O Aishwarya : The Blind Bookworm - Part 1

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Season 4 Finale! The episode opens with Aishwarya talking about what creativity means to her. Aishwarya shares her earliest memories of being creative and writing and what that’s been like as a blind person. She shares various experiences and perspectives on disability and accessibility and her work regarding the same. She also shares book recommendations. Later Aishwarya talks about how AI and assistive technology has helped her, but also how nuanced it is and what seems to be missing. The episode ends with poetry written & narrated by Aishwarya.

O. Aishwarya is currently pursuing Doctoral studies at IIIT Bangalore in the area of IT and Society. She has worked for a year at Vision Empower, a non-profit organization that aims to make science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects accessible to blind and visually impaired children studying in special schools in Karnataka. She also has a Masters Degree in Development from Azim Premji University. Having recently discovered ways of producing visual art as a blind person, she is now exploring the use of art as a medium for breaking stereotypes and confronting ableism. Researching, and creating more knowledge on disability studies and accessibility, is her passion as well as profession. You can find her on Instagram @the_blind_bookworm

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

Mentions: outh Ki Awaaz, Medium, Rising Flame, Adithi Rao, Braille, Azim Premji University, XRCVC, Tiffany Yu, Emily Ladau, Carly Findlay, Say Hello, Skin Stories, Tommy Edison, Helen Keller, Louis Braille, POV, Be My Eyes, Enid Blyton, Invisible Women, Why Loiter, Hunchback, Booker Prize, Butter, All The Light We Cannot See, Atypical, Netflix, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, The Cock Is The Culprit, J Devika, A Case Of Exploding Mangoes, Champaca Bookstore, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, The Grammar Of My Body