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Eyeway Conversations with Pranav Savla

Adya Gupta27min

Eyeway Helpdesk

00:08

This podcast is brought to you by Score Foundation.

George Abraham

00:33

Hi, my name is George Abraham and welcome to Eyeway Conversations. My guest today is Pranav Savla from Bangalore. He is an interesting 17 year old. Hi Pranav welcome!

Pranav Savla

00:45

Hi, thanks for having me George.

George Abraham

00:47

Pranav you have been blind since birth? What exactly is your eye problem?

Pranav Savla

00:52

Ah, so I, as you said, I have been born blind. And my condition is called Leber's congenital amaurosis short, long form for LCA. It is a genetic disease. And the funniest thing is we have not really been able to over the 17 years that I have been here, figured out where it has originated from. And but the the abridged version of what this condition is, is that it weakens your optic nerve to the point where it doesn't really have the capability of transferring images to my brain, thus, me not being able to see.

George Abraham

01:33

So you've been studying in a mainstream school, perhaps right from the beginning. Now, normally to get admission into a mainstream school for a visually impaired person or a totally blind person, in most occasions is a no, no. The school says they're not equipped. Even the parents are normally hesitant. What is your story?

Pranav Savla

01:57

Actually, the funny thing is my parents wanted me to go to my sister's school, which is in korma in an area in Bangalore. And the they took me there. And the director of the school said, I'm really sorry, because I frank about it. He said, I'm really sorry, we would have loved to take your student. But at the moment, we just don't have the have the facilities required. He interned recommended my parents, the school that I'm currently studying at it's called Headstart. And a very interesting story there is my parents called up the the principal, the then principal of the school. And they asked, you know, could we have this student who cannot see, could you please help our son and the principal said, "You know what, come on, come right over. We'd like to meet the child." And the principal always said one thing, she said, everything will be fine. And we'll take care. And so actually a lot of the stuff that I have learned in life, both in terms of independent skills, and in terms of my studies, of course, has been my school, which has been one of the biggest backings that I've ever received.

George Abraham

03:01

So that is interesting. So what were the kinds of resources the school was blessed with to be able to handle you?

Pranav Savla

03:07

Ah, the school of course, had coordinators to help me around. They really believed in Brailles. So they they taught me Braille. They had Braillers, they didn't really have any fancy sort of 3D embossing and stuff, like you might see in certain places. But what they actually were very good at was creatively coming up with ways of, of teaching concepts to me. And the interesting thing was more than resources, the school had determination. And they they found ways. And it was, as as the years wore on, as I sort of got into my teenage years, it was very interesting, because we found ways collaboratively where they would ask me on, you know, they'd asked me questions on how a certain system was working. And I'd be able to then put in my inputs on how I thought the system could work better and sort of we came up with a system collaboratively together, and they use everything from wires to leafs to come up with a ways of showing me stuff. I remember when I was seven. And the coordinator, she is actually way more than a coordinator to me, she's helped me so much in life was teaching me or was trying to show me how a cricket pitch looked. And she drew she she made it with sticks, leaves, cardboard, and a twig or a few twigs rather, which is a very interesting way because she always believed that I should learn things, but I should learn them in the way that people who can't see can see them.

George Abraham

04:46

When you are in class. You know, the teacher has you in the class has other students in the class as well. So how does he or she actually deliver the content? Uh, knowing that people receive it differently. Is there any kind? Is your classrooms different from a classroom that might be in, say another school?

Pranav Savla

05:09

No, not at all. Actually, it's it's basically the same and the teachers, the very interesting thing is that the students around me, especially having spent so many years, and having gone through the fact that my school has made sure that they are empathetic have been very empathetic, and helpful in learning. So actually, in a way, having students who can see around me makes it easier to learn for me, I had a very interesting teacher a few years ago, who taught us history and the board that I study in IGCC, which is from Cambridge. Yeah, the history for them is very different from history for say, ICSC in India, because history there is very analytical. It relies very less on say, dates and recalling information, and more on analysing historical events. One of the things that we analyse there is cartoons or images made by people at the time. And so my history teacher, what she'd do is she'd ask every student in class to describe one aspect of the image, which not only not only helped me learn what was in the image, but also help them improve their analytical skills or off the image because they could find new details, and help me connect with the students around me because suddenly, they understood what I was going through.

