ANTARCHAKSHU 2.0
CONCEPT NOTE
About The Workshop
Antarchakshu®2.0 — The Eye Within, conceptualised by the XRCVC, is a simulation
workshop aimed at creating a sneak preview for the sighted into the world of persons with
disabilities. It is a simulated environment where participants, through experiencing a
disability simulation, will learn to reflect on personal attitudes towards persons with
disabilities. This simulation is then followed by an interactive session and/or presentation.
The objective of the module is to equip its participants with insight, understanding and basic
facts about the lives of the visually impaired, the ‘How?’ of their lives as also to foster an
insight in developing their own personal perspective on the issue.
Antarchakshu can be conducted either online or offline.
Objectives of the Session
1. To help participants reflect on attitudes and beliefs towards persons with disabilities.
2. Orient participants to concepts of inclusion, accessibility, equal opportunity
employment and related ideas.
3. Through the experience, help participants gain valuable insights of personal
strength, ability to work around situations, power of imagination, and the inherent
human capacity to overcome odds through innovation and determination.
Hence Antarchakshu® serves the dual aim of not only sensitising participants to disability
but serves as a potent tool towards personnel growth and motivation.
Duration of the Session: Approximately 2 hours
Maximum participants per batch: Ideally 30 (can be pushed to 40)
Minimum number of participants required: 15
Methodology:
Interactive exercises, group discussion and lecture inputs.
Requirements: Good internet connectivity. It is critical that all participants should be
present throughout the session and keep their video cameras on. Given the manner in
which the activities are structured, joining / leaving half way defeats the purpose of the
session.
Conducted By: Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) St. Xavier’s
College 5, Mahapalika Marg, Mumbai – 400 001; www.xrcvc.org.
For further details, contact Dr Sam Taraporevala: sam@xrcvc.org, 09869378436,
09967028769
REPORT
The first episode of Antarchakshu had proved to be a great success and so, the Centre for Disability Research and Training, Kirori Mal College in collaboration with XRCVC (Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged), on popular demand repeated the workshop on 3rd June, 2022. 54 participants had registered for the workshop this time around.
Conducted by Krishna Warrier from XRCVC the workshop opened the participants made to perform a series of activities like making a paper boat/plane/jet, drawing a heart with a pencil on a sheet of paper, pouring water from a jug into a glass and recognising currency notes with their blindfolds on. These simulation exercises gave the participants a peek into the lives of those who cannot see and experience sightlessness first hand. However, today a great surprise the performance of these activities with blindfolds on did not turn out to be as difficult as it initially appeared. Infact, the participants were able to go through the said activities realising the power and potential of their touch and sound.
Krishna Warrier then introduced the participants to Ganesh, a visually impaired young man who had lost his sight at the tender age of 9. Ganesh shared his memory of how he adjusted to his new condition and took the participants through a journey into his past. He narrated his struggle with blindness, his stories in the special school and his subsequent encounter in an inclusive educational setting. He confessed that beginning with he nursed great anxiety about the sighted world, but once he began to engage with people across the ability divide, all his apprehensions evaporated, As he was able to mix with them without fear or any kind of apprehension. Even the participants who to begin with were apprehensive about interacting with the blind man, realised that their anxiety were unfounded and that a blind man was as human as anybody else having the same emotions, desires and dreams.
This 90 minute session was indeed an ‘eye-opener’ for those who had yet to come across a blind man, it made them understand their feelings, apprehensions, anxiety, emotions. This workshop gave them a glimpse into the lives of blind people enabling them to understand blindness and blind people through inclusive and egalitarian prism.
