I want us to all close our eyes and go
back in time what would be a world
without latest technology
a world without cellphones
a world without social media no internet
no social media no cell phones I would
like the youngsters of this College to
imagine how the world would be how would
it be can you imagine that today can you
imagine the 10 years or 15 years earlier
there were no cell phones there was no
social media right yeah but now what
happens now we can do without these
concepts now we kind of live without
these things because it’s so necessary
we need it we need all these things so
when we talk about the removal of all
concepts a lot of our concepts have been
removed and a lot of new things have
come in their place how would the world
be if we all thought like our parents
did can anyone imagine that how would
the well be if we all sort like our
parents our parents things like this so
we just think exactly like that and then
we think like that and we pass it on to
the next generation would there be a
removal of all concepts or would there
be a change would there be a difference
in the world would there if we all
thought like a parents no right why
don’t we think like our parents because
we want to bring about new ideas new
concepts new innovations new inventions
only then the world can become a better
place but these innovations and ideas
are not only restricted to technology
and to development
they have to also be there in social
issues social customs norms regulations
everything has to change when we say
that we want to change we want to bring
out new concept we want to remove old
layers we have to do it in all concepts
earlier blind people were considered as
a curse in Tibet in India in Africa in
Vietnam in Cambodia Thailand in most
Asian countries and I think even some
European countries – they were
considered as a curse as a burden they
were not allowed to come out of the
house in Tibet I’ve heard that they were
tied to their beds tied to their beds
literally tied to their beds in some
houses in Tamil Nadu
I have personally heard the stories of
blind people where their parents they
tie them up and then they go out and
lock the house from outside they come
back and they open all away birds and
cages that we have to be tied up aren’t
we human beings don’t we have the right
to live such were the old customs they
still exists now but it’s changing this
concept is changing blind people were
considered as a sin you are blind
because you created and not only blind
you were disabled because you created
some sin in the past or your parents
created some sin in the past or you
created some sin in your last life and
it’s only because of this that you
became blind in this life is that true
can we continue living on this concept
can we no all right I mean what we did
in our past life we are punished there
and then what we do now we are punished
here and now there is
no God who is so vindictive to take the
sins of our past life and punish us in
this life or take our parent sins and
punish us what is it to do with us if
our parents were drunkards or if our
parents were womanisers or if our
parents were smugglers or drug dealers
or criminals or what not that’s not our
fault as long as we don’t adopt those
practices and we only adopt the positive
practices that our parents gave us we
don’t have to be blind because of what
our parents did how do I know what I was
in my last birth if someone says oh
you’re blind because of the sin you
committed in your last birth you’re lost
but you may have been a rat or a dog or
a cow no these concepts have to change
it’s about time people woke up people
are waking up now at least persons with
disabilities are at least recognized
they are not at the topmost layer of
society but at least they are slowly
being removed from the margins of
society because of us a few people like
me who want to make their voices heard
who don’t want to be everybody’s darling
and who don’t want to go according to
the traditions but who want to raise
their voice and say hey I’m disabled so
what I have to change this concept I am
NOT a curse I am an equal asset to the
society my journey in life was all about
from being a burden to a breadwinner and
that is what I instill in my fellow
disabled colleagues and in my students
that no more being liabilities they have
to become assets they have to become
from burdens to breadwinners taxpayers
everything why can’t we
we can earn we can work it’s only that
we cannot drive a car but we can do
everything else just with certain
adaptations a blind person can do
everything he’s not a curse and my
occurr standing in front of you now and
giving this TED talk I’m sure I’m not
because otherwise you wouldn’t have
called me here because you don’t believe
so that is how the society is gradually
changing now blind people can use screen
readers that is speech software to work
on a computer we can use social media on
Android phones on Apple devices we have
voiceover on Windows we have NVDA on
Linux we have Orca we have different
screen readers to support us in our work
we have this white cane which helps us
to walk yes this white cane enables us
