Joseph, now 71 years old from Ernakulam, Kerala first encountered the challenge of losing vision when he was 10. It was myopia, more commonly known as near-sightedness and he never knew it was the beginning of a road less taken. He fixed the situation temporarily with a pair of glasses although his vision was deteriorating gradually. With no knowledge of it and no visible challenges earlier, he lived an independent life taking care of his business, wife and two daughters.

39-year-old Zoher Kheriwala is a visually impaired person from Mumbai, Maharashtra. He and his wife contracted an eye disorder known as Retinitis Pigmentosa which resulted in a gradual loss of their vision. Zoher is a businessman and his wife is working as a Helpdesk counselor at the Victoria Memorial Blind School.

Rahul Kumar Yadav is a 19-year-old resident of Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. He is visually impaired since birth and has been dependent on his parents for daily navigation. He completed his education till Class 8 from a Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan identified school. Both his parents were farmers and it grew difficult for them to accompany him every day to school. Thus, he could not continue to study further than this.

15-year-old Ajay Kumar was born blind in Sirsa, Haryana. His parents took him to various eye specialists with the hope of finding a cure. But the doctors told them that there were very low chances of restoring the boy’s vision. Ajay is now studying in Class 8 at the Helen Keller Blind School in Sirsa and is passionate about becoming a music teacher. Ajay’s father is a daily wage labourer and his mother is a housewife, who has been a constant support to him, encouraging him to be independent despite his inability to see.