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Hi, my name is George Abraham and welcome to Eyeway Conversations. My guest today is Tiffany Brar, a young lady from Thiruvananthapuram. We'll get to know more about her as we proceed with this conversation. Hi Tiffany, welcome!
Thank you. It's a pleasure.
Tiffany, while reading about you in your Wikipedia page, I realized that your full name is Tiffany Maria Brar. That's an unusual name. Would you like to speak a little bit about it?
Ah yes, it is an unusual name as you say because my parents of course had an interstate or inter caste marriage. My father being a Sikh, General Brar, TPS Brar and my mother, Leslie being an Anglo Indian. So they named me Tiffany Maria. And of course, Brar is my last name. I had my primary education in England for the first two years as my father was posted there. And then I came to Kerala. My father's posting was here. And then I continued staying in Kerala. And I studied in various schools, the blind schools, the integrated schools, the Kendra Vidyalaya of course which was not specialized for blind people. And I underwent many challenges with respect to discrimination, and so on.
Yeah. So before we proceed any further, I was also reading that when you were six months old, you had something called, or you were affected by something called the Terry syndrome. Would you like to throw some light on that?
Quite honestly, I'm not so sure about that because I did have some problem with my lungs as I was told by my parents, of course at the age of six months, you only listen to what you're told. And I was given an overdose of oxygen. And due to this, I became blind. So that is what my parents say and that is what the doctors told them. So I really cannot shed light on the Terry syndrome because I've not really heard of this term.
Right? So you had the privilege of starting your education in the UK. Do you have any recollections of that?
Yes, of course, I do have recollections of that. It was a very inclusive setup. And I had a resource teacher, especially for me, who used to teach me braille, who used to enable me to sit in the class with the other sighted students. But at the same time, I was given specialized attention. I was made to learn things by doing. I was given a lot of choice, a lot of things to explore my creativity. I loved water, we were taken swimming, we were taken to caves and tunnels. And it was a very very inclusive setup, we did a lot of things with Velcro. I even learnt a lot of things, a lot of things just by using my hands, not so much of road learning like we do here in India. But of course, after the two years, during my second standard I think, my father had to come back.
Your dad was in the army and obviously he had to travel around across the country, you move from location to location. How did that impact you?
Well, it did impact me a lot because when we settled in one location, it was time to jump up and go to the next location. Now for a visually impaired person it's very difficult because you hear people's voices, you begin to trust people, you learn the language of that particular place. You learn how to orient in your school, in your familiar surroundings, in your house, you learn a lot of things, you get orientated with a certain environment. And then of course, you have to change the environment when you've just about got settled. So it did impact my life a lot. But at the same time, it impacted it in a positive manner because I was able to observe a lot of cultures, hear different languages, hear different people, hear different kinds of music, learn different kinds of perspectives about life, like some people ate this, or in some places, some people ate that or some people listened to this kind of song or some people listened to that. So these kinds of things really brought an intercultural kind of exposure in me and I really thank the army and my dad and everyone for that.
I believe I was reading that you are fluent in five Indian languages?
Yeah, I would say five.
Which are these five languages?
Well, of course Hindi and English goes because I mean those are the main language. And of course, Malayalam as I live in Kerala and I was raised for the better part of my life in Kerala, and Tamil and Nepali. Because I was in Kalimpong, in Mary Scott Home for the Blind. I was there for three years. And I can understand Marathi a bit because my dad was in the Maratha regiment and we had Marathi help.
You've also studied in exclusive blind school, you've studied in integrated school and you've also studied in a Kendra Vidyalaya you also mentioned that you studied in a military school.
Yeah, army school.
So would you like to briefly kind of compare and contrast your experiences?
