Fading vision no deterrent for this English professor at SU

Rajkot: Rani Mukherjee has earned rave reviews for her performance in ‘Hichki’ where she deftly handles a class of rebellious students despite suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder. But a 27-year-old college professor in Rajkot has been playing a similar role, not in reel but real life. The minor difference is that she has extremely understanding students.
Dhwani Vachhrajani, an assistant professor of English at Saurashtra University, suffers from retinitis pigmentosa — a rare, incurable genetic disorder that gradually results in blindness. Despite the gradual waning of vision and inability to see in slightest darkness, Dhwani has overcome this impairment by choosing different ways to teach.

It is not easy for Dhwani to teach in the classroom like any other teacher. She finds it difficult to write on the blackboard and can’t read a book in tube light. “I have to teach mature students and I have to be confident in front of them. So, I invite students to write on the board and whenever required, I ask them to read some part of a novel or poem from a book. The students do this job and I explain them the meaning,” Dhwani told TOI.

She joined the English department of Saurashtra University in June 2014 and is currently pursuing PhD on ‘Christopher Marlowe’s plays; A study from Rasa point of view’. Christopher was contemporary of Shakespeare.

She gives the entire credit of her success to her teacher and parents. “I remember how I used to scream in the class as a primary student when the doors and windows were closed. I couldn’t see anything in the dark and teachers told my parents to admit me in the blind school. However, they admitted me to a government school,” she said.

After seeing her performance again, the same private school gave her admission and she studied till class XII standard. “My teachers had to take care of me all the time. They had to lead me in the lobby and provide me window seat in exam. I needed to sit on the first bench and sometimes I couldn’t read the written words on blackboard. So, they had to explain me orally,” she added.

Now, a teacher, she too takes extra care about students, who have bonded very closely with her and even share their personal issues.

Kinal Karia, a student of English department said, “Dhwani madam teaches us in a different style. We have taken her style of teaching by making us write on the blackboard and reading out novels and poems aloud in the classroom very positively.”

Nirav Vyas, another student, said. “She comes to the classroom with lots of reference books and her style of explaining the subject is different that we can easily grasp. We don’t hesitate to ask her any question in the classroom unlike other professors.”