Can you move beyond your disability and actually turn it into your ability?
Well, Shivani Gupta has truly done it. In 1992, she met with a car accident, which made her land on a wheel chair. This incident didn’t deter her from moving ahead in life. In fact, she tenaciously worked for the next fourteen years and made India’s mindset change towards the disabled.
She applied to the British University of Reading for a course in Inclusive Environments. The course was a part time one, for which student visas are not issued, but when the university saw Shivani Gupta’s resume, they changed their course to a full time one.
Presently, she is in India and has worked in collaboration with the Chief Commissioner of Disabilities. Not only this, she has also represented India in UN workshops and conferences overseas. After completing a degree in Architecture and Inclusive Environments, she is now occupied in doing an access audit, in seeing just how customer friendly the hospitality sector is towards the disabled.
She says,
‘All of us must understand that an inclusive accessible environment is not only for disabled people. It is for each one of us. It is for pregnant women, people with temporary disabilities, children, and elderly’.
Shivani says, “We believe access equals ability. It is only when the disabled have access to infrastructure, can they be mainstreamed into society.”
An accident
Shivani was 22 and working as a guest relations officer with Maurya Sheraton, Delhi, when she decided to resign to pursue her Masters in Hotel Management at New Hampshire University in the U.K. “It was February 14, 1991. I had a going-away party for my friends. Around 11.00 p.m., we went to drop a friend who had a night-shift. On the Ridge Road, an animal ran before the car. My friend braked and the car spun out of control. I was thrown out and suffered spinal injury. I was in hospital for six months, long enough to realise I would never walk again.”
After six months of hospitalisation, she came back home to live with her grandparents in Faridabad. “Fifteen-sixteen years ago, people did not know much about spinal injury. After initial tears and “why me” depression, I didn’t dwell too much on it. I think I was happy in achieving small things like my care giver taking me to the market. Everyday was a challenge and I was determined to take it forward.”
She laughs as she recalls how her grandmother would make her knead dough to exercise her hands. Shivani took up painting as therapy to keep herself occupied. “I got in touch with Rajender Jauhar of the Family of Disabled and they bought some of my cards. I had two exhibitions and I got a lot of appreciation.”
Bolstered by her ability to move with a care giver, Shivani did a two-month peer counselling course in the U.K. and returned to begin working at the Indian Spinal Injury Center. “I worked there for six years from 1996 to 2002. Then I attended the UN ESCAP Forum in Bangkok, a 15-day capsule to promote non-handicap environment for the disabled and the elderly.”
The course was “the turning point in my life. I knew then that I wanted to work to provide accessibility to people with disability in a built up environment.”
Back in 2000, accessibility was not a much-talked-about issue. Shivani and Vikas Sharma, an occupational therapist, together wrote a manual “Planning a barrier-free environment” for the office of Chief Commissioner of Public Works Department. Shivani says that it was a guideline for architects and builders to make the premises accessible to the disabled and elderly.
Towards her goal
Shivani admits that she soon realised that the 15-day training at ESCAP was not enough. She joined the Rai University at Mathura Road to do a diploma in architecture technology. Using her diploma as a launch pad, Shivani wanted to do a two-year post-graduate degree from Reading University in U.K. but needed funding.
“I got a loan for Rs. 8,50,000 from the National Handicap Finance and Development Corporation. I needed double the amount because I had to take my care giver too. So I got two Tata scholarships. I also got sponsorship from Sminu Jindal Charitable Trust and the Neerja Bhanot cash prize of Rs. 1,50,000. In the U.K., I got the Snowdon Award, which helped me get through the two years. I tried getting work but I wasn’t successful.”
She returned home and got in touch with Vikas Sharma and his friend Sachin Verma, who had returned from Australia with a Masters in IT Technology and the three started AccessAbility.
“We are not an NGO but a registered firm and want to progress as a company because we look at accessability as a mainstream issue.”
Already AccessAbility has streamlined its area of work. The first area they work in is infrastructure ability, where they carry out access audits and access appraisals. They also train service providers like airlines, cinema halls so that their staff can interact sensitively with the disabled. They also work with HR departments making them sensitive and open to recruiting people with disability.
