Category: Blogs

By Shabnam Durani

The Delhi University’s (DU) decision to conduct an Open Book Examination (OBE) for those in their final year has created a sense of panic among the blind and visually impaired students. There are approximately 800 students with vision impairment studying in DU, out of which around 350 will appear for their final exams this year.

The lockdown announcement caught many of these students off guard and they rushed home to stay safe amid the coronavirus scare. Those who couldn’t travel back were stuck in their hostels or temporary accommodation without much support. Already facing difficulties at the hands of the pandemic, the varsity’s announcement made things worse.

Coming from a weak socio-economic background, the majority of visually impaired students are struggling with the new online medium of preparation and assessment, as they have limited or no access to devices (such as laptop/computer, smartphone or scanner), internet and study material. Read more

By Shruti Pushkarna

Last Thursday I attended an online session (thanks to Covid, we are all high on Zoom) where a renowned journalist and television news anchor was in conversation with a group of around eighty visually impaired people. It was a heterogeneous mix with regards to the participants’ geography and demography.

And no the talk was not about blindness. Or Disability. Or any of the safely assumed stereotypes that are fluttering in your mind as you imagine a person with dark glasses and a white cane.

Us humans, we love to ‘assume’. If our neighbours are not chatty, we assume they are antisocial or just weird. The guy drinking a little too much in an office party is an assumed alcoholic (maybe even a wife-beater, if he has a grouchy face). Similarly, a blind person is often assumed to be uneducated, unemployed and uninterested in the happenings around. Read more

By Shabnam Durani

In 2006, Score Foundation, which works with people with vision impairment  set up a helpline for the blind which emerged from the response to a weekly programme, ‘Eyeway – ye hai roshni ka karvaan’  (caravan of light), on All India Radio (AIR), which was informative, inspirational and empowering.  In 2015, with a view to addressing the language diversity and provide local solutions, Eyeway evolved into a network of helplines run by partner NGOs in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi, which handles the Hindi-speaking states. The author, who works for SCORE Foundation, writes about how the last three months have been spent in responding to the distress calls from visually impaired in different parts of the country.

Until three months ago, Delhi-based Ritu Jain and Darshana Jain in Mumbai were part of a team of visually impaired counsellors, handling a toll-free national helpline for blind people, called Eyeway. They were fielding about 1500 calls a month from persons seeking guidance regarding education, employment, legal provisions, accessibility and social security.

However, since the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown, all they have been getting is distress calls with stories of pain and desperation from all over the country – Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

According to the Indian government, there are 5.4 million people with vision impairment in the country (activists put the figure at 42 million, while the World Health Organisation gives an estimate of around 62 million). A large section of this population is either unemployed and dependent on government provisions or working as daily wagers in the unorganised sector.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, serious mobility challenges resulting in loss of livelihood have not only pushed them further towards marginalisation but also severely dented their chances of survival. Read more

By Shruti Pushkarna

Last Thursday I attended an online session (thanks to Covid, we are all high on Zoom) where a renowned journalist and television news anchor was in conversation with a group of around eighty visually impaired people. It was a heterogeneous mix with regards to the participants’ geography and demography.

And no the talk was not about blindness. Or Disability. Or any of the safely assumed stereotypes that are fluttering in your mind as you imagine a person with dark glasses and a white cane.

Us humans, we love to ‘assume’. If our neighbours are not chatty, we assume they are antisocial or just weird. The guy drinking a little too much in an office party is an assumed alcoholic (maybe even a wife-beater, if he has a grouchy face). Similarly, a blind person is often assumed to be uneducated, unemployed and uninterested in the happenings around.

These assumptions are derived from personal biases, misconceptions, limited imagination and a compulsive urge to judge another. Read more

By Shruti Pushkarna

In the past, I have written a few pieces on accessibility and the rights of persons with disabilities to be part of all that is mainstream. As I began to pen down my thoughts, I realized that ‘disability’ is always looked at as a ‘separate’ domain. By governments, by businesses, by non-profits, by educationists, and even by advocates of ‘disability’. When all stakeholders are guilty of looking at the subject as separate from the rest of the society, then how can we single out anyone and pin the onus of change?