to walk and find our way around we have
places in schools nowadays every school
has to take at least one or two persons
with disabilities that’s a rule of the
government now we have so many laws and
legislations like the National Trust Act
1999 the persons with disability Act of
1995 which clearly defines all kinds of
disabilities and makes provisions for
them there are seven disabilities
according to this Act then there is the
most recent act the rights for persons
with disabilities act 2016 which was
formed in India in December and this act
states that all persons with
disabilities in India are equal they
have equal access to all goods and
services public buildings public
transport public services housing
education everything accessibility is
mentioned 48 times in this document so
why because there’s the change from the
old concepts
we’re not curses anymore we are equal we
have an equal right to live that’s why
the government has brought about these
rules but are all these rules
actually being implemented in practice
have you seen the footpaths in
Trivandrum are they accessible can a
blind person walk confidently on those
footpaths no we can’t because it’s
always full of slabs and stones and
waste materials and so much other things
they should be clear they should be
clear for us to walk are the buses
accessible no they say they have seats
for us but we have to push and pull and
the seat is right at the back our public
buildings accessible for persons with
disabilities most buildings have steps
and persons with wheelchairs cannot
climb those steps most buildings don’t
have ramps for such kind of persons hey
what kind of accessibility is that so
even though these laws and legislations
have been implemented it’s up to us to
change them it’s only a handful of us
and a handful of you together not only
us but we all together who can say
disabled people have the right to live
they are not curses they are not burdens
but they are assets they have the right
to live and this old concept of them
being a curse should be eliminated this
old layer should be removed and since
the theme of this talk is removal of all
concepts I don’t say remove every single
old concepts there are some more
concepts which are really good in our
country I mean the epochs have really
really good stories really really good
values but we are like you know removing
everything the Westerners come to our
country and learn yoga and meditation
and learn all the good good concepts and
all our all about our culture and
heritage we are going further and
further away from our culture and
heritage and we are more going towards
the West going towards a lot of
different values and the Westerners are
coming and learning our values because
our culture is a diverse culture it’s a
unique culture
it’s a wonderful culture each state has
its own unique culture so I wouldn’t say
that remove every single old layer but
remove the old layers that are harmful
to the society they do not allow
everyone to live like dowry system it’s
not needed why why should I be bought
for a price if I want to marry someone I
should be marrying him for what I am he
should be marrying me for what I am I
should be marrying him for what he is
there’s no butter system that you give
me so much gold and I’ll marry your
parents give my parents this in your pen
how many parents are scratching their
heads every day how many girls even
commit suicide in the rural areas
because they don’t wanna put their
parents through this trouble such kind
of concepts should be removed how many
persons with disabilities are just
sitting and begging and singing because
they have no other jobs because no one
other will employ them
we are Jo Durga Maya want to remove at
least these concepts about disability
and I personally want to also try and
remove the concepts against women
empowerment Jo de Gama jo their demand
now trains blind people to become
self-sufficient we train them in all
necessary technical skills like
computers Android Apple how to use
social media we train them in mobility
we train them in soft skills how to
behave in front of people how to talk
how to hold their heads up high and not
be that curse when someone looks at
their their hey you’re blind but we
don’t know you’re blind
are you really blind yes that’s what
people should look at us and say we’re
not blind from our inner eyes we may be
externally blind but we have an inner
light that burns and that inner light is
of our inner eye I’ve often been asked
by people don’t you want to see I’ve
often been told by group when you go to
church please pray that you’ll see
please pray to God that he gives you I
said back so that you can see the way I
don’t want to see the world I can
already see the world from my inner eyes
I do not want to see the world from my
outer eyes because I can see a
everything and I believe that my life
was a purpose it was like this for a
particular reason so that I can stand
here as a living example today for my
other blind and other disabled
colleagues so that they can move forward
so that they can see me and they can
move forward so that they can see that I
am NOT a curse I’m not that old curse