George Abraham

06:33

Very often, children who are blind when they're studying in a mainstream school, they get left out when there are extracurricular activities and sporting activities, what has been your experience?

Pranav Savla

06:45

I again would call myself very lucky, because my school has put in the rare and very extra effort of making sure that inclusion extended beyond the classroom. One of the best examples I can give of this is the fact that my school plays a blind cricket match. And for those unaware, blind, Cricket is a sport, it's very similar to the game of cricket that people with vision play, or people with complete vision play, but adjusted slightly for people with no or limited vision. And so my school would play this game every single year. And the way they do it is they actually take students and and blindfold them or restrict their vision using goggles to varying degrees to simulate the vision loss that every single player has. And they played according to rules. And the interesting thing is, over the years, students have just started volunteering on their own. That's one thing. Another thing is, even when we're watching matches in a league, there's always someone to describe what's going on in the game commented, and it's always a friend of mine, because they have been empathised in that way. To the point where it's, it doesn't feel like you know, I don't have that feeling that many people would have of being left out because I'm having the sport described to me, it's almost like I'm just discussing with a friend what's going on in the sport. And it's very interesting that way. Even you know, I do want to touch on this empathising point because it's a very big part of my school, they they believe in empathising students and connecting students to create a level playing field. So often what they'll do is they'll, in fact, every single year when class starts, my coordinator walks into class and she she tells students things like, how sighted guide works, how would I hold someone's arm? And how I would prefer to do certain things and how you know, things like how I am so much like them.

George Abraham

08:58

You are also into music. So what prompted you into music?

Pranav Savla

09:02

It was actually my mother. She she started me off with the tabla at the age of four at an age where I didn't really want to do it.

George Abraham

09:11

Right.

Pranav Savla

09:13

And she started me out with vocals at the age of 11. And I'm gonna be very honest, I'm still not the best at either of them. But yeah, he was and the thing is, it didn't it It started out as unappealing for me. But it grew on me over the over the years. tabla because I had so many people learning around me and it was fun going there and jamming with people and vocals because it just started feeling labour. It just started feeling liberating to sort of sing after a point and I have the cliche story of how it it now is my my way of calming down. I think a lot of metal actually. And so it's my way of you know, just just belting out those extra notes is my way of calming down after I've had a particularly frustrating experience.

Eyeway Helpdesk

10:05

If you know of anyone with vision impairment, who needs guidance on living life with blindness, please share the Eyeway national toll free helpline number 1-800-532-0469, the number is 1-800-532-0469.

George Abraham

10:38

Let's come to the area that people around the country know you for, which is your digital expertise. How did you get introduced to digital? The digital space? And how did it actually grow on you? And how do you use it today?

Pranav Savla

10:58

I would also credit my school for this because my school at the age of when I was seven, started teaching me how to type in how to use a computer. Because they realised that just relying on Braille was not sustainable. Braille is an invaluable and priceless resource. You know, even today after completely going digital, but it's not sustainable to do all of my work in. And so they start teaching how to type at the age of seven. And at the age of 11, it really kicked off because then my dad bought me my own laptop, as my school said, "Listen, we want to, we want to let Pranav bring a computer into school from the seventh grade from the next year, so that he can start making that transition." And once I had technology in my hands, I'm sort of I've been a tinkerer by birth sort of naturally. And so I started messing around trying to break stuff. It's actually funny, I was on YouTube, and I watched a YouTuber by the name of Liam Irvin code. And he he programmed his own games, and I got intrigued. I said, Can I can I do this? And after a few months of my dad not taking me seriously. Because I've said I wanted to do a lot of things before. And I said can I do this for basically everything. He finally he finally saw that in me. And he, he enrolled me in in a in a in a course by an organisation called Vision Aid. In a Python course, right, and after that, it's just been me, self learning, taking courses online, exploring reading other people's code, talking to people, and learning through my mistakes. I think that's been one of the most important ones, where I learned through a decision that I made that didn't really work out. Today, of course, digital is almost the heart and soul of what I do every single day. I code. And so I am the laptop is like my second home. And I use it for 99% of what I do at school. Also Also things like even for things like navigation, using apps on my phone, like Be My Eyes if I need human assistance, or apps like seeing AI Google lookout on Android and others to help me get be aware of my surroundings.

