My life should take a new turn. New city, new people, new friends.
This all should make me excited as I, Vishal Sawant (GD100277) got admission in one of the best design institute in country.
Its like a management student who wants to learn from IIM's. For a designer, getting admission into NID is a dream. My dream partly came true.
Yes you read it right. Partly.
I ve done my part.
I went to Mumbai to give 1st round of entrance test of NID. Then came the letter which mentioned that I cleared my 1st round. They invited me for the second round, it was in Ahmadabad, Gujarat. I went to Ahmadabad, stayed there for 3 days. Gave my written exam and personal interview. In next few days I got a letter from NID that I ve been selected for the Graphic Design course under PH category.
I am Physically Challenged / Disabled / Handicap whatever you like to say.
Let me take you back to the 2 days that I spent at NID campus. The campus is amazingly lavish. Greenery all around. You want to be there as you ll see creativity flowing at every nook and corner of the campus.
Day 1: It was my written test (you need to draw as well). I was made to sit at some office on the ground floor as there wasn't any elavator to go to the first floor. Staff was friendly and made all arrangements for me on the ground floor.
After the exam I realized that accessibility to wheelchair bound people is very limited in the campus. Now I wasn't sure that I would shift to NID.
Day 2: Personal Interview: It was on 1st floor. My helper got me there.
The jury was friendly and we had good discussion about designs and they saw my portfolio. Suddenly a question poped up,"How will you manage here. All the classess are on 1st and 2nd floor?" I din't wanted to sound that I know Laws. I said, I ll get a helper with me.
After the Interview I thought I ll see the campus. I use a electric wheelchair. I went to the boys hostel. There the watchman told me, you can't see the rooms as parking area is occupied on the ground floor. Rooms are on 1st floor to the 3rd / 4th floor. There is no Accessibility.
The main buildings too don't ve any lifts / elevators.
The Question.
- If you ve specified that there is Physically Handicap Category, then why doesn't the campus wheelchair freindly?
- Why there are ramps on the ground floor, if you can't access the remaining building?
- Why there are no lifts to go to 1st and 2nd floors?
It doesnt matter you ve PH students or not. What matters is, are you ready for a PH student?
HRD ministry needs to define Right to Education.
That's your part to be done.
I hope you ll do it for future PH students.
But I ll surely miss the new turn in my life, new people, new city, new friends.
I really wanted to be there !
P.S no hate towards the Institute.
18.6.2012 UPDATE : I AM JOINING THE PG COURSE.
51 comments:
The group is http://www.facebook.com/groups/nidinmedia/ and your news is
Dear Vishal,
Congratulations for your admission to NID.
National Institute of Design needs to set an inclusive design example. They need to urgently create ramps and even offer other services for various disabilities.
Best wishes for your future.
Regards,
Hasit
Hrtbreakin
Brother! I am not really surprised at the state of affairs. This has become a trademark of any public institution in our country. All we need is an active ministry which unfortunately we don't have presently. Moreover, there should be people who make the government realize that something is seriously wrong. Just complaining won't do. The initiative has to be from our side. There are many platforms from where you can raise the issue. For example, change.org. Write a petition, spread awareness and get it signed. The government will definitely wake up!
Congratulations on your achievement. All the best.
Serious issue requiring some serious thought by the authorities all over the country.Stark Reality !
Shantanu, I have already made the petition here
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/aagaaz/
This issue should be highlighted more vigorously since India is signatory to CRPD. I would be happy to share this blog on my 'Infinite Ability' site as well as happy to post inaccessible pics on 'Aagaaz' campaign
Dr Satendra Singh
Coordinator, Enabling Unit
Founder, Infinite Ability
UCMS & GTB Hospital, Delhi
http://infiniteability.yolasite.com/
one of the direct consequence of democracy is that all decision are populust. so the policymakers tend to forget the special need of special people. as per the estimate of amir khan in a newspaper article the population of physically challenged in india greater than the combined popln of UK and france. it is therefore very imp to provide the necessary infra to make them into an asset of country
Dear Visshal,
I am sorry but It is not clear from ur blog post that you would be Continuing in the institute or not.
