In the hustle and bustle of our day to day lives, we rarely find the time to look
within ourselves, in order to explore our capabilities and understand what we
really want to do in life- here, my disability gave me the opportunity to do so.
The nature of always seeking for positive in all negative happenings and the
desire of trying to do something out of the box, enabled to bring the best out
of me… even though it was difficult to follow this path.
The creative world always attracted me from the beginning. I desired to be a
part of it being invisible yet staying connected with the whole world- the best
way to do so was to be a writer and a journalist that allowed me to meet
people, know their story and be able to narrate it in my own words was
something that thrilled me. Unfortunately, being visually impaired I could not
perceive my education in what I desired to be and was forced to take up music
as I was advised to perceive my career in a field where I did not have to use the little vision I had.
The restrictions never held me back, with passing time, technology helped.
Audio books that were available online helped me listen to stories, the
software called Jaws on the other hand helped me write down my thoughts
into poems. This progress in life gave me the confidence that someday I will be able to reach out being a writer even though in the past my impairment had restricted me.
The desire to have my own identity by doing something different and creative
pushed me to keep trying. I kept on exploring my capabilities. I failed many
times, faced rejections in all that I tried to do, but I never gave up. As I trekked
this path, one of the most beautiful thing happened in my life- I discovered
that I could paint at 25. This discovery brought to me my identity. I was known as an artist, but the desire to be a writer still kept me on guard.
Once the chase of finding my own identity in society ended, it felt like it was
time to tell a story. Having different stories in mind with a lot of ideas, I had no clue from where to begin. At one point, I started working on two stories at a time and was confused. Just in time ‘Princess India’ a beauty contest for
visually impaired girls happened and after the selection round I knew which
story I should continue with and how I had to bring it all together.
The thought of working on a story of a challenged character cleared the whole
confusion. What kind of difficulties does a visually impaired person go through was something I felt the world needs to know. This thought enabled me to allow the hero of the story to have the same disease as me as well as the profession- a person with no self-pity and a great fighting spirit. The rest of the build-up are inspirations from true incidents of different people and to add flavour and mend it together a little of fiction.
Today, I am content with all that I have achieved- I am an Artist who has put up 3 solo exhibitions and has been a part of a few group exhibitions. I am a poet with my poem book called ‘Reflections’ has a collection of few of my poems. I am a full time yoga instructor as well as a spiritual counsellor and now, finally after 5 long years an Author with my first book ‘In Search Of…’
It is a story of a visually impaired individual. Her desire to be accepted and to
be heard puts her through different experiences of life. A story of hope, love,
rejection, courage, friendship and faith. How life tutors her through all her
experiences, what she learns and how she finds her true self is the story of ‘In
Search Of…’