George Abraham

13:39

You also have a YouTube channel. So tell us a little bit about what was your inspiration? What do you kind of show or project through the YouTube channel? And is it just one channel or your multiple channels?

Pranav Savla

13:59

I actually do have multiple channels now. My the original ones called Tech with Phoenix it actually was called something related to gaming. I forget now because it was like six years ago. Yeah, I started it trying to show audio games for the blind. Yeah. And for three years I tried and it didn't really work out. And then in 2021, I shifted to tech, and I named the Tech with Phoenix because the name Phoenix was something I started associating myself with after I accidentally used the user name and on a website in 2019. And I actually found it quite cool. So even my Twitter if you look at it, it's blind D Phoenix. And so is my Instagram. And I the channel started picking up actually on the second video that I uploaded it was on how a certain headphone right bought snapped and how it's a design flaw. And it actually garnered over 7000 views. And the thing though with that channel was, you know, I post large tech videos, I also have a series called Blind life talks, which is about me and a friend of mine, Abhishek Dole, who is in the UK, we sort of talked through some some problems or some challenges rather, that we face as blind. You know, people in this universe every single day in society, and it's great. The only thing with that channel is that it takes us 10 hours to film, edit, and upload a video. Because we actually do quite a bit of editing, I have a friend named Govan, Suttergopan, who is my editor across channels, actually. And it takes us a lot of time. And it's really not practical, because it eats into a lot of the other work that I do. And thus, actually, I started a second channel last year, and this is the one that's currently really active. And the one that's the thing currently, it's called Phoenix shorts. And we post that sort of the latest tech news and certain things in tech. So there's one daily shorts or at least one every single day, it's all under one minute. And it's very easy, digestible information. The third channel is sort of a hobbyist one, it's called Phoenix covers. And that is where I upload my vocal covers. I was, I knew how to edit mix master tracks, but I was not very confident in my ability until last year, when it's really funny story I sang at my apartment, and I am going to mention this, but I actually had a 31 year old lady come and asked me out on a date after I sang. So it did take me by surprise. And, you know, it was really an A, and there was not a very big crowd, it was actually just a few people standing around. But hearing the appreciation in their voices sort of propelled me to, to go ahead and start this. And so now I, you know, post my tracks to the third channel. And it's a very, it's a very liberating feeling to be very honest with you posting this stuff on YouTube, and especially with Phoenix shorts, seeing the success every single morning. So my editor posts the video early morning, because he is in the US. And you know, waking up every day to see, you know, such you know, very inspiring and very, very interesting and very, I would say very heartwarming comments from people on sort of the latest short that we upload, encouraging me to go ahead. I think that is one of the best ways I could think of to start my day.

George Abraham

17:46

You said your editor is in the US. So is he the same person who also shoots or somebody else who shoots?

Pranav Savla

17:54

No. So which shorts, it's a very interesting thing, because we don't actually shoot my face. We actually we record audios, and he does video effects and animation on top of it. But with tech with Phoenix. And with those videos, it's normally me who shoots the videos. And then when he comes to Bangalore, sort of once a year in June, that's when we sort of sit down together because it is faster when he shoots because when I'm alone, I sort of have to guess where the camera would be and sort of arrange it based on past experiences. But when he's here, it's just I can just focus on the content. And so when he's here, we sort of make most of the videos in bulk. And then we upload them over the course of time as he goes away. And whatever is the balance that's left out, plus blind life talks because that's a that's more of this kind of thing, which is a podcast. That is something that we that I just shoot on my own.

Eyeway Helpdesk

18:55

To support our work with the blind and visually impaired, you can visit the donate page on our website, www.scorefoundation.org.in. Please note www.scorefoundation.org.in.

George Abraham

19:21

You started coding and you've been doing coding for a while have you actually gotten to the realms of doing it professionally? Or, or as an 18 year as a 17 year old? You're not allowed?

Pranav Savla

19:32

No no no. Professional coding has absolutely been a thing that I've been doing. I have over the past three four years as my skills have developed. I have freelanced for a lot of people. I I have worked in an internship at a company called Delta X, which actually is an Ad Agency and I helped them build one of the products that they use actively today, which is an image manipulator and AI image, manipulator and background removal tool for their Ad posters. And I think the biggest project for me was building the, the web application of my you know, if you if you look me up, you know about this of my nonprofit organisation called Vidya Drishti. And building that web app in scratch. And the funny thing about it is I'll quickly digress into a short, funny story. And that is, I actually built this web app, this is the fastest one that I've ever built. I built the entire web app by hand, coding everything, you know, myself, within 18 hours, and I still don't know how I did it. But I was very surprised by by me being able to do it.

