By Shruti Pushkarna
When I was studying journalism, we were made to read three to four newspapers everyday as part of acquiring editorial skills. As a young girl in my early twenties, I would go from one class to another, catching up on the printed word in between breaks. It was almost romantic, the idea of print that is. One aspired to have a ‘byline’ in the reputed dailies.
By Shruti Pushkarna
It’s 2020. As we cheer for new beginnings, it’s also time to reminisce on the years gone by.
The last decade witnessed some significant changes in how we look at ‘disability’. When I was still in my twenties (now don’t try to guess my age!), there was hardly any mention of terms like ‘access’ or ‘inclusion’. In fact, the most commonly used term for disabled people was ‘handicapped’.
By Shruti Pushkarna
Before I started writing this piece, I casually googled ‘media and disability’. Interestingly, most results were pertaining to the role of the media, portrayal of disability, some academic papers on the subject and so on. Well, that’s typically what comes to mind when you throw these two words together at anyone.
Dear all
Greetings from Rising Flame!
Thank you so much for your overwhelming response to the first session of Vella Panti 2.0- a series of online events for disabled and non disabled friends.
We bring to you the second session on online dating and persons with disabilities on October 2, 2020 at 6 pm IST. Join us for a humourous and insightful conversation with our speakers- all women with disabilities from India and UK.
HYDERABAD: Digital accessibility should be a part of company policies. Are you providing cab services and bathrooms for your disabled employees? Do your lifts have braille labels? These are not big changes. But unfortunately, most workplaces are yet to tap the potential of people with disabilities,” says Raghavendra Satish Peri from Secunderabad, who was one of the recipients of the NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Awards 2020.
33-year-old Sudheer from Ernakulam district in Kerala is 70% visually impaired. Born sighted, he began to lose vision while studying in Class 8. After completing his tenth grade, the family’s poor financial condition forced him into menial jobs. He worked in a flour mill, tried his hand at tailoring and even carpentry, but degenerating eyesight didn’t support any of those choices.
Deepali Pawar from Nashik, Maharashtra led a normal life for seventeen years. She attended regular school and loved spending time with friends. All this suddenly changed as she began to lose eyesight. Within days, she went completely blind. Disoriented by this shocking development, her parents approached many eye hospitals hoping to restore their daughter’s vision but it yielded no result.
Deepali was compelled to discontinue her education. The family, with no awareness about rehabilitation programmes, turned overprotective and confined her to the four walls of their home.
Gavindra Karmele lives in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh where he works at a Senior Secondary school. Despite losing his eye sight at an early age of six, Gavindra’s family ensured he never lost out on opportunities, starting with his education.
A resident of Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra, Pawan Kasliwal’s daughter and son were born with a degenerative eye condition. As a parent he had a tough time seeing them lose vision gradually and accepting their impairment.
But he wasn’t one to lose hope. He stood strong in support of his children and encouraged them to educate and become independent. Studying in a mainstream school, his son, Mohit expressed an interest in becoming a software engineer.
Kush Verma was born blind to an affluent family in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Assuming that he will remain dependent for the rest of his life, Kush’s parents hadn’t the slightest clue that the boy could also have a bright future.
Till the age of ten, Kush sat idle at home while his sighted brother went to school. On a friend’s suggestion, he was finally enrolled in a special institute where he progressed, picking up braille and mobility skills.
In India, late blindness remains an issue that lacks support mechanisms and progressive opportunities. Five years back, when 40-year-old Gangadharappa lost his vision in a road accident, he could not come to terms with it and confined himself to his home for the following three years.
When he nearly exhausted all his savings, the survival of his wife and two children pushed him to look for alternatives. Prior to the accident, he was doing well as an Assistant Manager in a Bangalore based garments factory.
Fifty-two-year-old Anil Kumar from Ernakulum, Kerala lost his vision at an early age of two. However, he stayed focused on his studies and completed an MA in Literature.
Soon after, he found a job as an English teacher at a tuition centre. Seeking better remuneration, he took up the job of translating books and articles from English to Malayalam.
Sachin Porwal suffered sight loss when he was studying in Class 6 in Udaipur, Rajasthan. He was forced to leave his school as the teachers didn’t know how to accommodate a blind student. Sachin’s parents tried hard to secure admission elsewhere but most schools declined given the boy’s impairment.
Dealing with a deteriorating vision, abject poverty and an alcoholic father, Manjunath’s tough childhood forced him to give up on his aspiration of pursuing higher education. Flashbacks of his forgettable childhood are reappearing as he now struggles to provide for his five-year-old son and pay for his education.
A qualified mechanical engineer, Rohit Thombre left his home in Solapur to settle in Pune for better employment opportunities. He was focused on working diligently, rising up the ranks and saving for a comfortable future. Six years into the job, he bought a house of his own.
His flourishing career came crashing down when he experienced sudden sight loss at the age of 27. He caught a fever which permanently damaged his optic nerve. Along with the job, he lost his independence. Desperate for alternatives, Rohit surfed the internet with little remaining vision.
Visually impaired Babloo Kumar was gainfully employed as a Call Center Executive. He led an independent life in Delhi until he lost the job during the pandemic.
Forced to return to his hometown in Gorakhpur, UP, Babloo was in for another rude shock when his bank refused to offer phone banking service or an ATM card. The officials said he was ineligible for such facilities.
48-year-old Sheriff Menon lives in Goregoan, Mumbai. Despite being visually impaired from an early age, he is an independent and contributing member of his joint family.
Sheriff was allotted a PCO booth in 1998 under the disabled scheme by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The cellular phone revolution happened soon after and he switched to selling mobile accessories, recharge coupons etc. To enhance his earnings, he installed a computer, hired a sighted assistant and started offering internet based services to locals.
Born blind in Bagalkot city of Karnataka, 23-year-old Vinayak Neelanayak dreams of becoming a Biotechnology Engineer. Like most students with vision impairment, he has braved many odds to pursue his interest in Science.
Our ill-equipped education system makes it difficult for blind students to follow subjects like Maths and Science, often encouraging them to opt out. Vinayak’s school refused to let him sit through Class 12 and he struggled for three years until he found admission elsewhere. His persistence paid off and he scored 75% in the finals.
Yogender Singh is a BA final year student of Delhi University (DU). Visually impaired since the age of two, pursuing his dream of education hasn’t been easy.
He was on a short break in his hometown Moradabad, UP, when the nationwide lockdown was announced in March. Yogender was oblivious of the challenges he would face in the coming months.
Coronavirus has altered the existing scenarios. As the world grapples with change, blind people are faced with new set of difficulties. A long-term associate of Eyeway, Praveen Kumar shares what it means to be visually impaired in today’s times.
As a visually impaired person, being independent has been my priority in life. Now with the situation of corona there is going to be a change in my life and also for many others with vision impairment.
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