Every time you buy a handmade card, jewellery or home décor to ‘support’ the differently abled, you think you are doing them a favour, helping them even. This Diwali, that’s what Prarthana Unkalkar Kaul doesn’t want. “It shouldn’t be out of sympathy. It should be because they are that good,” says the force behind Giftabled, a social enterprise in Bengaluru that strives to build a sensitised and disabled friendly society.
Having immersed herself in the corporate sector for years, she found meaning with volunteering. “I was inspired to move to the social sector and my parents were more than supportive of it,” she says. And she did, giving her time to every cause from human rights and civic issues to cancer and education of the girl child. She even received the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Namma Bengaluru Awards last year. When she started learning sign language however, she was posed with questions.
“People would ask me if I had a specially-abled person at home and that’s why I was training in it,” recalls the 37-year-old. But for her, the question was “Why shouldn’t I?” “We call normal people TAB - Temporarily Abled Bodies. So remember, differently-abled people are also people,” notes the spirited Bengalurean, whose organisation will turn three this year.
With an army of over 300 young volunteers brimming with ideas, she goes about making a difference. Whether it’s sensitising people at hospitals, the police force and corporates, training those interested in Braille and sign language or supporting volunteer-driven initiatives like the silent awareness campaigns through mime.
Prarthana beams with pride as she talks about her all-star performers. “Krishna has cerebral palsy but that doesn’t stop him from single-handedly designing our organisation’s web pages and marketing 24/7! Sailaja is hearing impaired. But she manages all the products that we sell while teaching sign language people during our workshops,” she says.
As they reveal their Diwali gifting catalogue, Prarthana shares that they are priced between Rs 100 to Rs 2,000 for an elaborate canvas painting by a foot-and-mouth artist and can be customised through their website. Prarthana hopes these talented individuals can make a living off it. “Just like we light lamps, we want to light up their smiles,” she says.
