Do the blind live in a world of darkness? Or is theirs an imaginary world with visuals? Some, especially those who’ve been born blind, have stated that their world is indeed dark and visuals are at times thrust on them. Others, like Shakila Maharaj, one of the delegates at Hyderabad Literary Festival 2016, talk about an imaginary world that’s far from dark. A fourth generation Indian descent in South Africa, Shakila is an organisational psychologist and disabilities strategist trying to make performing arts accessible to the visually impaired through audio description.
Recently, she audio described a 13-part tele-serial in South Africa, titled Sticks and Stones . “It was a groundbreaking event in South Africa. Wherever I have travelled and in my own country, I saw that there isn’t enough participation of the disabled in arts and culture. Many blind people don’t go to the movies,” says Shakila.
The diminutive lady’s zest for life is apparent when she talks about wanting to attend as many sessions as possible at HLF. “If I can split myself into a million parts I would love to take in every part of the festival,” she laughs.
Shakila met with an injury at 19, which progressively eroded her sight and by early 20s, she was blind. She didn’t let that limit her.
Having travelled to different countries on her own, she says, “Each country offers something that the other doesn’t. Hyderabad may not have a brail trail for me to step out of the hotel and discover the city on my own. But there’s no dearth of human help. I adapt according to the country.”
As a member of South African tourism board and as a disabilities strategist, she has visited India on several occasions, to train those working with the visually impaired in corporate houses and NGOs and notes, “An American friend of mine moved to India after finding the country more receptive to the blind.”
Anju Khemani, who was instrumental in getting Shakila to be a part of HLF, chips in, “We, in India, are more personal which the West may consider intrusive. Many visually impaired are lonely in the West. There is not much sound, very few people are at road crossings… Here, you ask a question and someone on the road is bound to respond. They may not know the art of describing, but you will get an answer.”
Talking of describing as an art, Anju adds, “You could tell a blind person there is a chair here. Or you can say it’s a high chair with red wood and an art work on it.” Shakila agrees, “When you describe something, a bland imagery becomes memorable.”
When she travels, Shakila would request people to describe things for her. “During one of my visits to America, I discovered that describing is an art that complies with a set of standards,” she says. In 2010, she founded Audio Describe International along with Dr. William Rowland, an author and a pioneer in disability movements.
While Shakila was audio describing movies in South Africa, she got an opportunity to write a film script through a grant from the provincial KZN Film Commission. “During the film screenings, I had interacted with many blind people. Some of them shared their love stories and I felt it was good content for comedy,” she says.
The story written by her is a comedy with three blind men. Shakila weaves in a thriller element with one of the characters being shot at and subsequently losing vision. “The story is set in Durban. We are talking to the producers who’ve shown interest to see how the film will come up,” she says.
(Shakila Maharaj will be in conversation with Anju Khemani on January 9; 2 p.m., at Hyderabad Literary Festival 2016, at Hyderabad Public School)
