GUJARAT: Sanjay Ratilal Solanki knows the darkness better than most people; it has been his constant companion for over a decade now. And yet, amid the relentless hustle that is Ahmedabad, where dreams often fade even before taking flight, a name rises defiantly against all odds – “Sanjay… Sanjay.” Born in 1995 in Jalalpur village in Dholka taluka under Ahmedabad district, Sanjay’s early life was a picture postcard of simplicity and dreams. Raised by his mother, Gayatri Ben Solanki, a devoted homemaker, and a father who served in the Indian Army, Sanjay grew up surrounded by love, hope, and the innocent ambitions of a middle-class family. His elder sister was his childhood companion, and for a while, life seemed generous; the future, wide open.But fate, ruthless and uninvited, struck when Sanjay was barely fifteen. After cruising through his Class 10 board exams in 2010, he prepared to step into the future with science in Class 11 – until tragedy bared its teeth. His vision blurred, his eyes filled with unstoppable tears, and within months, the vibrant world he knew crumbled into an indistinct fog. Doctors’ visits turned into desperate pilgrimages; endless reports carried the same verdict: irreversible vision loss, 80% impairment.In an instant, his youthful dreams and boundless aspirations dimmed as darkness encompassed his vision, immersing him in the void. Where once there was colour; now, a suffocating blackness creeped in. Where once there was certainty, only despair loomed. Yet, in that very darkness where many would have yielded, Sanjay discovered a hidden reservoir of his own indomitable courage. “I did not know what tomorrow would look like,” Sanjay recalls, “But I knew one thing – I would never let the night take over.”Refusing to be broken, and supported by a family that refused to abandon hope, Sanjay gathered the shattered pieces of his life and pressed forward; completing classes 11 and 12 studies at the Andhajan Mandal for the blind in Ahmedabad – a feat less about continuation of schooling but more a declaration of war against destiny.But life’s trials were relentless; after school, another merciless question awaited: What next for a blind boy who refused to kneel?The answer came in the form of a mentor, Sudha Ben Joshi, who rekindled Sanjay’s fading fire, inspiring him to dream; dream outrageously – to dare to dance where others could barely walk.And so, Pehchan was born – not just a dance group, but a rebellion against limitations, a movement where some 13 or 14 visually-impaired warriors like Sanjay refused to be caged by the all-encompassing darkness. Each step, each movement, each beat of music was a defiance of fate itself.Yet even as Sanjay inspired others through dance, his own battle for education raged on. Economic hardships mocked him. Tools for the visually impaired were priced beyond his reach. But Sanjay refused to let poverty dictate his destiny. In a stroke of destiny earned by sheer will, he won third prize in an essay competition during Class 12, securing `20,000 – and with it, he bought audio books, turning his isolation into a weapon for learning.Though forced by his condition to shift from science to the general stream, Sanjay’s ambitions refused to dim. When told that the blind could not pursue economics for graduation, Sanjay stood firm, and through sheer perseverance, he broke through systemic barriers and graduated with an economics degree – a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.Armed with knowledge and the heart of a fighter, Sanjay next set his sights higher. In 2017, he faced the fiercely competitive government exams – and conquered once more; securing a position as a Postal Assistant in Ahmedabad. Most would have rested at such a hard-won summit. But not Sanjay. For him, personal triumph was never enough. The real victory, he knew, would be in lifting others with him.He nurtured Pehchan with even fiercer devotion, building it into a sanctuary where visually-impaired individuals didn’t just learn to dance – they found employment, dignity, and a renewed belief in their own worth. His group performed across national stages, winning accolades, but more importantly, shattering every stereotype that said blindness was the end.Through Pehchan, Sanjay created a ripple, empowering those he taught to become teachers themselves, birthing a cycle of self-reliance and hope in a world that often offered neither to people like them.Today, as he prepares for civil services examinations, Sanjay’s dreams have soared beyond himself. He envisions an industry run by and for the visually-impaired – a place where no one begs for opportunity, but earns it, where blindness is not a limitation but a badge of triumph over adversity.
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