ANTARDRISHTI AT 20
20 YEARS · 20 STORIES · One Journey
We did not set out to build an organisation. We set out to answer a question, a question that began with a boy named Raju, who knew everything about a joker from his Braille book but had never actually seen one. What happens when a child can learn everything a book can teach, but still needs opportunities to experience the world beyond the book? We did not have an answer, but we could not stop asking the question. Over the next twenty years, it took us into schools, villages, streets, communities, kitchens and places we had never planned to go. Along the way, we built things, made mistakes, changed direction, learned to say no, and met people who changed the way we saw the world. These 20 stories are our celebration of 20 glorious years of Antardrishti, not a history or a record of achievements, but twenty moments that shaped who we became. This is what we saw. We hope it helps you see something too.
Today’s Story
The Forms Can Wait
“NGO people come, make us fill out forms, raise funds in our name, and then use our names for their own benefit. What do we get? Nothing. Just become a member of this organisation, become a member of that one.” The words came from somewhere across the classroom. They were not spoken angrily, and there was no confrontation in the room. The student said them with the tired certainty of someone describing something he had already seen too many times. We had gone to a school for the blind to meet students, listen to their experiences and understand what kind…
It Was Only a Plan
Raju was in Class 3, and he knew quite a lot about jokers. He knew…
Why Blind People?
The village was not very far from the world of schools and institutions, but it…
We Couldn’t Find Them
The room was full of the restless energy of a school day. Chairs were moving,…
The Forms Can Wait
“NGO people come, make us fill out forms, raise funds in our name, and then…