Well actually, the first experience I had in school which did not know how to handle blind people was appalling. It was like a nightmare. I was just made to sit at the back bench and I was told you know, sit, stand, you know that kind of thing. I was asked to sharpen other children's pencils. And when I, of course in my class, once the teacher was just asking us some GK questions, capitals of countries and states and all that. And I said, the capital of India is Delhi, of course. And my classmate who was sighted said, it's Calcutta. And I said well, she's not studied, she's cheating. I mean, you know and my teacher said, no it's you, you have made her say Calcutta so that you can get the right answer. And I was like this is absurd. And actually, she threw me out of the class for that. I can't remember the teacher's name. And I don't want to mention the name of this. But this was the experience that I did have and it was very discriminating. And then, in most of the games period, I would hear my classmates shouting and throwing balls and doing this and whistling and I was just made "acha beta aap idhar khare ho jao". I mean, what kind of nonsense was that? I mean, why wasn't there any adaptive physical education, any sound balls, anything like they were in England. But of course, in the Kalimpong blind school, we were allowed to run and we were allowed to because we were all blind. So you know, there was not so much exclusion there. But we had to fetch water from the stream, we had to do various things. And we learnt also a lot of things. The students staying at the hostel had to do a lot of menial tasks. Of course, I was going home because my home was there. I mean, my father was posted there. But I also wanted to stay in the hostel and learn lots of menial tasks and things like that. It was you know, it was a wonderful experience. And then of course, George sir, I'd like to shed light on the time when I met you in my 10th standard, when my father had tried to enroll me in the Pallikulam, the prestigious Pallikulam in Kottayam, in your hometown and that's how I met you. And I'm really sorry to say, but that setup was also not for me. I couldn't complete my 10th standard there because they did not actually know how to handle a blind person. I was admitted in a school called Girideepam, which was nearby because I had already completed my 9th standard from the state syllabus. And I was happy in the school where I was in Thiruvananthapuram, it was a government school. But my relatives took it in their head that I must study in a high funded school which did not really work out for me. I mean, the teachers were good but the setting didn't work out. I was not allowed to stay in the dormitory with the other students, I was made to stay in a separate room. Teachers would come and help me and teach me but it was not a very inclusive setup. And after two months, I left that place. And I studied in Thrissur where it was again, an integrated setup but the conditions of the integrated schools were really really not so good. The resource teachers, sometimes they will come on time, sometimes they would not come on time. Sometimes we would get braille note, sometimes not. But at least we had at the blind children round, we had some kind of setup there. And then of course, I went to the military school, the army school, Wellington where my father's assistant used to help me write my notes. I mean, he's like my rakhi brother. So he used to help me and of course, my classmates were also very enthusiastic to see my brailler and my braille slate and stylus and how I was taking down notes and they too used to take a lot of pains for me. And I passed my CBSE board exam with 81%. And then I came back here to college here in Trivandrum. And the college was also an integrated setup, there was no help of course for blind people. So we couldn't do any library references or any things like that. It was very difficult to get notes and I had a back exam also, which I had to write one year later because I couldn't get proper notes and proper references and all that so it was a difficult college education.
So so the equal opportunity cells that people talk about today was non existent at that point of time, I guess in the college.
Yes.
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So when did you first get onto the computer and what was your response to it?
I first got onto the computer in 2009 after my college when I met Sabriye Tenberken, the founder of Braille without Borders, I met her through a neighbor of mine. And I met her and I realized that she was using a pronto, I mean with a braille display, of course but prontos were not in our league, of course, they're very expensive and they were not available in India. In those days, there were no braille displays and things like that in India. I was very fascinated with this device. And then I met a person called Mr. Bhalla Raman, who's a national level chess player and who's a very famous blind person in the Kerala community for access technology. And he too, was working with Supriye and Paul. And he taught me my basics of computers and also how to use a Nokia phone with talks. And I really felt integrated to the world because when my father was using a buttoned cell phone in the year 2007- 2008, I was like, okay hum kab use karenge, when will I use this, you know and everyone, even my college mates were, like sneaking cellphones in their bags and bringing them to college and talking to their boyfriends and all that. And I also wanted to do the same thing. But of course, I had to show. I mean, if I had to use a cell phone, I would have to show my cell phone to others. And you know, I wouldn't have any privacy. So I decided, okay I'm not doing it till there are proper cell phones for the blind. And of course in 2009, I started using one and then I got a job at Braille without Borders as a receptionist and the braille layout assistant, and I learned everything I mean, subsequently. I learned mobility also from National Association of the Blind, Bangalore but then I couldn't really use it because I had people around me. I had my helper, didi Vinita who is like a mother to me and she impacted me, like you know, tum seekh lo and all that she's a Tamil lady but she left her army job in Wellington and she came with us to Kerala. So she mentored me a lot that you know, you should work, you should do everything. And if I started doing something, she would taunt me and challenge me and say okay, you can't do this, or you can't do that and that would give me the zest that oka, I can, and I will. And yes, it's basically after meeting other blind people in international level, from Braille without Borders that I really gained a lot of confidence.
