Why I write about disability – Guest column by student &blogger Vinayana Khurana

In our guest column this week, we feature student and blogger Vinayana Khurana, who loves to write about disability from different perspectives.

I am a postgraduate from Delhi University in English literature. I have a supportive family and they love me for what I am. I am a blogger who loves to write about issues related to disability. I am often criticized for writing only on such issues, but that does not affect me. I plan to continue writing for the cause as I am determined to write about issues that I am passionate about.

Most people in India with a disability are hesitant to step out of the shadows and speak up. I am different, perhaps because because of the way I was raised. As a child I remember there were many kids in my colony and my parents never restricted me from playing with them. My friends played games that suited me as well. Of course it helped that my mom came up with many of those games!

I also studied at an inclusive school called St Mary’s. So, both on the home front and in school, I was brought up to feel confident and undefeated by my circumstances.

My desire to write about disability-related issues is something inborn. It comes from within. I don’t know why this is so. I feel that I have been given life because God wants me to make a larger point – that no one with a disability should be underestimated.

My articles are aimed at the youth, regardless of whether they are disabled or not. I speak to them because I want to change their perspectives towards disability. I am confident that my blogs are enabling that change in mindset.

I also see a greater openness and willingness to listen. There is a desire to learn more about people with disabilities, to move beyond the stereotypes of stigma or sympathy. And it’s a win-win moment because people with disabilities are also trying to be visible. They want to speak up and speak out. This is creating a situation where we are looking at disability from a wider perspective.

Personally, I love to write poetry more than prose. Poetry gives me life and the predominant theme of my poems is my emotional frame of mind. My poetry is straight from the heart, I don’t believe in writing about things I do not believe in. Like politics, which is fickle and ever changing. My topics are close to my heart and eternal.

You can read Vinayana’s articles at http://vinayanasworld.blogspot.com/

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