Beroz has been a phenomenal person! She was revolutionary in her actions and thoughts and she was the person who not only pioneered 'deafblind' work in India about 38 years ago but she also worked hard to get recognition for 'total communication', she was 'Indian Anne Sullivan'. Beroz loved life and knew how to spread love, joy and hope among people. Very early on in her career as an Educator of the Deaf, she realised that only passion and commitment will help her transform lives of deafblind children in India.
Beroz played a pivotal role in establishment of "Sense International India" by advising Rodney Clark (the then CEO of Sense) and Richard Hawkes (the then Director of Sense International). I met Beroz for the first time in 1996 during the interviews for the post of 'Development Manager-India' which were held in her home, the same home at Gamadiya Colony, Mumbai, where she breathed her last.
There is no doubt that she dedicated her whole life in the service of deafblind and transformed many lives including Shyama Mehta, Zamir Dhale, Pradip, Aney Mathew, Akhtar, Vandana, Shishna and many others. Beroz has touched lives of many professionals in the deafblind sector globally and I am fortunate to have travelled some distance with Beroz!
The last thing I recall about her sparkling personality is that I carried flowers with me, last month when I went to see her in the hospital and when I was leaving Beroz said- "Akhil put these gorgeous flowers on the table at the entrance of the ward so that everyone can appreciate and feel happy." Now that is Beroz for you sharing and caring for others even when she was bedridden! And something she wrote to me once- "There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it!"...You will always be around Beroz, I know!
Akhil S. Paul
Director
Sense International India
I was first blessed to meet Beroz when she stayed at our Sense Family Centre in London in the mid-1980s. It is hard to write about her without using adjectives that sound like cliches, even though they are all true - passionate, charismatic, humble, determined, curious, funny, and so on and on. I treasure the memory of the times we were talking alone together, and I am so glad that I eventually got to India to get a direct first-hand idea of her achievements and her legacy to the country. On our last meeting in 2007, as we were saying goodbye, she gripped my hand very hard indeed (I had no idea she was so physically strong as well as so mentally and emotionally strong) and told me that I must never, ever, leave the world of deafblindness. If I ever begin to think about doing that it will be Beroz who will rise up in my memory and make sure that I reconsider and don't go. A very great human being to whom many will continue to be endebted into the distant future.