Tifanny, you've lived in different places, both in India and abroad. And you've studied and experienced as you very rightly said, different cultures and so on. How easy or difficult was it for you to connect and make relationships with people your own age, or people around you?
It was very difficult because we were shifting and all that, so I couldn't make. It's only after my 10th standard that I could really make friends you know. And then of course, I kept in touch with a few of my friends from school. And now of course, there's social media and Facebook and things. So I found everyone and all that, but it was very difficult also, being a blind person in a sighted setting because I only studied, I only got that blind school environment in Thrissur in my 10th and of course in Kalimpong. But otherwise, I was in a lot of sighted settings and of course, I was excluded a lot. So I couldn't make much connections until much later in life. And then of course, my friends who worked in Braille without Borders, the social entrepreneurs, students, I mean participants who used to come and study social entrepreneurship there. I also did the course of social entrepreneurship. And I met a lot of people there and then of course, I used to go to the National Association of the Blind here in Trivandrum. I used to help with the Braille press there and I started making friends but it was very very challenging because I could not gel with a lot of people, because of my intercultural background also. And because of my neither belonging to the blind world, or to the sighted world.
You've started this organization called the Jyothirgamaya foundation. What prompted you to do that?
Well, I was running a project, a pilot project in Braille without Borders called a mobile blind school. And I was traveling to houses of blind people training them in their houses, at the eyes of their parents, in front of the very eyes of their parents. And we were like me, and another colleague of mine, who used to work with me there, Anish. We used to do this kind of work and he in fact, told me that, you know, you can do better, you know don't just stick to this, you know try and do something different. And I met other blind people there who had started their own organization, someone who had studied from Kanthari and said, well they're all starting their projects and I'm still here and you know, why can't I also do something different and why can't I start a residential training setup. So actually, what we did is another volunteer from the National Service Scheme and Anish, myself and a few others, we went to conduct a camp in Cochin, and we conducted this camp in somebody's house, we carried laptops, on backpacks, we carried braille slates, styluses or we carried all these things by train. And we had to then travel by bus and then we reach this person's flat, we got this flat only for two days and we called blind people to stay there and to learn the basic computer. So we had to actually sit on the floor, the laptops had to be kept on the floor, and we had to teach like that. And then we had a few makeshift chairs and folding chairs and then we kept on doing these kinds of camps in various districts, wherever we got venues. And then I decided, okay I want to do more. So, then I spoke to my father, I spoke to a few other well wishers and then of course, we found a rented building. And we started with two students there and then people were not coming at all. And then we started with three and four and five, and then we shifted to a better building recently in 2019. We wanted to start a preschool but then we couldn't do that. And now we conduct six months empowerment training courses where we teach access technology. Mr. Bhalla Raman sir, who was in Braille without borders is also now on board with me and another friend of mine who was an NSS volunteer is there. Anish of course as left, he's gone abroad. So a lot of people other than that joined a lot of school volunteers, a lot of other people joined, they help wherever they could. And we now have a six months training course where we teach basic and advanced computers like all that Word, Excel, internet, Gmail, sound editing of these kinds of things, Windows and Linux installation and Android, Apple all these things we teach with orientation mobility, like they do in other organizations, but we give them a family atmosphere, we give them a fully fledged residential setup, we take the students on trips, adventure trips. I have a donor Mr. Sunder who always takes us to adventure places like Happy Land for rope riding, rope climbing. And I also had a friend who came from Germany to India, Patrick Kaiser, an he introduced the concept of tandem cycling to our students. And I have also done paragliding and skydiving. Paragliding in Darjeeling and skydiving in Belgium when I had gone there for an internship of an European Union funded program called "strength through solidarity". So I've gone theere in 2016 and 17.
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You know, I was also reading that you've got many many recognitions and many awards. But what stood out in my mind was the Holman prize, which is I think given by the LightHouse for the Blind in California. And I also had spoken to somebody else who had received this prize a few years ago. So I was interested in knowing what did you get this Holman prize for and what is the challenge that you've taken on in the process?
