Dear Rishabh, Thank you for sharing this idea and, more importantly, for reaching out to the community before planning the event. I really appreciate the thought behind it. I just wanted to share a few thoughts from my experience working with persons with disabilities. Instead of focusing only on one type of disability, I feel it would be much more meaningful to invite people with different kinds of disabilities and give them a space to share their actual experiences. There are many persons with disabilities who have achieved a lot and are successful in their careers, and their experiences can definitely inspire others. At the same time, I would also suggest inviting people who are currently struggling with education, employment, accessibility, mobility, or other everyday challenges. Sometimes, the people who are still struggling can explain the barriers much more clearly, while people who have already overcome similar challenges can share practical solutions. Bringing both groups together could make the conversation much more meaningful. I also feel there could be a simple chit-chat or interaction session, along with some games or activities, where people with and without disabilities can spend time together naturally. This may help break the hesitation and create genuine conversations. One request I would strongly make is please avoid activities like blindfolding people, tying their hands, making them walk with their eyes covered, etc. I understand the intention behind these activities is usually to make people understand what disability feels like, but sometimes they can create exactly the opposite message. As a person with visual impairment, even a small blindfold can make me feel confused and uncomfortable because suddenly a person is being put into an unfamiliar situation without the skills, tools or support that a person with visual impairment normally uses. It can make people think, “Oh God, their life must be so difficult,” or “They must have some extraordinary talent to manage this.” This can unintentionally create pity, sympathy or the idea that persons with disabilities are somehow extraordinary just for living their lives. Disability is not something that should be simulated for a few minutes and then experienced as a shocking realisation. It is a person's everyday life, and accessibility is about removing barriers, not creating artificial barriers. For example, giving a blindfold to someone who can see to show them what blindness is like is a little like giving a notebook to someone who normally works on a computer and then asking them to understand what it is like to use a computer. It doesn't really represent the actual experience, because the person with visual impairment has developed ways of navigating the world and uses tools and technology to do things independently. So rather than trying to make participants “feel disabled” through simulations, I would suggest letting them meet, talk, interact and understand the real experiences of persons with disabilities. Let them hear directly what makes a school inaccessible, what makes a workplace difficult, what barriers exist in public spaces, and what small changes can make a huge difference. Regarding the accessible walk, I think the idea itself is very good. But I would suggest that each person without a disability could be paired with a person with a disability, and they could navigate the experience together rather than being separated. This would allow the participant to actually observe how the person navigates, communicates, uses assistive technology or mobility support, and deals with accessibility barriers. The purpose should not simply be to let someone experience disability for a few minutes, but to help them understand how different accessibility barriers affect different people. I feel the event could become really powerful if it brings together people who are currently struggling, people who have overcome similar challenges, and people who have the ability to make changes — employers, educational institutions, administrators and policymakers. That combination can take the conversation beyond awareness and towards practical solutions. These are just my thoughts, but I genuinely appreciate that you are trying to build this with the disability community rather than just for the disability community. I would be happy to contribute or connect you with people who could bring different lived experiences into the conversation. Wishing you all the best in building something meaningful in Raipur. Warm regards, Yogitha AR Outreach Executive – NAB Karnataka 📞 9380103860 ✉️ [email protected]
On Thu, Aug 27, 2026 at 2:45 PM Rishabh Gupta <[email protected]> wrote: > I live in Raipur. > > I have been part of this community for a while now — navigating retinitis > pigmentosa, running a business, and recently writing a book about what all > of that actually feels like from the inside. Raipur is home. It is also, > honestly, a city where the conversation around disability and inclusion is > just beginning. > > I am part of Young Indians — a youth initiative under CII (Confederation > of Indian Industry). We want to organise something here. A small, offline > event focused on accessibility and inclusion. Not a large-scale fest. Not > an awareness programme. Something intimate and practical that could > genuinely move something — even slightly — in a city where very little > exists yet. > > I am writing here before we plan anything because I believe the people in > this community — who have navigated inaccessible schools, workplaces, and > cities their entire lives — should be part of designing this, not just > attending it. > > Here is roughly what we are thinking: > > A half-day offline event in Raipur bringing together two groups that > rarely sit in the same room — people with disabilities and the people who > have the power to change things for them. School principals, college > administrators, employers, and local policy makers on one side. Disabled > individuals, their families, and caregivers on the other. Not speeches. > Conversations. The kind where something might actually shift. > > We are also thinking of an accessible walk — guiding non-disabled > participants through one Raipur neighbourhood the way a person with a > disability navigates it. Not for drama. Just for the kind of understanding > that arrives when you feel something rather than hear about it. > > But I genuinely do not know if this is the right format. And I do not know > everything that is needed. Which is why I am here. > > A few things I would really value your thoughts on: > > From your own experience — what is one thing that could actually be done > at an event like this that would make a real difference? Not awareness for > its own sake — something practical, something that changes how a person in > that room thinks or acts afterward. > > Is there anyone — a speaker, an organisation, an individual — that you > think should be in the room for a conversation like this to be meaningful? > Someone from the disability community whose voice carries weight, or > someone from the mainstream world who has genuinely changed something? > > And if you or someone you know is based in or near Raipur and would be > open to being part of this — either as a participant or as a voice from > lived experience — I would love to know. > > I am not announcing anything yet. I am trying to build something worth > building. And I would rather do that with this community than without it. > > > Rishabh Gupta > Author, What I See Now | Managing Partner, Anant Resources | Co-Founder, > Green Energy Feeders > Raipur, Chhattisgarh > [email protected] > +91 83190 50810 > > -- > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of > the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "AccessIndia" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CAOukPW_Wtnc74_iJXy%2BnQJ%3D6dPwFi_OHirRE85dxvsrifXVVtA%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CAOukPW_Wtnc74_iJXy%2BnQJ%3D6dPwFi_OHirRE85dxvsrifXVVtA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CANS2jJiE0Zby3OuFHpDB-TMZiPhk54jG5Nt6EV3z06pV1LAwqQ%40mail.gmail.com.
