The story made me a bit emotional, though I'm not at all a person with pessimism or negative mind- set. Where most people feel a bit skeptic and hesitant to take or accompany a blind people during traveling, these two ladies during their travel itself, started their thinking to make visually people enjoy traveling in its true sense.
amazing... Thanks, Sudeshna Bhattacharya On 4/4/18, avinash shahi <shahi88avin...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thank you Sameer for pasting this for me, I'm sharing the report on AI list. > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Sameer <sameer.la...@gmail.com> > Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2018 23:10:38 +0530 > Subject: Re: Need this article from business standard > To: avinash shahi <shahi88avin...@gmail.com> > > > An eye retreat > Two women have designed a website for the visually impaired where they can > make their own travel itinerary and embark on a journey of exploration > > Sneha Bhattacharjee > Last Updated at March 31, 2018 19:25 IST > > > Divya Saxena > and > Ritu Sinha > were two successful creative heads of a leading advertisment agency till > about a year ago. On a trip to Europe sometime last year, as they were > having > a leisurely cup of coffee at breakfast, they saw two visually impaired men > enter the restaurant seeking their way to the washroom. “As the waiter > guided > them through the tables, Ritu and I were struck at how we had not > encountered a single visually-impaired tourist in our 20-25 days long trip,” > says Saxena. > > > This got them thinking and researching: Were any tours or packages curated > specially for the visually impaired? “As we expected, there was hardly > anything > online. However, there was quite a lot of data showing there was a sizeable > population of such tourists around the world,” says Sinha, adding their > conversation > during office breaks and post-work hours increasingly began to veer towards > creating something for this (visually impaired) section of the population. > That led to the founding of > BAT Travels. > > Not that they weren’t aware of the pitfalls. A > travel website > for the visually impaired where they could get to pick their own packages > was an untried and untested idea in the country. “A look at our site would > make > you think there’s nothing particularly special about it — but it has been > designed for our target audience,” says Saxena, adding that their site is > WCAG2.0 > accessible — that is, a visually impaired person can navigate their way on > the site easily. > > Quitting their jobs at the peak of their career to start something of their > own was both exhilarating and overwhelming. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy to > raise funding so we boot-strapped on our own and put our life’s savings into > it,” says Sinha. “It’s not like we had a lot of money in the banks,” adds > Saxena. > > In order to give the visually impaired the joy of travel and get them to > experience the feel of a place, it was important that someone close be there > to > guide them. “Our tour batches usually consist of 10-15 people — a mix of the > visually impaired as well as those who can see,” says Saxena. It is the > sighted > who become the eyes and ears of the visually impaired. Saxena and Sinha > accompany the groups on every tour. “We have taken four trips so far and are > going > on our fifth one to Jim Corbett,” says Sinha. > > visually impaired tourists > > One of the travellers being made to experience the carvings on a door in the > bylanes of Varanasi > > From river rafting in Rishikesh to paragliding in Kamshet (near Mumbai), and > even experiencing the making of Benarasi saris in a weavers’ colony in > Varanasi, > Saxena and Sinha attribute their successful journeys to the people who have > been a part of their tours — both the sighted and the visually impaired. “At > first, it is difficult to initiate a conversation but then they themselves > start cracking jokes — about their challenged sight, thus breaking the ice,” > says Saxena. “For the sighted people, it is a different experience. They > come to us with their children and say they want to be part of such tours to > sensitise > their children about all kinds of people they might encounter in life,” she > says. > > Every trip is a learning experience for Saxena and Sinha, who are now eyeing > an international tour package for the visually impaired and also looking to > grow their groups. “People don’t come to us with money on their mind. Our > packages are so designed that most people spend more on ticketing than our > travel > plans,” says Sinha. “All they want is to experience the joy of travelling > and we try and ensure that they have the true experience,” she adds. > > Ensuring the visually impaired get permission to participate in activities > they normally wouldn’t be allowed to, is a challenge that both the women > face > with positivity. “It took us a lot of convincing to get our group to do > river rafting at Rishikesh but we ensured that all the safety checks were in > place > to avoid any mishap,” says Saxena. > > Recalling an incident from their recent trip to Varanasi, they recount with > gratitude how much the visually impaired have taught them. “While walking > through > the by-lanes in a weavers’ colony, we came across a snake charmer. A > 60-year-old visually impaired woman was walking in front of us. While all of > us just > stood there terrified of the snake, when we told the woman what we had just > seen, she wanted to ‘feel’ the snake. We were taken aback but the snake > charmer > got her to hold the snake, reassuring us all the time as we clicked pictures > of the two of them,” recalls Sinha, adding how scared they were but there > was not a hint of fear on the face of the visually-impaired woman as the > snake writhed sinuously. It was a moment of tactile truth. > > > Regards > Mr. Sameer Latey > Mumbai, India > -----Original Message----- > From: avinash shahi > Sent: 03 April, 2018 4:54 PM > To: Sameer > Subject: Need this article from business standard > > Hi Sameer, please find time and paste this story in the body-mail for me? > Thanks in advance. > http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/an-eye-retreat-118033100546_1.html > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > > > > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > > > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > 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.. > Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in 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..