and they are not that old curse we are
assets we are not burdens we are not
liabilities but we are assets we are
productive citizens of this country
there’s so many blind people today who
work in banks there’s so many blind
people who work in schools as teachers
there’s so many blind people who work in
other industries but we want to increase
this outreach we want the techno park to
be filled with blind people we want you
guys to come to us for help
wouldn’t that be great if the Trivandrum
techno park was full of blind people
full of computers with screen readers
great right well we don’t want to
outnumber you guys but we want to be
there too
now the Technopark has very few blind
people but we want to increase that we
want to get rid of these old concepts
and see that the curses who once existed
the ones who committed sins in their
past lives are now at the forefront of
society today no more curse no more such
kind of customs I recently met our
sub-collector dr. Divya IRA yes and she
also spoke about a concept and that was
dowry prohibition we were at a college a
girls college and what she said touched
my heart she said how many of you girls
can have a wedding without dowry that’s
your first step towards women
empowerment and I agree with her and I
said well done ma’am I hope you’re the
next prime minister yes
because that’s also one concept that
needs to be eliminated especially in our
state it’s very much prevalent so such
concepts can only be changed if we raise
our voices if we say we won’t change we
want change from these old concepts to
new concepts to no dowry no curses no
discrimination yeah no discrimination we
don’t want to be discriminated on the
basis of our gender we don’t want to be
discriminated based on our disability we
want progress we won’t change and it’s
only us together that can make this
world a better place I want us all not
only me but to join hands about various
social issues um it can be blindness it
can be physical disability it can be
women empowerment wherever you see
discrimination wherever you see social
injustice wherever you see the
irrational use of old concepts try and
remove them don’t remove all the old
concepts because that country has a
number of them but remove the concepts
which cause discrimination which cause
discomfort which cause inequality which
cause sympathy and not empathy try and
join your hands today and remove these
old layers and bring in new innovative
ideas new innovative concepts and make
this world and our country and our state
a better place thank you [Applause]
back in time what would be a world
without latest technology
a world without cellphones
a world without social media no internet
no social media no cell phones I would
like the youngsters of this College to
imagine how the world would be how would
it be can you imagine that today can you
imagine the 10 years or 15 years earlier
there were no cell phones there was no
social media right yeah but now what
happens now we can do without these
concepts now we kind of live without
these things because it’s so necessary
we need it we need all these things so
when we talk about the removal of all
concepts a lot of our concepts have been
removed and a lot of new things have
come in their place how would the world
be if we all thought like our parents
did can anyone imagine that how would
the well be if we all sort like our
parents our parents things like this so
we just think exactly like that and then
we think like that and we pass it on to
the next generation would there be a
removal of all concepts or would there
be a change would there be a difference
in the world would there if we all
thought like a parents no right why
don’t we think like our parents because
we want to bring about new ideas new
concepts new innovations new inventions
only then the world can become a better
place but these innovations and ideas
are not only restricted to technology
and to development
they have to also be there in social
issues social customs norms regulations
everything has to change when we say
that we want to change we want to bring
out new concept we want to remove old
layers we have to do it in all concepts
earlier blind people were considered as
a curse in Tibet in India in Africa in
Vietnam in Cambodia Thailand in most
Asian countries and I think even some
European countries – they were
considered as a curse as a burden they
were not allowed to come out of the
house in Tibet I’ve heard that they were
tied to their beds tied to their beds
literally tied to their beds in some
houses in Tamil Nadu
I have personally heard the stories of
blind people where their parents they
tie them up and then they go out and
lock the house from outside they come
back and they open all away birds and
cages that we have to be tied up aren’t
we human beings don’t we have the right
to live such were the old customs they
still exists now but it’s changing this
concept is changing blind people were
considered as a sin you are blind
because you created and not only blind
you were disabled because you created
some sin in the past or your parents
created some sin in the past or you
