PAMBADI: Pambadi Payikatt Vayalil Saji Peter (53) can repair any radio, but he never had any formal training in the field. His life is a marvel to many.
Saji was after the world of sound to beat the darkness that filled his eyes since birth. That’s how his ears got stuck in the radio that never stopped singing. First, he felt it by touch, then opened it up, and at the end, he started repairing it.
Saji studied till upper primary in braille script. Saji made a screwdriver out of the rib of an umbrella that was flattened out by a stone to open his first radio, the one which his family owned. He learned the structure of each piece of equipment by feeling them and fixing them in his mind and learned their name by asking others. Saji reassembled the radio he dismantled and made it sing again. He taught himself the working of FM radio. Understanding the mechanic in Saji, people started getting him radios. Radios that were dead were given life by Saji. Some gifted him the radio he repaired. Saji who sings and acts walks to Pambadi town to sell lottery tickets with the help of a walking stick.

 Surgeries did not work

Saji who is completely blind was subjected to surgery twice but without any results. Doctors have declared that a transplant will not be successful since Saji has nerve damage as well. Saji is married to Anganwadi teacher Gemini and has two kids; Keerthy and Kiran.

 Thanks to Kazhcha app

Saji gets to know news through Kazhcha app of Kerala Kaumudi. The problem of not being able to read newspapers is solved by the app, says Saji.

 When God took away my eyes he gave me another skill. I cannot do soldering work, so I use sellotape to stick it together. - Saji