George Abraham

20:57

So I think I think you've kind of led me on to my next question, which is about your NGO, you set up this organisation? You mentioned the name briefly a short while ago, maybe you could just start by mentioning the name. And then what exactly does this NGO do?

Pranav Savla

21:15

Yeah, it's a very interesting question, because it's something that has been very close to me, it's called Vidya Drishti. Not to be confused with a TV serial Divya Drishti. Because I've heard a few people do that it's Vidya Drishti, with a V starting. And it is an organisation where we, we help people improve their writing skills, and come out of that zone of writer's block of being afraid to post online, what we've noticed is a lot of people are wary of posting their written work online, because they, they the writing community, by and large, is actually not very welcoming, or not the most welcoming community out there. And because people just don't see an improvement out of it, there's no one to tell them how their writing is. There's no one to actively follow up with them, and make sure that they hone that craft. And so we actually we actually, you know, try to try to fix both, we have a very highly moderated platform where people can upload their writing, moderated in the sense of comments where we only accept except what we call constructive constructive criticism, and no toxicity. And the other thing is, we have a, we have a very, dare I say competent content team, full of a mix of young Gen Z students. Yeah. And sort of more experienced people in writing, you know, we've got Mr. Subramani, Lakshmi, who still helps us out he is a 27 odd year veteran in journalism. And we've got others on the team as well. We've got young people such as certain Moksh Chaveli, who is he's just he's one year older than he's 18. But he is a three time participant of the month. And he's written his own research papers as well. He's a he's a great young young man. Older than me, of course.

George Abraham

23:14

People who post on your platform, are they all from Bangalore, are you have people from all over the country?

Pranav Savla

23:20

No, in fact, we have all people from all over the country. And recently, we've started having people from the UK in the US as well. We got a very interesting story from a person from the UK. And it was on how we overcame COVID. And it was a very, very well written piece. So no, we we've had, we've had people from the country from from all over, and from all ages as well. Actually, initially Vidya Dishtri had an age gap, age cap of 16. And it was someone from our team who sort of pushed internally to raise it. And then after a point, I just realised, I'm like, okay, I'm being stupid, why, why, why have I put this age cap? And so we lifted it. And since then, we've had one of the most diverse communities of people writing, and it's been a very interesting experience seeing all of these people come together.

George Abraham

23:43

So if somebody wants to write and get feedback on your platform, what does he have to do?

Pranav Savla

24:23

All he or she has to do is come to our platform, it's start with vidyadrishti.org.in. Register, create an account, it's like a 30 second process, and then upload the writing, which is also a 30 second process. The writing is what we've we've basically made it so that the writing takes up most of your time, the uploading takes up negligible amounts. And once the work is up, within 24 hours, they will get feedback from us from someone from the team.

George Abraham

24:49

As a 17 year old getting ready to write your 12 standard exam. What is your dream for the future? What do you want to become? Where are you headed?

Pranav Savla

25:00

You know I could, I could, I could say the objective parts. Which is I do want to do computer science, I want to do artificial intelligence. I'm very interested in computation, photography and accessibility, especially image accessibility, making images accessible for people who cannot see. But I think at the end of the day, I think the thing that would describe what I want to do in the future the most is to see or to witness people happy. I have, I have always I think one of the most satisfying things for me is to to know that someone smiles and it's really funny. You don't have to look at a person's face to know if they're smiling. You can hear it in their voice. And I just, I think, you know, if my work, whatever the work might be, it could be YouTube, it could be my vocals, it could be it could be something that I've coded, it could be a person from Vidya Drishti. I, you know, at the end of the day, all I want is to make sure that they they are smiling and they are happy and that I've made an impact for the better and improve the lives of the next generation of people making it easier for them to focus on their passion.

George Abraham

26:17

Well said Pranav. Thank you very much for giving me the time and sharing your thoughts and sharing tidbits from your life. It's been very interesting talking to you all the best!

Pranav Savla

26:27

My pleasure thanks for having me.

Eyeway Helpdesk

26:38

This podcast was brought to you by Score Foundation.

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