Will we ever change and think beyond our own selfish interests? Especially when it comes to differently abled section of our society. Till when will we continue to hurt them and say sorry?
My journey with visually impaired began few years back and instances of non acceptance were many. I would always see those eyes which would look at visually impaired with a shock as if they are aliens to this world. I always felt that life was tougher for them because they were not just fighting with their own blindness but also with a society which never created infrastructure suitable for them, which never accepted them and which always thought that these guys need to be somewhere else! Realizations were many and so was the learning. I started playing Holi with them, celebrating Diwali with them, sleeping in the same room as them and this went on.
I always believed that our people who work with the government for implementing policies and allocating funds would be even more sensitive towards them because many of them draft policies concerning them. I was incorrect and they have once again let us down. A Para-Olympic athlete, #Kanchanmalapande, is yet another example of “HO JAYEGA ATTITUDE” of our officers. A blind person who dreamt of being a swimmer and bringing laurels to the country could not get the funds allocated for her during her silver medal winning para swimming trip to Berlin. Her medal was celebrated for few hours on twitter and we must have already forgotten her like we forget so many more things everyday. Another inquiry has started on why the funds did not reach her in time. Will anyone even bother to check if there was any result of the inquiry ensuring that such instances are not repeated. Maybe putting that officer in a blindfold for a day could help? Our ministers also need to go through a blindfold workshop to realize what it feels to be blind. Our sports minister, Vijay Goel, has taken “PROMPT” action as always but similar cases of disrespect and negligence continue to take place.
Maybe its high time we blindfold the government to make them feel what it feels without sight and show them the colours of darkness.
#blindfoldthegovernment #coloursofdarkness #kanchanmalapande