How one Indian radio station is giving 'a lifeline to people with disabilities' around the world
Minal Singhvi was, naturally, devastated when she went blind at 28, but she soon decided she wouldn't let it unravel her life.
She knew that many with disabilities feel depressed, lonely and emotionally disconnected from family and friends. Singhvi, from Hyderabad, India, also knew there was very little information to help disabled people navigate their lives.
So in 2014, seven years after she lost her sight, Singhvi co-founded Radio Udaan, an online community radio station for people with disabilities, to give help and hope to people like her.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
Today, it broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week - and some 50,000 people from more than 115 countries tune in every month.
Many similar radio stations around the world have floundered, but Radio Udaan's founders did not lose heart, using talking software to develop tutorials for the visually impaired and building strong connections with listeners. They also gave them a space to express their views and display their talents through competitions and quizzes.
Radio Udaan now has more than 30 radio hosts across India and around 90 per cent of them are blind. One of the most popular programmes is "Udaan Idols", a talent hunt for disabled people, while another show tells listeners about job vacancies, and yet another helps them access technology.
Many guests from NGOs and businesses are invited on to encourage listeners and tell them about opportunities. The programmes are available on YouTube with content delivered in Hindi, Urdu and English.
"We were a bunch of friends who used to communicate on Skype and we wanted to do something that was different and empowered people with disabilities, especially the visually-challenged," said Pathankot-based Danish Mahajan, 34, one of the six co-founders and the station's general secretary.
"The mainstream media doesn't cover the problems and issues of disabled people, or provide them a platform to express their concerns," said Mahajan, who lost his sight when he was 14. "Unless a differently-abled person is a high achiever, he or she is not given an opportunity. We decided to start an internet radio station that would help the community navigate their lives better, and also empower them with technology."
The team faced many challenges, the main one being funding. Occasional donations help, but mostly the members pool their own money and do all the tasks themselves, from scripting shows to creating and editing content. Many disabled people have sought jobs, learned computer skills or even become singers by gaining new expertise through Radio Udaan.
The station helps them to contact NGOs and offers career counselling. All the volunteers manage their tasks alongside full-time jobs. Mahajan himself has a government job.
Former radio host Neha Aggarwal, 30, a bank worker in Haryana, says the station "gave me wings to dream and be ambitious".
"Until then I did not realise that a visually-challenged person could achieve so much. I learnt to use a mobile phone and laptop and also how to tackle my situation and disability bravely and in a systematic way," said Aggarwal, who has a genetic disorder of the eyes, with rapidly deteriorating vision.
"Today I am an extremely motivated person who dabbles in various things like poetry and podcasts in addition to my job, and that is due to my tryst with Radio Udaan," she said.
Mahajan said the station was "a lifeline to people with disabilities" across not just India, "but the world. Many live in isolation and do not have emotional support, this has helped them feel part of a community".
He said the radio programmes - about four to six per day - span a wide variety of topics and activities from disability friendly apps to matrimonial ads, making people aware of government schemes for the disabled, events and seminars, and celebrating festivals.
On-air training classes have taught the basics of computer literacy and software, while educational shows about maths, English and general knowledge have helped many people pick up useful skills. Because romance and marriage can be difficult for the visually impaired, the station also holds matrimonial meetings and helps people find a match - with quite a few successes, Mahajan said. They have also organised trips for the visually challenged to explore India.
Overall, the station is doing its best to plug a gap. "Society's response to people with disabilities is still very slow and there is a huge void that we are trying to fill. We now have people with other disabilities like cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis also," said Mahajan.
Muskaan, a visually-challenged 26-year-old from Himachal Pradesh took part in and won a singing competition organised by Radio Udaan. "Thanks to this I got a chance to perform in the USA in 2018, which was an amazing opportunity for me. I performed in five states. I am really thankful to Radio Udaan for this transformative experience."
Subha Krishnan, a 35-year-old government employee in Bangalore who is visually impaired, is also a big fan of the station. "I have come to know of all the opportunities available to visually challenged people and also listen to talks on various facets of society and politics. Mainstream media has very little for people like us," she said.
The station hopes to keep going from strength to strength. As Mahajan says, "we have empowered thousands of people with disabilities, now we want to sustain our growth, expand more in rural areas and develop tutorials for people who live in remote areas with no internet".
Around 63 million people in India are blind or visually impaired, according to the World Health Organization.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
