h: Hi, I'm your host Haley, and welcome to our podcast. Today we are joined by the incredible Sahana, a 16-year-old musician, record holder, and fierce advocate for independence, who recently moved from India to the United Kingdom. Sahana opens up about navigating the world with a visual impairment, breaking through lower expectations, and using her gift for music to prove that a challenge Is never the end of a story. Stay tuned for an inspiring conversation about resilience, finding new approaches, and why assumptions will never define what is greater than or equal to your true potential.
Hayley: To begin, could you share a few basic details about yourself for the archives, including your name, age, gender if you would like to share, where you were born and where you currently live, and what languages you can speak.
Sahana: Sahana and I'm 16 years old. I'm born and brought up in India, and now I've recently migrated in UK for past three years, and I've just completed GCSC in Woking High School, and now I'm about to start my college next month. So the languages that I speak is Tamar, which is an Indian accent, like Indian language. I And English is my second language.
Hayley: I would say you learned English rather well, didn't you, when you first came?
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: Improves really fast. Now, how would you describe your visual impairment? could you share a little about your visual impairment if you would feel like comfortable? in particular, when did your visual impairment begin and what was the cause? Was it something you were born with or something that developed later on?
Sahana: No, I'm visually impaired since birth. that doesn't mean it stops me to do whatever I can do.
Hayley: our audience what you what kind of you do as a career or what your career will definitely be?
Sahana: Mm-hmm.
Hayley: So what what what's your career pathway? What would you like to do? Which, as you mentioned, does not prevent you from a visual impairment does not prevent you from chasing your dreams, shall we say?
Sahana: Yeah, true. So my my career is based on music. So I play multiple instruments like keyboard, piano, and now I'm recently learning to play guitar and I do sing and I do perform on stages and my future goal is to become a music composer and to be an independent artist.
Hayley: wow, so Hami, just out of curiosity, how many musical instruments do you plan to learn?
Sahana: for now I can play almost every instrument that belongs to keys and now I'm currently woking on strings like guitar for instance and I've learnt violin when I was young.
Hayley: do you have like the Indian traditional instruments that you know how to play?
Sahana: Yeah, I've played one. That's also you know, that's also a string instrument. That's called Vena. It looks like a you know, sitar. A a big it has like twelve to sixteen strings and it's really heavy. It looks like that.
Hayley: Wow, that sounds really complicated. Yeah, that sounds really complicated. So what three words would you use to describe yourself and why?
Sahana: Determined, musical and independent. I'm determined because when I have when I would like to achieve something, I don't like giving up easily. I'm musical because music is my big part of my life and I express everything through music and independent because I would like to do everything by myself. Of course I would ask help whenever I need. But I do want people to let me do whatever I want by myself.
Hayley: Mm and of course we're gonna emphasize that later on in the podcast, but I think it's really important for the general public or just anyone to know more about how visually impaired people like to be independent, can be independent, but also need help
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: Yeah. Great. So how did your experience of visual impairment shaped the way you grew up and understood the world around you.
Sahana: Hmm, so as I'm visually impaired, it made me to be like aware more about the world in different way compared to the sighted people. as I am visually impaired, there are some certain things that I need to either adapt or do something in a different way, but that doesn't mean that I can't. So it just taught me that I just have to, work hard or find my own way to do something that I'm willing to do.
Hayley: Just to elaborate on this question, would you mind if I asked about how did your experience of visual impairment in let's say early life as in before you came to England shape how you viewed the world and how that changed after coming to England
Sahana: Like the way we see the world is completely different. way we all see the world is different. And the way we approach things is also different.
Hayley: Do you think it's really different compared to England?
Sahana: Yeah, India is more poorer, I would say. India in India I would definitely say it has less support for visual impaired people.
Hayley: a goal of yours, such a successful singer, could also be like in the future maybe just advocating for a blind people in India Yeah.
Sahana: Yeah. Because you know, if I talk about like technology or if I talk about the supports, there is barely anything that we actually could do in India. My parents have to actually work extremely hard to get everything done. But once I came back to England I'm so happy because my parents finally got freedom and I have all of the supports that I actually needed. And now I'm finally becoming an independent person rather than asking someone for help for almost everything.
Hayley: How did your family respond to your visual impairment growing up if you don't mind? any like family or cultural expectations about what visually impaired people could do, like or could not do,
Sahana: Yeah, there there were lots of assumptions before and my parents also didn't know how to actually manage. But to be honest, we didn't actually follow any cultural expectations. My family did not. They instead actually encouraged me and made me to do everything. They made me to achieve all of my goals that I wanted to do and they and also to challenge myself beyond the limits. So they actually supported me a lot. This is how I actually, you know, grown up.
Hayley: different perspectives, How would you say that compared to traditional culture that you would grow up in? So what's the expectation, what are the assumptions that you would say that were put on visually impaired people before?
Sahana: Yeah, before like even for me, even to my parents, they kept on asking me, how am I going to walk? how am I gonna talk? how am I gonna see things? how am I gonna do all of the basic things by myself? Cause I'm VI. So like, there'll lots of questions. if I say, I I love performing, then They will ask, how how am I going to, you know, perform? How am I going to entertain the audience? How am I gonna how am I going to go onto the stage?
Hayley: Sometimes they have like lower expectations for you.
