Amritsar man toast of DU convocation

Wearing the red gown like everyone,Rajesh Sharma walked up to receive his Doctor of Philosophy title at the 87th annual convocation of the Delhi University on Saturday.

He couldnt see the audience but as the 34-year-old,aided by his father Vinod Sharma stepped on the stage,the hall resonated with applause.I am not blind by birth, Sharma said afterwards. I lost vision when I was 16.

It was July 6,1992,when a bomb went off at a crowded Pratap market in Amritsar,Punjab. Sharma,then in Class XII,had gone to the market to buy sweets. His right eyeball was shot off,his right ear torn and his right cheek had gashes when his textile-merchant father,who ran a shop in the same market,ran out to pick him up within seconds. On Saturday,while his father quietly admired the strength of his son,Sharma said he underwent a plastic surgery on his face. But I lost 100 per cent eyesight, Sharma,who teaches at Department of Music in Amritsars Guru Nanak Dev University,added. While he had to repeat Class XII,Sharma changed his stream from Commerce to Arts. His mother Urmil would read him the lessons and the youngster would remember them. In the examinations,another person wrote for him.

Sharma completed his Bachelors degree and Masters from the UGC.

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