My opinion - STAY PUT. Get a helper, do whatever but stay there and complete ur course.
For three reasons:-
1) Premier Institute, Good Hardwork from ur side - dont let it go waste.
2) While this building is not PH friendly, many are and most of the top notch workplaces are.
3) By your presence and avoidable efforts(due to design flaw in building) - you will make them realize day in n day out, that they need to do something more.
Wish you good luck buddy.
Mohit Sharma
Dear,do not leave admission even if the facilities are not there.Your admission and continuing education at NID will help other physically challenged student to do the seemed dificult tasks.
Dear Visshal,
I'm sure the matter must have been brought to the notice of concerned authorities and something will be done for betterment of shining students like you.
Have faith in God too.
Its time for India to wake up.
Easy for me to say, but I hope you do enroll in this institution and complete your course. You have come so far, there has to be a way.. All the best and keep us posted!!
Smiling Assassin, read the petition and signed it as well. Great work. Keep it up. Change will definitely come.
I am going to share the link to your petition and Vishal's experience on my blog as well.
http://thesocialistview.blogspot.in/
Congratulations!
i would like to say, it's not the great place. its just a institute thats it. its like big balloon filled with air. i am studying here, they can't make you.
one more thing they don't follow the government scholarship system. I am a SC student, they refused me to give a scholarship, for which i was eligible, saying that they don't give it here.
its other thing i fought for two semester to get it. now am studying here for free. but this till this time are not putting that scholarship info on their web site.
last year from animation they thrown out one student who was eligible for that scholarship.
i have never seen bad government institution like NID.
they are worst in facilities, faculty, hostel(they don't give it for PG student), food, resources etc.
though, they take big amount from you for that.
scholarship from delhi government (ministry of social justice)
http://socialjustice.nic.in/topclass.php
Ur situation is a good example on how nid, just like the most of india, needs to deliver what they speak about... While laws and provisions are in plenty, one can see its implementiation nowhere...
Unfortunately you are not the first person to bring to light this issue of non inclusion. Many a time this grevious concern has been brought up with the management.... (Certainly to no avail).
That said, I am an optimist and shall continue hoping for the better...
"Design for special needs" is a full time module taught in product design, and "inclusive design philosophy" is universally accepted in nid. It is time these enlightening theories are put into practise first in ones own backyard, before spreading the word, or else risk making another mockery of oneself, the design school and design philosophy on the whole...
Sincerely,
An NID ahmedabad alumnus and product design graduate,
Rustom Mazda
Vishal,
You talk about all that you saw missing at NID and that you couldn't join the course. I really feel that instead of writing this in a blog post and shouting it out to the world about the 1% that NID is missing, you should've rather joined the course, been inside the campus and filled in that gap.
But then I sense that you're not a change maker. You'd rather wait for someone else to do it while you write about it in your tiny little space and publish it on public forums. Great efforts I must say!
PS: I feel you did the right thing by not joining NID. You'd have given up on the course in a month's time too. Would've been too stressful for you.
Anyway, All the best.
Hello Visshal
First of all congratulation for your success, really it is an achievement... now there is no point of you giving up on the seat u have achieved through your hard work. I suppose by now the NID semester must have started.. I wanted to know that if u have taken a seat or not..If not its a great loss for all of us in NID.... I strongly believe that things can be arranged now also ..since you have brought this issue in light which normally remains in closed doors.... There is no need for you to give up (at least not now). Your presence will be a thrust to not only administration..but also to us- the student community..to push the arrangements for next year ASAP.....Please whatever is the case come and meet the Student Association Community (SAC) here, before taking any decision..Looking forward to see you in campus.
Have just spread the word by posting at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ASSOCIATIONDESIGNERSINDIA/368623163192802/?comment_id=368637889857996&ref=notif¬if_t=group_comment ..
I am sure your voice will be heard!
hey Vishal, saw the post sasi sent..
I am a graduate of NID, and finished in 1997. At that time, my mother, who is also wheel chair bound had come thaer, and similar issues were out up- albeit, for the purpose of a visitor. and NID did take action.
