Honoring the life and legacy of Shri Lachhman Dass Gupta

 Helen Keller once said, “There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark”.

With the same principle in mind, Ram and Meetu Gupta of Carlisle, MA have come forward to support an exciting new project of Vision-Aid - the new Lachhman Dass Gupta Vision-Aid National Resource Center which will work in partnership with Shroff Charity Eye Hospitals in Delhi, one of India’s leading eye care providers, and other organizations in Delhi to offer a range of valuable services to the visually impaired.

The Gupta family has dedicated this new resource center to the loving memory of Ram Gupta’s late father Shri Lachhman Dass Gupta, who passed away on October 10, 2019. The Lachhman Dass Gupta Vision-Aid National Resource Center, like other Vision-Aid centers, will offer all the core services that aim to enable, educate and empower the visually impaired so that they can live with independence and dignity. In addition, several unique and innovative programs are planned at this center for the first time in the nation’s capital.

Ram Gupta inherited a sense of social responsibility from his father as well as his grandfather, Shri Phool Chand Vaish. Ram and Meetu Gupta have 3 children – Shelley Chhabra, Nitin Gupta, and Sachin Gupta.

About Lala Lachhman Dass Gupta (1929-2019)

Ram Gupta’s late father Shri Lachhman Dass Gupta started experiencing vision problems by the age of 25. He was diagnosed with retinis pigmentosa at age 30 and continued losing vision till he was almost blind at the age of 50. However, he never allowed his vision impairment to become an impediment.

Despite vision loss, he raised and guided his children and grandchildren, helped in setting up businesses as well as social and charitable trusts, and ran those very efficiently.

He directly supervised the setup of a High School, a Temple, a Medical Dispensary in Delhi as well as Dharamshalas in UP and Uttarakhand, all bearing his father Phool Chand Vaish’s name. He lost his father when he was 35 years old. He was involved in running & maintaining these - no easy task with vision loss, and a young family to support! He worked tirelessly on many of these projects that he was passionate about and was involved in every minute detail, even to the extent of helping to prepare meeting minutes and maintenance of accounts until the last days of his life.

He chose to live his daily life as independently as possible, even though help was always readily available to him, if he wanted it. His daily routine of getting up, exercising, getting himself ready and all other daily routines were done independently by himself. He travelled to his office located 10 miles away, 6 days a week, where many people like school principals, temple priests, neighbors, friends and acquaintances would visit him for guidance or just to have the opportunity to talk with him.

The office staff always relied on his knowledge of income tax, tenancy and other laws; and his memory of due dates of taxes & other filings never failed to amaze his staff. He remembered more than 100 phone numbers and dialed them on his own when he needed to reach someone. He even remembered birthdays of his great grandchildren and never failed to greet them – something all of them eagerly looked forward to!

One of his grandsons Sanjay Gupta recollected about his close involvement with Bawa (grandfather), during the construction of manufacturing and warehouse buildings in 2009 and 2014. He was amazed by Bawa’s knowledge about construction material requirement, building design specifics, the time required to do various tasks etc. Whenever Bawa initiated design & material changes, the architect, contractor and workers would almost always agree with him. Sanjay further added that “Bawa always stayed strong and guided us through difficult incidents happening to us in our lives, giving us support at many levels – on both the personal and business front. I felt like he lifted all of us on his broad shoulders in all situations without ever complaining about anything.”

Another grandson Ajay Gupta recalled that “I still remember a business meeting Bawa and my dad had with the GM of a Birla Group company, many years ago. A few years after the meeting, the GM got into an argument with someone, who told him that Lala ji had no vision for the past 20 years, saying how was it possible that he had no vision, because he had himself met with Lala ji for more than an hour to finalize the deal during which they even had tea & biscuits. So, Bawa must have matched his expression and eye movements so well while talking to others during the meeting that the GM did not even realize he was blind!”

Shri Lachhman Dass Gupta was a great role model and an example of how people with vision deficiency can lead a very meaningful and successful life. Those who come to the Lachhman Dass Gupta Vision-Aid National Resource Center in Delhi can look up to his life and accomplishments as their guiding inspiration!

Vision-Aid Chairman, Mr. Puran Dang said, "By making a huge financial commitment to establish a full- fledged Vision-Aid National Resource Center in Delhi in memory of Ram Gupta's father, they have shown a deep sense of goodness for humanity at large. They have given a significant uplift to Vision-Aid by embracing the noble cause of helping the vision impaired. This Center in collaboration with Shroff Hospital in Delhi is going to be an amazing facility. The young man, Sharvan Kumar, took his blind parents to all " Tiraths " of Bharat, by supporting them on his shoulders. Ram with the total support of Meetu emulate that degree of respect for parents. Ram and Meetu have been our personal family friends for decades. As Chairman of Vision-Aid, I want to express our heartfelt admiration for Ram and Meetu on behalf of our Founders, and our Boards of Directors and Advisors. God bless Ram and Meetu”.

Vision-Aid Programs

Vision-Aid centers like the new one in Delhi follow the Vision-Aid model, which has 16 programs designed to enable, educate and empower the visually impaired. Visual impairment can range from low vision conditions to complete blindness. Vision-Aid’s model offers a comprehensive range of programs ranging from early intervention services for infants and children to skills training programs for visually impaired adults including training in Computers, Spoken English, Mobile Technologies and over a dozen other programs, each customized to the specific needs and circumstances of the individual.

The resource center which began its first phase of operations in early 2020, had to hit the pause button due to COVID, but the staff is remotely connected with some blind students in Delhi offering mentoring virtually until the center reopens and continues its next steps.

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