created some sin in your last life and
it’s only because of this that you
became blind in this life is that true
can we continue living on this concept
can we no all right I mean what we did
in our past life we are punished there
and then what we do now we are punished
here and now there is
no God who is so vindictive to take the
sins of our past life and punish us in
this life or take our parent sins and
punish us what is it to do with us if
our parents were drunkards or if our
parents were womanisers or if our
parents were smugglers or drug dealers
or criminals or what not that’s not our
fault as long as we don’t adopt those
practices and we only adopt the positive
practices that our parents gave us we
don’t have to be blind because of what
our parents did how do I know what I was
in my last birth if someone says oh
you’re blind because of the sin you
committed in your last birth you’re lost
but you may have been a rat or a dog or
a cow no these concepts have to change
it’s about time people woke up people
are waking up now at least persons with
disabilities are at least recognized
they are not at the topmost layer of
society but at least they are slowly
being removed from the margins of
society because of us a few people like
me who want to make their voices heard
who don’t want to be everybody’s darling
and who don’t want to go according to
the traditions but who want to raise
their voice and say hey I’m disabled so
what I have to change this concept I am
NOT a curse I am an equal asset to the
society my journey in life was all about
from being a burden to a breadwinner and
that is what I instill in my fellow
disabled colleagues and in my students
that no more being liabilities they have
to become assets they have to become
from burdens to breadwinners taxpayers
everything why can’t we
we can earn we can work it’s only that
we cannot drive a car but we can do
everything else just with certain
adaptations a blind person can do
everything he’s not a curse and my
occurr standing in front of you now and
giving this TED talk I’m sure I’m not
because otherwise you wouldn’t have
called me here because you don’t believe
so that is how the society is gradually
changing now blind people can use screen
readers that is speech software to work
on a computer we can use social media on
Android phones on Apple devices we have
voiceover on Windows we have NVDA on
Linux we have Orca we have different
screen readers to support us in our work
we have this white cane which helps us
to walk yes this white cane enables us
to walk and find our way around we have
places in schools nowadays every school
has to take at least one or two persons
with disabilities that’s a rule of the
government now we have so many laws and
legislations like the National Trust Act
1999 the persons with disability Act of
1995 which clearly defines all kinds of
disabilities and makes provisions for
them there are seven disabilities
according to this Act then there is the
most recent act the rights for persons
with disabilities act 2016 which was
formed in India in December and this act
states that all persons with
disabilities in India are equal they
have equal access to all goods and
services public buildings public
transport public services housing
education everything accessibility is
mentioned 48 times in this document so
why because there’s the change from the
old concepts
we’re not curses anymore we are equal we
have an equal right to live that’s why
the government has brought about these
rules but are all these rules
actually being implemented in practice
have you seen the footpaths in
Trivandrum are they accessible can a
blind person walk confidently on those
footpaths no we can’t because it’s
always full of slabs and stones and
waste materials and so much other things
they should be clear they should be
clear for us to walk are the buses
accessible no they say they have seats
for us but we have to push and pull and
the seat is right at the back our public
buildings accessible for persons with
disabilities most buildings have steps
and persons with wheelchairs cannot
climb those steps most buildings don’t
have ramps for such kind of persons hey
what kind of accessibility is that so
even though these laws and legislations
have been implemented it’s up to us to
change them it’s only a handful of us
and a handful of you together not only
us but we all together who can say
disabled people have the right to live
they are not curses they are not burdens
but they are assets they have the right
to live and this old concept of them
being a curse should be eliminated this
old layer should be removed and since
the theme of this talk is removal of all
concepts I don’t say remove every single
old concepts there are some more
concepts which are really good in our
country I mean the epochs have really
really good stories really really good
values but we are like you know removing
everything the Westerners come to our
country and learn yoga and meditation
and learn all the good good concepts and
all our all about our culture and
heritage we are going further and
further away from our culture and
heritage and we are more going towards
