Tech for the Blind

A few days ago, as I sat switching channels, my attention was caught by a program on girls in Bangalore playing cricket… what riveted my attention was that these girls were blind…

As I learnt during this heart-wrenching program, there is an amazing organization, called “Samarthanam” (Blind Cricket | Sports NGO | Samarthanam Trust For The Disabled), that supports Cricket for the Blind in India, especially women. The organization encourages poor and economically challenged girls to play cricket from childhood… it supports them with coaching, playing equipment and guidance…

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled is a National Award-winning NGO, established in 1997 by Founder Managing Trustee Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar and his schoolmate and childhood friend, Late Sugur Paramashivaiah Nagesh.

Samarthanam, one of the biggest NGOs in India, works for the empowerment of persons with disabilities and the underserved through its diverse initiatives focused on providing quality education, accommodation, nutritious food, vocational training and placement-based rehabilitation. It facilitates opportunities to enable persons with disabilities and the underserved to keep pace with the rest of the society.

Today, the Samarthanam Trust stands to be a complete solution provider by supporting education and livelihood needs of persons with disabilities and those from underprivileged backgrounds. The organization also facilitates direct livelihood opportunities to hundreds of persons with disabilities and women in distress through its Social Enterprises. Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), the cricketing arm of Samarthanam, fosters the game of blind cricket and visually impaired players across India.

Eventually, girls who are categorized by the “quantum of blindness” into categories like B1 (totally blind), play serious district and state level cricket, and compete to get into the national team for the Blind…

As someone who has grown up playing cricket, I was so amazed by the dexterity and competence with which these girls bowled (underarm), struck the ball, ran between wickets and fielded! The ball they use is a special one, filled with ball-bearings, so it makes a noise as it is hurled towards the bats-person, or as a fielder tries to catch it.

Most of these girls do not come from affluent backgrounds: they work to earn a living, and looked after their families… Cricket for them is an outlet for their creativity, love for sports and to be ‘normal’…

Their situation reminded me, with stark clarity, the work I had the privilege of doing, with the National Association for the Blind, in Mumbai…

In 2005, when I was heading the Indian Languages Program (Bhasha) in Microsoft India, I received a letter from NAB, asking if I could visit them… my interest was piqued: while I knew of the Blind Association peripherally, I had not really been aware of their work…

During my next travel to Mumbai, I visited the NAB office, and met their head, who was also visually challenged… he was incredibly smart, articulate and passionate about the difference he wanted to bring to the lives of the Blind…

He took me to his <impeccably maintained> computer room, and talked to me about the biggest challenge then facing young Blind people… a lack of reading material in Braille… simply put, there was no means available for the huge amount of language content we had, to convert it to Braille…

He asked for my help, wondering if I could somehow integrate Braille into the Indian Languages Program I was leading… I needed no further encouragement… over the next few months I made the case for inclusion of Braille into our program, helped develop the phonetic keyboard and supported the Association with some additional training and resources…

When I next visited the Association, many months later, I was gladdened to see many more people in the Computer room, using the various language to Braille phonetic transliterators, to make fictional and educational content available to the Blind…

Since then, Microsoft has continuously progressed and continued to develop support for the visually challenged: the Microsoft Narrator, or the Seeing AI, or Microsoft Soundscape, are just some examples, and this blog gives a great summary: 7 smart tech developments for people who are blind or have low vision – On the Issues (microsoft.com), and this link talks at length about Microsoft’s accessibility commitment to the Visually challenged: Accessibility tools for vision - Microsoft Support.

The “Samarthanam” work made me emotional, but also thoughtful… each and every one of those women (and men) are role models… and the best part of it is, they don’t even realize that the values of determination, empathy, passion, focus on task at hand, staying positive, mindfulness and willpower which are so valued in corporates, are simply the way these women cricketers are…