Well, the Holman prize is a very prestigious prize and happy to be one of the first Indians to receive this Holman prize. However, I received it at a very unfortunate time, at the time of the pandemi. I had proposed to conduct a mobile school training in all the four states Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu for blind people, as I was doing earlier reaching the unreached, it was a mobile blind school project. So, I did solve part of the challenge. I did not complete the full project because of the pandemic in the lockdowns and the restrictions and the hygiene concept. So I could only stretch my training within Kerala and only to a very limited number of people and then we enrolled them here in our residential setting. So what we were doing is I and another colleague of mine, we were traveling to other districts of Kerala, especially Calicut and Malappuram. And we were staying with these children, these students, youths basically from 18 to 35. And we were bringing them back to our center talking to their parents, bringing them back to our center and giving them training here because we could not stay in their houses, in those areas due to lack of facilities, due to the pandemic closed organizations are there are realizations that we had relied on to stay in for other things were close. So of course, and then we also did some food distribution. And I spoke with the LightHouse people and they completely understood.
Tiffany, what are your areas of interest? What is the kind of hobbies that you pursue? When you're kind of saying, okay let me put up my feet. So what are the kinds of hobbies that you kind of pursue?
Well, one is listening to a lot of podcasts of a lot of people. And that's why I do follow the Eyeway podcast. And, of course, I also listened to a lot of audiobooks, a lot of women centric books because I also work from gender rights and gender activism also and, and I am also now pursuing a course in accessibility testing from the university. So I do that work. I want to learn counseling as well. So I'm trying to do that. I'm trying to do a lot of things. But otherwise, mostly of course, I'm teaching my students. I'm involved in government programs. I'm doing a lot of yeah, so I don't really have much time to put my feet up.
So what are your aspirations meaning what is your vision? Say where would you like to be visibly yourself and your work, say 20 years down the line?
Well, I really don't think about 20 years down the line, but I'll just give you a broad vision. I would like to see Kerala as an accessible state for people with disabilities as it's one of the first states that really have a lot of organizations for people with disabilities. And it has also received a national award recently. So I would like to make Kerala more accessible through activism, through talking, through various government programs. I would like to bring a lot of blind people to the forefront, make them technologically empowered. Enable them to remove the stigma that I can't use the white cane, I have inhibitions, to remove the inhibitions of at least my students, I'm sure I can't change the 15 million blind people all over Indi but I can change a handful of them. And I cannot do everything, but I can do something, you know. And I would like to do whatever I can to empower blind people. What we recently did is just speaking, a little bit out of the box, we had a 40 year old lady from Alepuram district, and she's just lost her eyesight. And she's also lost her husband tragically and she just did not have any hope about life. So we brought her to our center. This is very recently and she stayed here for six months, she learned how to use a smartphone, she started learning how to send WhatsApp messages and telegram messages and listen to songs and devotionals on YouTube. And she was not using the cane, she was using an umbrella to walk and then we said Suchr, you have to use a cane. This is what we use as blind people. This is our identity. So then she started using it, we started teaching her mobility. Then she went home for her holidays. And then the day before she was supposed to come back after Christmas. She called me and she said, okay I'm boarding a bus tomorrow and please tell me the directions. And I said, okay from Alepuram, you can board this bus you reach Thamanur main bus stand, you can get down and then we'll come and pick you up. But before we can pick her up or anything, she had gone down at the main, at the central bus stand, and she had got an auto and she was asking directions to come to the center. So that's really really something that I think I was really able to do during this time.
That's real transformation, I must say. And especially when a person is 40, you know it's the older you get, it's difficult to make the change.
We have also transformed young boys who were totally uneducated. 27 year old Vinod, who was from Karlapalem and Anish was from Trivandrum. They both wrote their 12th exam from commission open school of Kerala. And one of them got admission for degree and the other is working now for Kerala Federation of the Blind as sound editor.
Well, thank you Tiffany, for giving me the time and it was a pleasure talking to you and knowing a little bit about your life, your journey and your work. All the best.
So I'd just like to add one thing. Thank you, George sir and I would like you to please spread the word about the Jyothirgamaya Foundation. We do welcome students from other states, other blind people we are able to give them a fully fledged four to six month training in computers, in mobility, in yoga, and we can also give them a lot of outdoor experiences, a fully fledged family atmosphere and new atmosphere of Kerala. Our website is jyothirgamayaindia.org. And if anyone does want my contact, of course, it's 9037046548. This is our office number. We are over here in Trivandrum. And if anyone wants to come and study or learn or just visit our organization in Trivandrum, you're always welcome. Thank you.
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