They're getting hotels and roads redesigned to help society's forgotten lot—the disabled
But why a three-star hotel? "Why not," counters Mudgal. "It’s the big hotels that can afford and should take the initiative to cater to every customer," he says. Ideally, all public spaces should have facilities for the differently abled. And Arushi has been trying hard to ensure that the ideal is realised.
Not just hotels, they also succeeded in getting changes made in the Bhopal Express, an overnight train from Bhopal to Nizamuddin. Now berth numbers on the train are in braille and even the toilets have been redesigned to suit the physically challenged. In Habibganj, the station that caters to New Bhopal, ramps connect the platforms with the overbridge and there is special parking for the physically challenged. In fact, the station does not have a single staircase. Even the water taps have been redesigned. And when the organisation’s volunteers found that access to ‘Bhopal haat’—a special market for handicrafts—was only through stairs, they protested. The government authorities had to concede and a ramp was built. "We don’t hesitate to go to court and get the construction of any structure that does not have facilities for handicapped users stayed," says professor Rohit Trivedi, a volunteer of Arushi who is himself blind.
Arushi’s efforts have yielded dividends elsewhere too. Thus, the first page of all school textbooks published by the MP Text Book Corporation now has information on how to help the visually challenged comprehend the contents. "Three crore books have been published with this information," says Mudgal. The entire literature about the exhibits of the Museum of Man in Bhopal is available in braille and the Central Bank of India has made available a braille version of the brochures of its loan schemes. Veteran filmmaker and poet Gulzar has recently authorised Arushi to print 15 of his books in braille.
Arushi’s efforts began in 1992, by just five persons. "A friend of my brother was the writer for a blind student who was appearing in the higher secondary exam. I casually asked him if I could be of any help. He said recordings of textbooks would be immensely useful," recalls Mudgal. And so, a group of five young men got together and started taking turns in reading textbooks into a small Philips recorder. The effort helped the blind students immensely. Thirteen years hence, the organisation had built up enough resources. Expenses are met by selling candles and greeting cards. They’ve also been involved with UNICEF projects. The state government also chips in. It’s always a struggle, but they get by.
Contact: E -7, HX—2, Arera Colony, Bhopal—462016. Tel: 0755- 2411340