Kavya Mukhija The first meeting is always uneasy. Their eyes sweep through my body washing away every sliver of dignity that hung on the last string like sea waves wash away footprints on the sand. Were they ever there? You never know. Their gaze lowers with every tick of the…

Kavya Poornima Balajepalli In the month of August 2017, during my final year Architecture in Mumbai, I suffered sudden vision loss in both my eyes due to a rare chronic neurological disorder called Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, also known as IIH. Everything has changed now. Invisible battles Travelling was once a…

Alice Abraham “Do you think it was your disability?”, replied a friend when I texted them with teary eyes about my break up with my able-bodied partner . Love and relationships can be complex for disabled people because of so many assumptions by the ableist culture. An interabled relationship is…

Kavya Mukhija One. As I grab everything that I need to make a DIY table, I realize that, as a person with a disability, I’ve been living a DIY life as well — a life where ‘do it yourself’ was the only way to do things. Two. The realization hits…

Namrata Living with chronic illnesses makes you look at life differently. The very food, which was till then, a comforting factor, an exciting activity and a fun thing is suddenly reduced to something that is relying more on algorithms, numbers, bites and calories. My relationship with food was special. I…

Sweta Mantrii I think I may have evolved a tad bit ever since I wrote about this thing called companionship. Or, maybe, I am simply soaking in the feeling of experiencing liberation after getting my heart broken in a way I thought would never happen. Nevertheless, I am still confused…

Aishwarya Othena The greatest obstacle The long white cane is an ingenious device. For obstacle detection it usually does suffice But beyond the roads and rubble that sometimes make me stumble - It finds itself helpless against unsolicited human kindness which may not, perhaps, make me fall, And yet becomes the greatest obstacle of all. If I…

Abhishek Anicca There is a question always lurking in the shadows. Behind the conversations that come alive on the other side of night, sliding into DMs. In casual flirtation turning into somber consolation. Soul connection fizzing out with the revelation of truth. After every rejection. Always the same question. …

Natasha Chandhock At lower than 10 percent battery, I’m unable to get up and get the charger, My leg is cramping, my back is spasming, My head is hurting, And with intrusive thoughts having taken over, I’m asking myself why I’m breaking my body into parts, Why I’m doing to myself what they do to me, As…