"I'll meet you at that junction then.. I'll be holding a white & red cane stick...you might have to spot me I have a visual impairment" she said...
For many years I have been doing carpools. Around 2014 my office ( eClerx ) shifted to a place which was about 32kms away at a location not easily accessible via public transport from my home. That's when I started a carpool with some colleagues. While it was environmental friendly, it also helped me save on fuel costs & the cherry on the top was having company daily while traveling. It continued when I moved to Jio which was in same locality.
In 2018 I moved to Marsh India & though the office wasn't too far, I had started liking the pooling thing. I joined some carpool whatsapp groups and an app ( sRide Carpool ) & started getting to meet new people whenever I got some requests for pool.
It was on one such occasion that I got a request on Sride from a lady who wanted to pool with me. I got a call from her as soon as I accepted her request. That's when she informed me about her vision. We agreed to meet at a junction that evening.
With some coordination I reached the spot and saw her (as she had shared, she had no vision) standing there waiting for me. I was as curious as a kid the moment I saw her, having a zillion questions about her life but I contained my curiosity and we struck a generic conversation on the way. From that day, we pooled many times every few days & she'd join me in the mornings/evenings on days when our timings matched.
During our talks in subsequent trips I got to know her more. She was visually impaired since birth however she went about her education with zest and had completed her B.A. & M.A. from a reputed college & was then working at EY. I got to know that she was active in many other ways aiding her own development as well as promoting the development & wellbeing of other visually impaired individuals in the community.
Little to her knowledge, I & the other co-riders were always in awe of her. There'd be days where I'd leave home/office preoccupied with some worries and then I'd meet her and wonder about the struggles she would have been through on most days of her life while she went about trying to blend with the world around her. I'd be mesmerized witnessing her use her smartphone with so much ease - using multiple apps to stay connected and informed.
Subsequently our timings fell out and we stopped pooling and then the pandemic stuck and put an abrupt end to wonderful experience of meeting people from various backgrounds as a part of the pooling.
The lady I mention here is Sadaf Khan and she is active here on LinkedIn as well. I still smile everytime I see her react to any of my posts and hence today thought about sharing a story involving her (with her permission).
Thank you Sadaf for being an inspiration for me and many others. Most of them may not be able to tell you that they draw an inspiration from you and I just want you to know that. Keep rocking!
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