This Visually-Impaired Muslim Girl Knows Bhagavad Gita by Heart

The seven-year-old’s teacher helped her memorise the whole text of the holy book by reading it out to her.

Seven-year-old Rida Zehra from Meerut can recite the Bhagwad Gita by heart. (Photo: The Quint)

Ask seven-year-old Rida Zehra if she knows the Bhagwad Gita, the visually-challenged girl folds her hand and starts reciting the holy book, which she knows by heart, without giving a second thought.

Living at a residential blind school in Meerut for the last three years, Zehra has never seen the holy book for she was born with 80% blindness. In fact, she has not even read it in Braille. Her teacher at the school helped her memorise the whole text of the holy book by reading it out to her.

Her school principal Praveen Sharma, while detailing the girl’s tryst with the Gita says, “It was in the beginning of 2015 when I got to know about a Gita competition being held for kids in the city. That is when I thought why not let our kids participate in the competition.”

Zehra’s parents and siblings live in Lohia Nagar, where she goes during her summer break, and on festivals. She was admitted to the blind school by her father when she was three years old.