The ‘Incredible India’ Odyssey

Beyond Barriers: The Fearless Foursome

Every week we have one newsmaker for you, but this time we have four of them. Their story is extraordinary for a simple reason that they went out for a cause braving all odds.

‘Incredible India’ initiative of theirs was not a tourism promotion exercise but an incredible odyssey. The story behind is a tough one, made purposeful with this three-month journey that ended last week on December 20 in Mumbai.

It was 22 years back that Mumbai based Arvind Prabhoo met with a serious accident that left him wheelchair-bound for life. It was in January this year that he decided to travel across the country along with his three differently-abled friends just to have a firsthand account of how disabled-friendly Indian cities are.

Today, The Sip of Life moderator, Amit Roy talks to the foursome, including Prabhoo himself and his three friends, Nishant Khade, Sunita Sancheti and Neenu Kewlani who took off from Mumbai three months back and covered 16,000 kms by road in 81 days.

SOL: Before we ask about Beyond Barriers, we would like to know about all of you behind the initiative?

BB: Arvind owns cable TV network business and is an executive trustee of Vijay Merchant Rehabilitation Centre For The Disabled (VMRCD). Nishant is director of DAS offshore Private Limited, which is into building skywalks and oil rigs. He is also one of the trustees at VMRCD. Sunita is working for a CA firm and specializes in individual taxation. She is a committee member at VMRCD and has been an activist working on accessibility issues since 13 years. Neenu helps in her family business and is also a committee member at VMRCD. She has been an activist working on accessibility issues since 13 years.

SOL: How did you all decide to take up this initiative?

BB: It all started with Arvind & Nishant chatting one evening when they decided to do something challenging which they had not done before, & since both of them love travelling, they decided to go around India by road. Later Sunita and Neenu joined the plans. They knew that it would not be easy to travel around country as wheelchair users. Our infrastructure and environment is not conducive for barrier free mobility for a person with disability.  And thus they decided why not work on this issue and take this up as a challenging project. And hence emerged, Beyond Barriers- Incredible India Tour.

SOL: What was the reaction of your families when you decided to take up this tour?

BB: Initially our parents were apprehensive and were concerned about our health and safety. But later they were convinced and after lot of assurance they gave their permission.

SOL: How long did it take to plan the tour?

BB: It took 7-8 months to plan the whole tour. Since the team did not take help from any travel agent they planned everything on their own.

SOL: When did you start the tour and how many cities were covered?

BB: The tour kicked off on 28^th September this year, and more than 40 cities were covered including the 28 state capitals.

SOL: What were your stay arrangements in different places?

BB: The team stayed at govt affliated hotels, guest houses, circuit houses and private company guest houses.

SOL: What were your overall findings from visits you undertook?

BB: India is a vast and diversed country.   To make it barrier free, will meet a lot of  planning and infrastructure development. Although some major tourist places can be made barrier free with minor modifications by and large making India a completely barrier free destination seems like some distance away.

SOL: Which is the best city in terms of facilities for the disabled and why?

BB: The best cities were Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Jaipur. These cities had better infrastructure in terms of kerb cuts, signages, few disabled friendly features at tourist spots.

SOL: Which is the worst city when it comes to facilities for the disabled and why?

BB: Aizwal, Gangtok and Shimla were worst cities when it comes to accessibility because of their hilly terrain and topography.

SOL: Share some interesting experiences with us during the Incredible India tour.

BB: Although on wheel chair visiting Leh-Ladakh was awesome experience.  Himalya on wheels – a travel agency is doing great work for people with disabilities. Visiting the beautiful Majoli island of Asam is also a wonderful experience. Especially crossing the brahmaputra by boat , visiting Kanyakumari for its  Sun sets and Sun rise was an exhilarating experience.  The beaches of  Vishakapatanam, Pondicherry, Kerala and Goa are unique experiences.

 To know more visit Beyond Barriers Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/fearlessfour