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Poonam Vaidya is a blind woman living in Bangalore.

People stare at her on the street. She doesn't know many other blind women as they tend to be hidden away. Everyone wants to tell her which way to go.

She is breaking stereotypes of blind women in India and believes attitudes need to change.

(Image: Poonam walking on a street in Bangalore. Credit: ´óÏó´«Ã½)

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Poonam Vaidya lives in Bangalore, India. Seven years ago, she became blind.

POONAM: Everyone was shocked, and I would hear things like "Is there still hope for you?" I've heard that people give double takes when I'm walking down the street. "There's a blind person!" and "Oh my god, she's a blind girl... wait, she's not begging!" The whole concept of a blind beggar really overshadows the blind community.

Poonam realised she could overcome such attitudes after visiting Kanthari Institute in Kerala. There she met Sabriye Tenberken, a blind German woman who runs the institute.

POONAM: She showed me through her actions that you don't have to be interdependent on others if you are blind, you can totally manage yourself and manage your home with just your cane and your brain.

In 2015, Poonam won a scholarship to the Colorado Center for the Blind in the United States. She completed challenges from travelling alone in an unfamiliar city to cooking for 60 people.

POONAM: I would say it really was a turning point in my life. I had never really gotten to be with so many blind people.

Poonam says attitudes to disabled people in India need to change, especially to blind women.

POONAM: There's an expectation that the parents will shelter them the entire time. And that's why they're not seen at events or get-togethers. I guess they're not even expected to work. There definitely needs to be an infrastructural change as well as a social, cultural change, because people with disabilities have been told all their lives that they're expected to listen to what everyone else thinks is best for them.

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