I also realised that amid the current crisis, a new normal is emerging and unfortunately persons with disabilities are not part of this discourse either. Old habits are shaping new, existing policies are being extended to incorporate new rules but the approach remains the same. One of looking at disability separate from the rest, as the other which needs ‘accommodation’ or needs to somehow ‘fit in’.

Retrofitting is at the root of all things that continue to remain inaccessible. An idea that is designed for a majority and leaves out the vulnerable minority will never be able to cater to everyone’s needs. The makeshift solution is either inadequate or temporary. Patches begin to surface as more people start accessing it. And then the scuffle for revising and revamping ensues.

Build a mall without an elevator or a ramp. Then renovate it to make it ‘accessible’ for someone on a wheelchair. Build a home with a narrow staircase and no handrail. Then renovate it for older family members to move about independently. The list goes on. Read more

By Shruti Pushkarna

Four years ago, when I started working with visually impaired people with the objective of including them into the mainstream, I was introduced to a whole set of new terminologies. It took me a few weeks, maybe months to become abreast with the domain lingo and issues. I guess this happens in every profession where you are working within a niche. Back in the days of journalism as well, there was a fair bit of ‘education’ involved every time one was expected to write on a new subject.

Among the many new terms thrown at me in the workplace, in meetings and at events, the most frequently used were ‘accessibility’ and ‘inclusion’. With time, my understanding evolved and I figured these were key to the rights being advocated for persons with disabilities. And this wasn’t an easy battle against a society largely governed by ‘ableism’.

Read more

By George Abraham

In recent years, technology has considerably transformed the entertainment industry, redefining the ways of content consumption. In addition to the traditional sources of entertainment like radio, television and cinema, we now have a host of digital services available to us.

With growing internet penetration and the digital push by the government, content creators have access to a wider audience than ever before. This also includes persons with disabilities, and visually impaired people like myself.

Did you know that there are 5.4 million blind people in India as per Census 2011? Going by the World Health Organisation statistics, it’s actually over 60 million in India. That’s a huge potential audience, isn’t it? The million-dollar question is whether the entertainment industry is aware of this opportunity and whether they know how to be inclusive of this large section of society. Read more

By Shruti Pushkarna

After a month-and-a-half of being locked up in our homes, deprived of social interactions, battling with the rising fear of losing out on existing means of earning, the Hindustani janata is grappling with the classic choice between the devil and the deep sea.

People are fiercely citing numbers in offline and online debates. What is worse, people dying from the virus or those succumbing to hunger? What’s more alarming, the growing rate of positive cases or the spike in unemployment data reported by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.

There are layers to this poor vs. rich, privileged vs. disadvantaged contest. Let me add to the imbroglio. But before I do that, here’s a disclaimer. This is a losing battle.

Either way, no one wins. It’s really about softening certain blows and developing a response system for different kinds of crisis.

Economically weaker sections are possibly the worst hit. The media is continuously reporting cases to emphasise their plight, given no work, money, food or shelter. Read more

By Shruti Pushkarna

It’s been a month since the Indian government announced the official lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19. People’s daily conversations now include casual mentions of a pre- and a post-corona world. We are slowly becoming accustomed to a ‘new normal’. It seems that nature has hit the ‘pause’ button on all our plans.

I’m reminded of my grandfather’s favourite phrase, “Man proposes, God disposes”. Never have those words rung so loud in my ears.

Negative sentiments are on the rise, as every news item seems to bring us closer to doomsday. Of course with the exception of promising research and recovering numbers. Read more

By Shruti Pushkarna

Locked up in their homes, some people are busy forwarding irrational WhatsApp messages, propagating panic via unreliable information. Some are busy competing for a bigger Instagram audience through culinary exhibits or workout videos. And then there are some who simply sit and criticise the ‘other’, including administration, media, politicians, other countries, liberals, bhakts, Muslims, Christians, their next door neighbors and possibly even their pets!

While a person might be struggling to stay alive because of a chronic condition in the absence of a caretaker to assist her or him due to the lockdown, another’s problems hover around having to do dishes or cook their own food.

People are oblivious to each other’s realities. Even at a point of being universally hit by coronavirus, we only care for ourselves or at most our immediate family. That’s how selfish we all are. We don’t pay heed to what’s happening to a daily wager, a blind hawker, a disabled orphan, a thalassaemia patient, a paraplegic or anyone who’s more vulnerable than us. Read more