the West going towards a lot of
different values and the Westerners are
coming and learning our values because
our culture is a diverse culture it’s a
unique culture
it’s a wonderful culture each state has
its own unique culture so I wouldn’t say
that remove every single old layer but
remove the old layers that are harmful
to the society they do not allow
everyone to live like dowry system it’s
not needed why why should I be bought
for a price if I want to marry someone I
should be marrying him for what I am he
should be marrying me for what I am I
should be marrying him for what he is
there’s no butter system that you give
me so much gold and I’ll marry your
parents give my parents this in your pen
how many parents are scratching their
heads every day how many girls even
commit suicide in the rural areas
because they don’t wanna put their
parents through this trouble such kind
of concepts should be removed how many
persons with disabilities are just
sitting and begging and singing because
they have no other jobs because no one
other will employ them
we are Jo Durga Maya want to remove at
least these concepts about disability
and I personally want to also try and
remove the concepts against women
empowerment Jo de Gama jo their demand
now trains blind people to become
self-sufficient we train them in all
necessary technical skills like
computers Android Apple how to use
social media we train them in mobility
we train them in soft skills how to
behave in front of people how to talk
how to hold their heads up high and not
be that curse when someone looks at
their their hey you’re blind but we
don’t know you’re blind
are you really blind yes that’s what
people should look at us and say we’re
not blind from our inner eyes we may be
externally blind but we have an inner
light that burns and that inner light is
of our inner eye I’ve often been asked
by people don’t you want to see I’ve
often been told by group when you go to
church please pray that you’ll see
please pray to God that he gives you I
said back so that you can see the way I
don’t want to see the world I can
already see the world from my inner eyes
I do not want to see the world from my
outer eyes because I can see a
everything and I believe that my life
was a purpose it was like this for a
particular reason so that I can stand
here as a living example today for my
other blind and other disabled
colleagues so that they can move forward
so that they can see me and they can
move forward so that they can see that I
am NOT a curse I’m not that old curse
and they are not that old curse we are
assets we are not burdens we are not
liabilities but we are assets we are
productive citizens of this country
there’s so many blind people today who
work in banks there’s so many blind
people who work in schools as teachers
there’s so many blind people who work in
other industries but we want to increase
this outreach we want the techno park to
be filled with blind people we want you
guys to come to us for help
wouldn’t that be great if the Trivandrum
techno park was full of blind people
full of computers with screen readers
great right well we don’t want to
outnumber you guys but we want to be
there too
now the Technopark has very few blind
people but we want to increase that we
want to get rid of these old concepts
and see that the curses who once existed
the ones who committed sins in their
past lives are now at the forefront of
society today no more curse no more such
kind of customs I recently met our
sub-collector dr. Divya IRA yes and she
also spoke about a concept and that was
dowry prohibition we were at a college a
girls college and what she said touched
my heart she said how many of you girls
can have a wedding without dowry that’s
your first step towards women
empowerment and I agree with her and I
said well done ma’am I hope you’re the
next prime minister yes
because that’s also one concept that
needs to be eliminated especially in our
state it’s very much prevalent so such
concepts can only be changed if we raise
our voices if we say we won’t change we
want change from these old concepts to
new concepts to no dowry no curses no
discrimination yeah no discrimination we
don’t want to be discriminated on the
basis of our gender we don’t want to be
discriminated based on our disability we
want progress we won’t change and it’s
only us together that can make this
world a better place I want us all not
only me but to join hands about various
social issues um it can be blindness it
can be physical disability it can be
women empowerment wherever you see
discrimination wherever you see social
injustice wherever you see the
irrational use of old concepts try and
remove them don’t remove all the old
concepts because that country has a
number of them but remove the concepts
which cause discrimination which cause
discomfort which cause inequality which
cause sympathy and not empathy try and
join your hands today and remove these
old layers and bring in new innovative
ideas new innovative concepts and make
this world and our country and our state
a better place thank you [Applause]
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