Ahmedabad’s Jyot Foundation will host its ninth Divyang Garba on October 11 at Narayan Rao Bhandari Open Party Plot in Memnagar, creating an accessible Navratri venue for dancers with disabilities who may otherwise be unable to participate comfortably in public garba events.
The foundation has around 1,700 registered members with locomotor, visual, hearing, speech and intellectual disabilities. Participants range from children to people aged about 80. The event is being organised to provide a setting where people with disabilities can dance and celebrate Navratri without fear of embarrassment or mockery over the way they move.
Jyoti Shah, founder of the Jyot Foundation, said persons with disabilities want to dance and worship the Goddess, but at many garba events they are left watching others. Shah, 64, was born with cerebral palsy and has a 90% disability. She retired as an officer from Bank of Baroda before starting the foundation in 2017.
The organisation’s preparations begin around four months before the event. According to Shah, the arrangements include an accessible venue, approximately 100 volunteers, 10 wheelchairs, valet assistance, drinking water and meals for participants. These provisions are intended to reduce the physical and logistical barriers that can prevent people with disabilities from attending large public celebrations.
The event will also include prizes in five disability categories, along with group, costume, couple and children’s categories. The foundation said the gathering is not limited to dance participation. It also gives people who may rarely leave their homes an opportunity to meet others, exchange information and learn about opportunities.
Shah said participants build social connections at the garba and may discover information that is difficult to access when they remain isolated at home. She cited her own experience of learning about employment through people she met, and said the foundation’s events help create a space where participants understand one another.
The arrangements highlight the practical requirements involved in making a large cultural gathering accessible. Volunteers, mobility support, assistance with entry and exit, food, water and a venue designed for participation are being organised alongside the cultural programme. The foundation’s model also brings together people with different types and degrees of disability, from children to older adults.
The Jyot Foundation’s Divyang Garba will be held on October 11 at Narayan Rao Bhandari Open Party Plot in Ahmedabad’s Memnagar. The event is part of the foundation’s continuing effort to provide an inclusive public celebration for people with disabilities during Navratri.
