Ep 27: Disability activist Nidhi Goyal: Reclaiming fairytales

1 de abr. de 2024 · 1h 6m 1s

Descripción

“I’m blind, but so is love…get over it!” This is how disability activist and stand-up comic https://www.instagram.com/saysnidhigoyal/ disarms her audience during her performances. In this episode, the Founder-Executive Director of...

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“I’m blind, but so is love…get over it!” This is how disability activist and stand-up comic Nidhi Ashok Goyal disarms her audience during her performances. In this episode, the Founder-Executive Director of award-winning non-profit organisation Rising Flame talks about their anthology And They Lived…Ever After: Disabled Women Retell Fairy Tales, published by HarperCollins India and shifting mindsets around disability.

The idea was sparked during the pandemic, with the heartwarming stories talking about an anxious Ugly Duckling, a deaf Snow White who finds her tribe, a wheelchair-bound Rapunzel, among others. In the magical world of fairytales, where there was no space for disability, the project helps them “reclaim their power and agency”.

With her trademark humour and candour, Nidhi, who started losing her eyesight at the age of 15, makes a strong statement about living on her terms and not trying to prove a point to the world. She manages her house, travels for work and enjoys networking as meeting people gives her a rush. However, inaccessibility issues remind her of her disability, such as navigating touchscreens in the elevators of her housing society.

She also relates annoying but hilarious instances of picking up the wrong blind person during a cab ride or “inspiring” people simply by the act of walking into a room. She mentions the importance of having a strong support system in her family and the community, with her father teaching her to take responsibility for her actions as “there are no discounts for being a woman or being disabled.”

You can follow her work @saysnidhigoyal.

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Chapters:
01:48 How she may not have sight, but still has “perfect vision”; on her disability
04:50 On her spiritual guru; deciding to start Rising Flame
06:50 Moving away from the “Why me?” question, drawing strength from family and community
11:00 Her parents being advised to get her married before she turned blind; fighting stigma
13:13 Rising Flame disability study during the pandemic
15:43 Mirroring her story in her book in the chapter “It’s Still Your Choice”
17:15 “Inspiring” others with just a “hello”
20:04 Turning to comedy because of “annoying and hilarious” situations
23:56 On enjoying dressing up; being independent
29:30 Panel discussion at the Purple Fest; disabled persons feeling the need to prove themselves
31:30 What a supportive environment looks like
34:34 On the role blindness plays in her day-to-day life; lack of accessibility and finding hacks
38:48 Apps and softwares, such as screen readers and “Be My Eyes”, that help the visually challenged
42:30 Rapunzel in a wheelchair
47:00 On the story around Cinderella’s “sister”, raising a larger gender question
48:05 Bollywood humour targeting disabilities
50:10 Stories from the book; an anxious Ugly Duckling, a deaf Snow White
52:56 Why a book around fairytales; how the writing project took shape
57:27 The intended audience for the book
59:00 The message of “Ask before you help”; picking up the wrong “blind person with a white cane”
1:03:30 Plans for Rising Flame and the book “And They lived…Ever After”

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Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.

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