Though he is a disabled person, he is not dependant on others to eke out his living. He has set an example for hundreds of his ilk.
Meet visually-impaired but multi-faceted Dillip Baral, a resident of Suryapur under Bagada GP of Kendrapada block. He ekes out his living by opening a cycle repairing shop in his locality. Besides this, he has a reputation of being a good stove repairer and electronics goods mechanic. He is a popular singer in the locality too.
Though blind, Baral has never allowed his loss of vision to come his way. Infact, it would not be an exaggeration to say he has defeated his disability by working hard and a zeal to learn. He has become successful as he does not want people show him sympathy for being a visually impaired person.
According to Baral, when he was only one and a half years old, he lost both of his eyes. However, the disability did not deter him to lead a normal life. With the passage of time, he became a cycle repair. His ability to repair cycle, touring cycle rims, setting cycle freewheel, repairing spoke and other cycle repair works made him popular. Even a normal cycle repair would not work as deftly as Baral.
Locals come with their stoves for the repairing to Baral whereas he goes to the households of the locals to repair their electronic items and also the electric connection. Surprisingly, he can repair the main switch board, electric connection and snapped electric wires.
In 2021 , during torrential rains, his cycle repairing store was damaged. The local youths with the help of Sri Jagannath Charitable Trust managed to repair his shop.
"Baral gets physically handicapped pension of Rs 700 per month from the district administration. With his limited earnings, he manages to collect bread and butter for his family without bowing his head for any monetary help from anybody," stated Chitta Ranjan Khuntia, a fellow villager of Suryapur.
Whenever a religious or cultural function occurs in the locality, Baral is invited to sing devotional, film and album songs. With his mesmerised voice, he can glue the audience for hours to their seats, informed president of Jagannath Charitable Trust Daman Mohanty.
When contacted, Sub Collector Niranjan Behera stated that he would ask the District Social Security Officer to conduct an inquiry for providing assistance to Baral.
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