I feel that NID is , by its very nature responsive- it just has to be nudged into doint things. i have written to a friend, who teaches in NID requesting a contact to the person who will be responsible for this, and the director- Pradyumna Vyas- is a good person at heart, and will probably take action if spoken to..
Dont give up.. you have a RIGHT to the seat!!
BEST WISHES
Ayush
PS. there are very clear guidelines to accessibility in
http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm
Dear Visshal
I am a former faculty from NID having retired from its service in November 2010 after a very long teaching career at the school but I stlll live on campus since my wife is a faculty at NID and she continues to work there.
In the past few days I have noticed a few changes on campus particularly with the issue of accessability.
There is a long ramp wooden and plywood that leads up from the road near the main gate to the Printing Studio on the first floor of NID that was made and this must be done for your direct access to the first floor. Another change that I noticed is the removal of the step between the back gate and the long path to the main building through the "Pigeon Path" as it is popularly called by the students. I am sure there are more changes that have come because of your need to access the various spaces at the Institute and I am sure that more will be done. This step was put in place to prevent students driving mobikes through the path!! But it must be an obstacle for wheelchairs as well.
I am told that there is an elevator being planned for access to the second floor and some changes to the layout too will provide access to all these spaces as well. The buildings were not designed to afford access to all but these can be retrofitted and made acessible if the adminstration has decided to accept you as a student there I am sure.
By the way Prof S Balaram, a former faculty colleague of mine at NID had championed the accessability issues at NID and during several seminars on the subject at the school many spaces on the ground floor were made accessable for wheelchair access.
There is still much to be done but I am sure these will be addressed and informed to you in case you have not already been told about these efforts at the NID.
Design is a very complex subject and it is situations like these that test its validity under many diverse conditions. The NID building is a fantastic structure from many attributes of form, structure, aesthetics and flexibility and access but it does fail from some others and we should take lessons home from each of these failures and take corrective measures that may be needed from time to time. Law is also a design and here it is the intention to make all structures accessible by policy and there is a lag that needs to be corrected in the real world of education, public facilities, transportation and many more.
Much design thinking needs to be done and communicated to those who need to use it. The Railway minister came to NID and proposed a new design lab for the Railways and even announced it in the Railway budget but as we all know he was immediately replaced due to some poor policy and politics and design for India has met a crushing blow that very few people even know about or may even care about.
There are 230 sectors of our economy that need design thought and action and in this even NID may need a few lessons from real users in need and I am sure they will respond to your need.
Prof M P Ranjan
Professor - Design Chair at CEPT University
and author of blog www.DesignForIndia.com
17 June 2012 at 7.10 pm from my room at IIC, New Delhi on tour
June 17, 2012 6:51 PM
Repeated at 8.40 pm IST
Update : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/201206132012061301413058148e51946/Design-Deficient.html
Vishal,
I hope you're happy after posting sarcastically against such a beautiful institution of the country, who considered you able enough to be a student.
Even before I congratulate you on your admission at NID, I must congratulate you on the traffic you have received on your blog. I'm sure this has gained you a lot of attention in the last few days. Not sure how you'll use it, though.
What you could have achieved through your participation, you have caused through some ill-written article on your hardly read imbecile blog. Tells us a lot about you. Just a tip for your tenure at NID: There's no substitute to WORK. I'm sure you're not aware of this concept as you've gotten done most of your stuff through cribbing and pointing deficiencies in others. This article illustrates very well, the way you think and visualize: http://vishalsaw.blogspot.in/2011/03/you-deserve-middle-finger.html
And let me tell you, a deserving student would've answered the jury's question of "How you'll manage here..? by saying "I'll work with you guys to make this campus completely disabled-friendly for the years to come", instead of baby-crying on his blog.
Grow up!
Hello everyone Vishal here,
After reading all the comments I realized that its not clear that. m'I taking up the course?
