It was a cold winter afternoon in 1920. A large number of people were waiting outside an exhibition hall in the city of New York to purchase tickets. Inside the hall, the manager seemed to be highly pleased. A large number of people had arrived, many more than his expectations. A new kind of exhibition was being presented on that day.
The curtain went up. The stage was set up like a reception room in a house. A young man who sat beside a piano rose and bowed ceremoniously. He introduced a majestic middle-aged woman to the audience. It was Anne Sullivan Macy. Anne made a brief speech. Everyone listened attentively to her sweet-sounding words. Later another woman, beautifully dressed and pleasant-looking, walked on to stage. Anne clasped her hand. She just looked at the audience and stood revealed.
Later, that woman – Helen Keller – spoke. She struggled hard to let out each word. The audience too struggled to grasp what she said. Still they, kept their ears strained and sharp. A long applause resounded in the hall when Helen stopped speaking. These two were among the most famous people in America those days. Anne Sullivan was a bold educationist and civil rights spokesperson. Helen Adams Keller was her deaf and blind disciple. Despite being handicapped, she had made a name for herself as a writer, women’s liberation activist and a social worker.
The audience was immensely touched by Helen’s speech. Her words could be summed up this way: “My teacher told you how her one word touched the darkness of my mind and how I woke up to the bliss of life. I was dumb; now I can speak. I am obliged to the hands and hearts of others for this achievement. Through their love I came to see my mind; I could see God, I could find happiness. In fact, we all live for helping others and for being helped. By remaining united we can do a lot of things. Only love can break down the walls that stand between us and our happiness. The greatest commandment is to love one another. I would like to thank God at the top of my voice for all the love, happiness and hope that would be coming to me.”
