Hope this is not too emphatic

Today in the newspaper I read this piece about this guy named Erik Weihenmayer, he happens to be the first blind man to reach the 29,035-foot summit of Mount Everest and also climb the seven summits of the world. He has also guided six blind Tibetan teenagers towards the 23,000-foot summit of Lhakpa Ri.
I found this news not only fascinating, awe-inspiring but also thought evoking.
I remember that when I was a child I was very scared of this blind salesman who used to sell Incense. His gait as he walked through the lanes during late evening and his way of advertising his product by screaming in a particular tone would have me scamper towards my mother. Well with time my fear was replaced by kindness or may be I should be honest and call it pity.
Much later in life I saw this film called ‘Sparsh’ (The Touch) directed by a lovely lady called 'Sai Paranjpe', which actually touched my heart and helped me to distinguish between sympathy and empathy.
Today I don’t consider blindness to be a handicap at all, no I don’t think it’s a boon but I feel it’s a different way to live your life. It helps one to have a better and deeper understanding of the same.
The world is filled with too much of visuals at present; we see music instead of listening to it. Most of us would rather see a classic than read it, (I happen to be one of those people), observe similar lives on the television rather than introspect our own.
Nothing much is left to imagination, and with time and experience I have realized how important and powerful imaginations can be.
I remember imagining how Eskimos lived when I was a child (I didn’t have access to national geographic) or how did an igloo or an Anaconda look? Somehow today I feel that my imaginations were much more stronger and vivid than the real images. Yes I could be wrong but just a thought.
So no I don’t consider blindness to be a handicap any more. What do you think?