A Blind New World teaches us why the visually impaired are not to be treated as dependents
Why treat anyone different? Even, the differently-abled. Are we being blind to the needs of the blind? A need that is to merely live life on par with the rest; minus the pity they receive in abundance.
To most, the sight of a blind man walking down the street seems poignant. We imagine sadness, helplessness and unfairness for them. Sadly, our ethos simply fails to perceive any disabled person as happy and independent.
Jeevesh Gupta aims to put an end to these self-made assumptions. A 36-year-old social activist and writer from Delhi, he is the force behind A Blind New World.
Generations of making a difference
Well nurtured in lessons of leading a simple life and understanding social issues from a very young age, Jeevesh owes it all to his socially and politically active family. “My father was a revolutionary who was jailed during the Emergency. He, along with my grandmother and mother, had a great influence on me during my younger days. From cycling to school, helping the needy and being able to comprehend social issues, the social worker in me had already started brewing.”
Dissatisfied with working in the corporate sector after an MBA in Marketing, Jeevesh gathered that he wanted to be the change he wishes to see.
“My quest began. By this time the writer in me was active. I was regularly blogging on social issues, my thoughts, through short stories and poetry. I realised writing was the most powerful tool to raise your voice non-violently and express your point to the readers at large,” he says.
Asked to help write an exam for a visually impaired child in 2009, Jeevesh got an opportunity to spend more time with them. “While I wrote exams for different children every few days in different schools, I felt a deeper connection. My self-made assumptions about the visually impaired slowly wiped off,” he admits. By now, visiting the blind became a daily routine. “I began visiting blind schools, spending most of my evenings with them. I would take them to the movies, restaurants, make them swim and have sleepovers. They're not only enthusiastic but fun to be with,” he exclaims.
Realising the blind, who often othered, are just like you and I, Jeevesh formally decided to champion the visually impaired. What motivated him further was to begin work under the trust ‘A Campaign for People’s Rights’ his father set up in 1991. While this trust worked to keep Delhi green and the Yamuna clean, Jeevesh began his work for the blind alongside, to carry his family's legacy forward.
This year, he started a new trust called ‘Campaign for the Differently Abled’ under which he runs The Blind New World.
Learning is greater than successes
Having worked with the visually impaired for about 10 years now, Jeevesh says he has more to say about learnings than achievements. “The biggest learning has been the fact that this section is capable of doing everything; they can talk and message on mobiles faster than visually-abled. They can work in the kitchen as well as in offices; they can click photos with latest technology and they also study at top universities like Stanford after being rejected by IITs,” he quips.
Challenges formed a big part of these learnings. The stigma associated with visually-impaired individuals was overwhelming. Jeevesh shares instances of his blind friend, Rajiv, not being permitted to enter a restaurant when the guard presumed he was a beggar until Jeevesh intervened.
Breaking the dependency circle
Despite hurdles, the trust initially funded through personal savings has grown by leaps and bounds. Blind New World, conceived last year, is raising funds through a crowdfunding platform this year. “Blind New World, the biggest dream I have, is to create a global mutual mentorship programme for the visually impaired, where each of them is connected with at least one self-motivated individual on a day-to-day basis,” says Jeevesh.
His idea is to see what they see and show them what we see. This is achieved through a blindfold programme to understand their world better. “I feel that the blindfold is a very powerful tool to bring out that realisation amongst people about how it feels to be without sight.” Jeevesh usually blindfolds himself in the presence of the blind, encouraging others to do the same and has also been playing ‘blindfold Holi’ with them for three years now.
The final goal of the campaign is not to get them food or clothing like other organisations working in the same space, thus making them dependent. Rather, he wishes to create a programme which makes them independent and self-sustaining. “The aim of campaign for differently-abled is to create an inclusive world for visually impaired and other people with special needs in a way that does not portray them as dependent. This is why an organisation such as ours needs to exist,” he highlights.
The Blind New World crowdfunding campaign is 60 days old now and is supported by Rajan Anandan, CEO, Google India. The money raised will be used to carry out events, blindfold workshops and create an awareness website.
A self-sustainable learning and support system
They have conducted workshops and events with corporates and societies in Delhi at large. A workshop with LinkedIn employees, sensitising staff to strengths of the visually impaired, has helped create inclusion.
Their biggest achievement this year has been the ‘Colors of Darkness’ event, a tie up with the Human Library at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Arts, Delhi. “This event attracted over 500 people, who came to hear 12 human books, all of whom were visually impaired. We also created an experience zone in the open where people were made to do so many interesting activities blindfolded,” says Jeevesh.
With help from over 20 volunteers, Jeevesh through his trust has reached and supported about 200 visually-impaired individuals between the ages of 15 and 35 throughout Delhi. He wishes to showcase their strengths through many more events and use technology to a develop a mentorship programme in the near future.