शब्दांचा खेळ Shabdancha Khel (The Game of Words - Helen Keller)

हेलन सांगतात की तिच्या आयुष्यातील सर्वांत महत्त्वाचा दिवस म्हणजे तिच्या शिक्षिका ॲनी सुलिव्हॅन तिला शिकवायला आल्या तो दिवस - ३ मार्च १८८७. त्या दिवशी हेलन काहीतरी वेगळे घडणार असल्याचा अंदाज घेत पोर्चमध्ये वाट पाहत उभी होती.

Helen recounts the most important day of her life - 3 March 1887, when her teacher Anne Mansfield Sullivan came to teach her. That afternoon Helen stood quietly on the porch, sensing from her mother's gestures and the household bustle that something out of the ordinary was about to happen. In the preceding weeks, anger and bitterness had so consumed her mind that she had grown exhausted from the constant inner struggle - like a ship lost in thick fog, with no compass to guide it.

बाईंनी हेलनच्या हातावर बोटांनी अक्षरे लिहीत तिला बाहुली दिली आणि 'd-o-l-l' असे लिहिले. हेलन हा बोटांचा खेळ शिकली, पण त्या वेळी तिला 'शब्द' म्हणजे काय हे कळत नव्हते - ती फक्त बाईंचे अनुकरण करत होती.

The next morning, her teacher gave Helen a doll sent as a gift by blind children at the Perkins Institution. After Helen played with it for a while, her teacher gently spelled out the letters 'd-o-l-l' on her hand. Helen loved this finger-game and began imitating her teacher's movements. When she finally traced the letters correctly, she felt a child's simple joy and pride, and ran to her mother to spell out the same letters again - though at that time she had no idea she was forming a 'word'; she was merely imitating her teacher.

बाईंनी 'mug' व 'water' असे वेगळे शब्द शिकवण्याचा प्रयत्न केला, पण हेलनचा गोंधळ झाला. सतत सांगण्याचा त्रास होऊन हेलनने रागाने आपली नवी बाहुली जमिनीवर आपटून फोडली, पण तिला त्याचे काहीच वाईट वाटले नाही.

One day her teacher placed Helen's old, tattered doll on her lap and again spelled 'd-o-l-l' on her hand - meaning both dolls shared the same word. She then tried teaching the different words 'mug' and 'water,' but Helen could not grasp the distinction and stubbornly resisted. Seeing this confusion, her teacher grew discouraged and set the matter aside for a while. When the doll-lesson resumed, Helen, unable to bear the repeated instruction, angrily snatched her new doll and smashed it on the floor - yet she felt no remorse at all, since it was not her favourite doll, and her dark, still inner world had not yet found room for tender feeling.

बाईंनी हेलनला विहिरीजवळ नेले आणि वाहत्या थंडगार पाण्याखाली तिचा हात धरून हातावर 'water' असे लिहिले. अचानक हेलनला भाषेचे संपूर्ण रहस्य उलगडले - पाणी म्हणजे काय हे तिला समजले आणि तिच्या आत्म्याला जणू जाग आली.

When her teacher put Helen's hat in her hand, she understood they were going outdoors, and she bounded off joyfully. Walking along a path, they reached the well, where someone was drawing water. Her teacher held Helen's hand under the flowing stream and, with her other hand, spelled out the word 'w-a-t-e-r' on her palm - slowly at first, then faster. Helen stood perfectly still, her whole attention fixed on her teacher's fingers. Suddenly she felt as though she had forgotten something, and experienced the thrill of a lost memory returning - the mystery of language unravelled before her. She understood that water was that cold, dancing thing flowing over her hand, and that one living word awakened her soul, filling it with light and joy, and setting it free.

विहिरीवरून परतल्यावर हेलनला प्रत्येक वस्तूला नाव असते हे उमगले आणि तिचे मन नवीन शब्द शिकण्यासाठी आतुर झाले. आई, बाबा, बहीण, बाई असे अनेक नवीन शब्द तिने त्याच दिवशी शिकले, आणि हा दिवस तिच्या आयुष्यातील सर्वांत नाट्यमय दिवस ठरला.

Walking back from the well, Helen's mind was eager to learn more - now everything had a name, and every name opened up a new thought. Back home, every object she touched seemed to tremble with new vitality, as though she had gained an entirely new sense of sight. At the door she remembered the broken doll, and groped around to gather up its pieces - now, for the first time, she felt genuine remorse, understanding her own mistake. That same day she learned many new words, including 'mother,' 'father,' 'sister' and 'teacher,' and that night, going to bed, she was so happy that for the first time in her life she felt eager anticipation for tomorrow to arrive.