Answer is YES I'm joining this course. I came to NID for next couple of days(17-19th June 2012) and what I saw are good efforts are being put in by the institute. They have accommodated me in a temporary guest house ( hope it ll be permanent throughout the course of 2+ years). Small permanent ramps are coming up. I ll share photos in the next blog.
Let me clarify, I ve not publicized this issue by writing a blog and going to the journalist. If I had to do that I would have called upon a press conference and made it a national headline than going for city supplement of a Newspaper. I wrote the blog for myself. And the journalist found out blog while surfing my Facebook account. She got my phone number from NID itself. Who gave my no. and why? I really don't know and I don't care.
And to the above comment: first of all have courage to write your name when you are commenting. I don't give a shit to people like you. Like I said this is my personal blog and there are many other accounts that people don't know and would never find. You seem to be from NID management. Baby I ve always been a fighter. I am from the land of Shivaji Maharaj. We people don't give up easily. I hope you anonymously see me on the campus and see the changes I do here.
You wrote And let me tell you, a deserving student would've answered the jury's question of "How you'll manage here..? by saying "I'll work with you guys to make this campus completely disabled-friendly for the years to come", instead of baby-crying on his blog.
Why should I say so? What the college management do in 50 odd years?
Its their duty and they are paid for it. If they don't do it, Ill make sure they do it. By hook or by crook.
Yes I judge people like you in Black or White. You deserve that middle finger in my blog (go n see that link, now its for you). I'm really very bad when it comes to situations like this. Better be anonymous... baby...
My parents have never brought me up as a special kid, never my friends thought I was different. I'm normal as you are. Well, wait for my next blog.
Thank you all for your support but also see that is this same thing happening in your near by school, college or university. If yes then raise the voice.
Join my NGO
Give Some Space on FB
Hi Vishal!
Since i read your mail on the NID email id, i am sure all the student-staff community did get a jolt, just like me.. after all we should do what we preach! :)
And i am sure, at NID, you will find a mixed bag of people, some you will judge in black & some will be the purest white! Nevertheless, you are going to have awesome fun in the campus!
with millions of colors, posters, garbas, rains, snails, chai ,chai and chai!
We, the community of NID are very warm and welcoming & ready to learn and improvise!
hope to see you around in the campus!
Hello
I am just surprised by reactions of some existing students who have been so judgemental!! - Is this how you respond to criticism - being loyal to an institution is one thing but being so in denial of a very basic issue seems completely weird. An institution promises a seat to a disabled student but does not have the infrastructure to support it. Ofcourse the student has a right to question that and feel disappointed - especially when as a design institute it is a fundamental principle that one learns in design. You could encourage him to be the change, but you cannot ridicule him for questioning the institute. His post was not a rant - but your comments are. I think that has disappointed me more than the post itself.
Dear Vishal,
It's good that NID has swiftly taken action to make arrangements for your accessibility on campus and to address the issues you were facing. The installation of the ramps, the removal of the step near the hostel gate, the ground floor accommodation and the plans to install an elevator in the foyer are positive steps taken to rectify these issues and are appreciated. It shows that NID has the sensitivity, a positive mindset and the intention to address specific issues as they crop up.
The fact that the built environment in NID is inaccessible is unfortunately a historical throwback to the inaccessible built environment that has typified all our public and private buildings in India. Most of our wonderful institutes were built in the 1950s post Independence and did not factor in accessibility as a dire necessity. The same has been the case with NID. The wonderful and much feted architecture of this institute just did not factor it in at the time because it was not on the radar then!
However, the barriers to inclusion of people with disabilities in our society are not merely about accessibility to the physical environment. These barriers permeate mindsets, and attitudes in Indian society that range from a philanthropic mindset and welfare perspective to one of considering them as "abnormal" or "less than normal" (keeping non-disability or able bodiedness as a norm). How many times, friends do we use disability metaphors in our daily lives and speech? Usage of phrases such as " blinded by rage", "Blinded by hatred/lust/rage" etc. "I was handicapped because of the delayed flight", " are you dumb?", "are you blind?"even seemingly innocuous terms such as " I see your point" (when we should actually say, "I understand your point"), and even "common sense"! I often hear young people nowadays ( and especially on NID campus) use the term, "retard" or "moron" very easily to express a range of things from affection to anger without thinking about what it means....
