Food is an important part of life. Not just a necessity, food can be a source of happiness, a way of celebration. Be it a festival, a happy occasion, or a gathering, food is something we look forward to. To know how to cook is an essential life skill today. Every one of us can manage to cook at least a few things because we have grown up seeing our mothers cook. As we grow up, we also learn to identify the different flavours and aromas. But, what about those who do not know what colour salt is? How does red chilly powder look different from turmeric? Can visually challenged people cook? Or is it a distant dream for them? This is something rarely addressed. We out rightly laugh at the idea of a visually challenged person cooking. No wonder, it is the visually challenged women that this misconception hits the hardest. Because a country that still considers marriage as the ultimate test of worth of a woman, being blind negates the very notion of being a ‘good homemaker’. Despite being well educated and even employed, blind women are often overlooked as suitable life partners. Our idea is not to appease anyone, but just to prove once again, that blind people can learn anything, master any skill they want. Their approach might be different, they might take a little bit longer, but they can conquer anything they like.
Therefore, we propose to do something that has never been thought of before. We intend to organise a cooking contest that will see 32 visually challenged people display their culinary skills and compete for the ‘Golden Eye Chef’ award. Our aim is to bring about a change in the mindsets of people who consider visually challenged people, especially visually challenged women a burden, incapable of taking care of themselves and their families. Antardrishti has already done significant work on changing peoples’ perception about visually challenged women’s’ education and employment. This event would be a step forward towards changing perceptions regarding disability as well as gender discrimination.
