used to climb and pluck coconuts from tress in 10 to 20 houses. But now he limits himself to two to three houses and climbs about ten coconut trees a day. People pay him Rs. 5 to Rs. 8 for climbing one tree. "Now I earn about Rs. 50 a day, that too when I am called to pluck coconuts. When I was younger, I used to earn Rs. 100 day," he says.

By mere touch he can make out which is a tender coconut and which is mature. "A normal person is afraid when he first tries to climb a coconut tree. Since God has not given me sight, I do not know what that fear is," he says.

He is equally deft at husking coconuts. Earlier, he could husk 1,000 coconuts a day, but now he husks 400 to 500 coconuts a day. There was a chance of Prabhakar partially regaining his sight when his right eye was operated on in 1972. But as bad luck would have it, he fell down when he went out of his house after the operation. This put paid to any chance of his regaining partial sight. Prabhakar got married in 1987. With the Rs. 10,000 he received as a gift from friends and voluntary organisations, he built a house at the Janata Colony. But now his house is in a dilapidated condition. His friends are making efforts to get the house repaired.

Prabhakar gets Rs. 150 a month from the Government because he is visually challenged. Prabhakar has a daughter and a son. His daughter has got a job at the Nittoor High School as a temporary teacher. His son is in the ninth standard. "My wife and my children are like my eyes. They have given me full support and there is nothing more satisfying than that," he says.

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He has no fear of heights

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