“The third component, which we are still working on, is employability or increased employment opportunity for people with disabilities. We also assist corporates develop their social responsibility programmes, says Shivani.
Already AccessAbility is a consultant for the ITC WelcomGroup. Following an access audit of existing hotels, the group is helping with access appraisals for a new hotel in Bangalore. They are also developing a manual for hotels on the mandatory requirements for the disabled based on international standards.
Changing attitudes
“Work is pouring in because attitudes are changing,” says Shivani, “and people are now more open to accepting the disabled. AccessAbility has already done a feasibility study of the 42-acre campus of the National Institute for Visually Handicapped (NIVH) in Dehra Dun.”
They have completed an access audit for Jamia Millia University. The Ministry of Social Justice has also shown interest in promoting sports and recreational activities for the disabled.
Shivani has to travel extensively and that, she admits, is a major problem. “I cannot stand up, so I have to be lifted. It is humiliating to be trussed up like a sack of potatoes. Lifting a person with disabilities is very simple and can be done with a little sensitivity. The airlines are not aware of the requirements nor are they sensitive to our needs. We intend to take it up with the Ministry of Aviation and Railways. Thanks to a PIL, all aircraft will have an ambulift soon.”
“She is like a horse with blinkers — eyes focused on her goals. Her commitment to her work is absolute.” Shivani laughs it off, “You cannot plough a field by turning it in your mind. Actions speak more than words. I am lucky to be working with friends who think alike.”
www.accessability@co.in. have a forum linked to the website www.accessability@co.in. Anyone with disabilities or their family and friends can access it. They can leave their address, a query, share their stories, experiences, articles, or just be part of this new circle of friends. We welcome everyone. We hope that this networking will help us reach out to people and make our next goal of promoting employment for the disabled a possibility.”
Shivani Gupta’s Experience
Programme Manager
Jindal SAW Ltd- CSR
(Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
2006 — 2006 (less than a year)
Shivani Gupta’s Education
The University of Reading
MSc , Inclusive Environments: Design & Management , 2004 — 2005
Shivani Gupta’s Honors:
• Helen Keller Award (2008)
• CavinKare Ability Mastery Award (2008)
• National (Role Model) Award given by the President of India (2004)
• Neerja Bhanot Award (2004) given yearly to one woman achiever
• Red and White Social Bravery Award (1999)
• Sulabh International Women of the Year Award (1996)
• Educational Scholarship from Tata, and Snowdon (UK) Scholarship (2004 – 2006)
AccessAbility’s Summary
AccessAbility is a leading Universal Design and Disability Employment Specialist, providing integrated solutions and delivering value by catalysing social change. AccessAbility aims to unlock opportunities for people with disabilities by facilitating accessibility in the built environment, promoting employment opportunities and providing adequate training. With their motto 'Access = Ability', they strongly believe that an inclusive environment significantly contributes towards making a better tomorrow for all. Their aim is to provide the corporate world simple end-to-end employment and environmental solutions to ‘access the ability’ within the Persons with disabilities. www.accessability@co.in. have a forum linked to the website www.accessability@co.in. Anyone with disabilities or their family and friends can access it. They can leave their address, a query, share their stories, experiences, articles, or just be part of this new circle of friends. We welcome everyone. We hope that this networking will help us reach out to people and make our next goal of promoting employment for the disabled a possibility.”
Website-
http://www.accessability.co.in/
Co ntact-
AccessAbility
111/9, Aruna Asaf Ali Road,
Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070
Landmark - Adjacent to Harpreet Ford Service Centre.
Phone: +91 3266-0862
+91(11) 2452-6098
+91 9910 38 35 22
E-mail: contactus@accessability.co.in
Media Coverage
http://www.accessability.co.in/Media-coveragevideo
http://www.rollingrains.com/2009/08/shivani-gupta-if-i-were-prime-minister.html
http://www.abilityfoundation.org/cka_awards_video_gallery.html#1
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