Hi nitesh, I am glad you put out this problem in front of the group. And I am extremely delighted to see the enthusiastic responses from the experienced. You have more than a few tips listed by your friends. But as a VI woman with a VI brother and many VI friends (male as well) I would like to add a few points. Ask your friend not to be so apprehensive. It’s only when he goes on the trip, he will figure out the solutions to all of these. He cant really prepare for every eventuality in advance. So besides general preparation, confidence will be his key. if there is still some time left before he plans this trip, please ask him to get a white cane and try and get his mobility in place. The cabs and the guides take you so far. You have to have the ability to get up and walk out or in a restaurant or hotel etc on your own if you are planning to have a nice time as a VI and specially with another VI mate. Also, i have researched a bit in disability and romance and my findings say that women (disabled or nondisabled) feel safer and more secure if their partner is independent (irrespective of blind or otherwise).
I have been to other cities (in India and abroad) with my brother and my VI friends. and to give you an example I was strolling in a park with a VI friend and I as a VI woman, would have hated to have a guide hovering in the background while we swopped our childhood stories, or crazy moments, ideological opinions etc. not at every moment did we know where we were heading. sometimes my friend took the lead, sometimes i did and it was fun. And of course, there is no harm in a woman guiding you – VI or otherwise- but men (not generalizing but many of them) tend to get either too demeaned with this, or get quite insecure about the male waitor / guide/ cabby holding their lady partners and guiding them. Hope your friend will not be similarly affected – always assuming his mate is better with mobility and the white cane. That is a lengthy list and of course I could keep writing but I think we all have by now overwhelmed your friend! Good luck and fun time to him and his partner. Cheers, Nidhi Goyal Disability and gender rights advocate, India MSC Development Studies, LSE Twitter @saysnidhigoyal On 5/23/14, Amar Jain <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Nitesh, > > I surely don't have the experience of any tour with a female partner > as such, but being a person who does not hold stick in hand I can give > you some tips which I generally follow. > > 1. Reached at the entrence of the Airport. Now if your cab driver for > whatever reason cannot drop you to the counter then use security staff > present there for help. > Generally Meru and other such cool cab drivers manage to either drop > you or get you someone who can drop you. > > 2. Hotels and all such details are available online or you can get > numbers from Just Dial etc. Book them in advance to avoid last minute > tensions. > > Use waiters wherever you need, such as auto catching or food serving > in the room. Tip them. > > 3. For outing I strongly recommend city tour services given by > government and private operators. > Firstly you have co-passengers so less chance of missing things. > Secondly you can take help from conductors. It depends, sometimes it > may not work. > > 4. Food serving part can be managed in 2 ways. One is that before > sitting inform to the owner or the counter guy that you need help, and > second is to take waiter's cell number so that if you need anything, > either call or miss call depending on your conversation. Otherwise do > not feel shy to put up hand if you can sense that waiter is passing > by. > However be careful while putting up hand, as if not done properly, it > can create unnecessary drama. > > The most important part about the safety of your partner, I can only > say that be little cautious with whomsoever you are dealing with, take > their details, do not tell where you are staying or your personal > details, and just like how we care for our sister care for your > partner. > > Wish that lucky couple a happy trip! > -- > Amar Jain. > Website: www.amarjain.com > > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > 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.. > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in 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..