Finally, there's the (confusion in ) use of terms for people with disabilities. It is sometimes argued, often by able bodied people and some disabled people that ‘people with disabilities is the preferred term, for it asserts the value of the person first and the disability then becomes merely an appendage. The use of terms such as " physically (or mentally) challenged", "differently abled", "special", "handicapped" are politically inappropriate and seem demeaning or patronising to people with impairments themselves. Terms such as "visually impaired" (instead of 'blind'), "hearing or speech impaired" (instead of deaf and dumb), "locomotor impaired" instead of "physically handicapped/challenged/ lame/crippled etc. are to be preferred and used in inclusive discourse today.
What needs to be done, friends is also sensitising ourselves and society to all such nuances of speech/beliefs/ attitudes and mindsets as well.
Indeed, the disability movement is perhaps the youngest civil rights movement the world over. The global recognition of disability is marked by the recent adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 13 December 2006. It is a major step towards according recognition to the needs and aspirations of the disabled population, which continues to be marginalised and stigmatised in most parts of the world. Till date over 100 members, including India, have signed it.
In India, things have been slower. We have the Persons with Disability Act of 1995 as a landmark legislation that led to the enumeration of people with disabilities as a separate constituency in the Census 2001. The impact of the international human rights movement and anti-poverty initiatives have turned in the issue of disability from one of social welfare to one of social development. Development essentially means inclusion. If the needs and aspirations of a whole population group are taken into account, then social development in the true sense of the word can be said to have taken place.
Hey Hi,
Just came across you blog, and I must say you have written a scenario in most of the institute of the nation. Being an architect by profession I saw so many issues regarding PH is that older institutes like NID,Mumbai university even a smaller things like bus stops, banks, post office, railway stations are still not improved or design for PH.
India in greater picture need to improve big time on PH infrastructure. Have been Infosys building where PH can easily excess all cm of building.
Congrats to you that because of whatever NID at least stated to act towards better institute for PH.
Note-been to NID 1 year back, will surely visit again and yes ignore the negativity and cherish the positivity around you...
CHEERS and best luck to you...!!!!
Dear Visshal
I'm a former student who graduated in 1994.
Visshal, I've been following this post and all the varied responses with great interest. I must admit i was troubled at first, but with all that has transpired, it all seems to be taking a very positive turn. I'm glad that the issue has received so much attention, I'm really happy to read all the positive responses, and i'm most thrilled that you've decided to join and contribute to the Institution.
With your inputs, NID will learn and grow with you. It will be a challenge at first i'm sure, but i'm also very hopeful that all the barriers will fall sooner rather than later, so that you are no longer a "PH student" but just a student.
What makes NID such a wonderful place is the people - gifted teachers, talented students and dedicated hard working staff, who have all shaped the Institution over many years. It would be unfair to hold just the management responsible for gaps. There will always be gaps, and there will always be different people who will identify and fix them - that's what has kept the institution evolving and relevant over the years.
I know the NID already has hearing impaired students, and with you, it has probably taken another small step towards becoming more inclusive. (I can't help but wonder how a blind student might shape things at NID. I would like to imagine she or he might introduce not only infrastructural improvements, but some critical changes in the way design is taught and practiced as well!)
Consider for a moment - the barriers that you have spoken about are mostly infrastructural - which are relatively easy to fix. From my experience at NID, I'm willing to bet that you will not have to face barriers of the mind - which would have been the harder ones to break through. I'm very sure that the institution - its people - will welcome you with empathy, and without judgement or discrimination.
Go give it your best!
Congratulations....Vishaal,
I am happy to know that you are finally joining NID, after the temporary facilities have been provided.
Overcoming Physical Barriers is easy, but Breaking Mental Barriers takes time........months, years sometimes even decades.
Once the mental blocks are removed, "NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE"
There will always be some insensitive people in society, who need to be ignored on your winning path.
Best Wishes
Dr. Vijaya Deshmukh
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