Sahana: Yeah, there was lower expectations, underestimation, to be honest.
Hayley: Well, I think you should go back and prove them all very wrong,
Sahana: Yeah. Yeah.
Hayley: Did your education take place in a mainstream school? A school specialised for blind and visually impaired students or a combination of both? And how did that environment shape your learning experience, confidence and sense of belonging?
Sahana: people. In in that primary school, I don't think they actually had enough support for all of the people, like all children. So for example, we didn't have cane. We have to go by ourselves without using a cane. And and then the way we write things, it's not we don't use like Braille Note Touch or any updated technology. Instead we use like the stylus and slate. And
Hayley: Mm, the most old fashioned, yes.
Sahana: yeah, everything is old fashioned and also their expectation is to only focus on the education, not for like participating in a reality show or anything else. So it was like really terrible. The primary school was terrible. So After from year five onwards, I moved into a mainstream school, which has in that school It's like Woking high school. So that school was much more better, and I've learned a lot. Even like I've learned how to be friends from sighted people, not only from blind people. I've actually learned how to communicate with them, how to ask. Help if needed. It was it was a different experience compared to the special school that I went. And my friends, I had lots and lots of friends who always helped me from taking me to the canteen, from taking me to the classrooms, and for writing all of the notes if needed and helping me through studies. They were an important pillars I would say in my school.
Hayley: Mm.
Sahana: Even even in Woking high school, even the teachers have actually helped me a lot. To be honest, I would say like understanding is the key than technology or anything else, like any other achievements.
Hayley: How did it make you feel, like your sense of belonging? Did it make you feel more comfortable, more at home, what's the difference between making friends with blind people and making friends with all sorts of people?
Sahana: So making friends with all sorts of people means like well you can ask for any help without without being afraid. Yeah, and also they would understand you
Hayley: Do you think it's very important to make friends both in the blind community but also outside the blind community?
Sahana: Yeah, it is really really. So when you be friends with blind people, you would also know, I'm not the one who's actually visually impaired. Or I'm not the one who faces these you know, these situations who came who overcame these challenges. So by being friend with blind people, you would learn that even the other students or people who are blind, they also face the similar challenges
Hayley: You mentioned earlier that you studied in a completely blind school and it focused mostly on education. What kinds of support or accommodations helped you succeed in school and in daily life, let's say compared to India currently in England in Woking high school? how did
Sahana: Mm-hmm.
Hayley: it change? What kind of accommodations did you have in India? And what were there any supports you wish had existed earlier, especially like in India. Both in the blind school I think and also the mainstream school you went to.
Sahana: In India I would say a lot. Firstly, advanced technology and accessibility is the main key. And the second is you know Some apps, like so for example, you're you're going somewhere in bus and you're using a special app, right? You actually see, next stop is this, next stop is this, like that. And when you go to like shopping, there is an app in which you will see all of the products, like the expiry date, which brand it is, how much does it cost, like that. So so in India, what I want is some special apps in which it helps blind people to actually figure out what they're doing or what they're buying by themselves and also they could travel by themselves I also ask them to actually be aware of the road safeties so I want to make sure that the roads are actually safe and there should be some separate roads, particularly for VI people, in which they can either like walk themselves without hitting in the vehicle or hitting other people or Like So it just helps you to avoid being in a danger, England it helped me a lot compared to India. So in England there was easy accessible technologies and there were lots of lots of teachers who actually explained everything easily like how like the way we could understand. To be honest, understanding is the key. compared to the equipment because they and the teachers and the friends actually understood and like understood all of the supports that I need. So they just they just don't have to do anything for you. what students need to succeed? What kind of help do do they need? So what I would say is for us we need like some adaptations or different way of approaching things. But everything is possible. That's it.
Hayley: How much connection did you have to the visually impaired community when you were younger and how has that changed over time?
Sahana: When I was young, I was fully with visually impaired students. I had friends who was only from visually impaired students, not with sighted people. But we actually to be honest, we actually been friends as normal. Like we did almost everything as other people. But there were some challenges that we actually faced. If I talk about the school, we struggled go moving around without using cane. We all struggled a lot. We struggled moving around. And we were actually afraid of asking help.
Hayley: why were you afraid of asking help if you don't mind?
Sahana: Because for because teachers were not supportive, only only my parents were When I was young, I just felt comfortable asking help only for parents.
Hayley: So you feel like they weren't understanding enough. You feel like they should have been educated more about how to
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: best let's how to best assist visually impaired people
Sahana: Yeah, yeah, of course.
Hayley: instead of just getting impatient or annoyed at them when they didn't learn something the correct way. Because
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: maybe sometimes you have to teach a person to walk around or navigate
Sahana: Mm-hmm.
Hayley: life slightly differently depending on their needs. Like if you're blind you have to be taught slightly differently. it
Sahana: Yeah, true.
Hayley: might take twice longer, but moving on to the next question. Were there moments growing up when you felt excluded, misunderstood, or like you did not quite fit in? how did you respond?
Sahana: There were lots of moments. there were and there are lots of moments in which I felt excluded. when my parents says that I can play keyboard I can sing and people start before like before even letting me do something people always assume certain things without even knowing that if they could do they always say she can't do some she can't do this or she can't do that because she's visually impaired. Well I always ask, did you actually let me do something before you even assume it? So society is still not understanding about us. They are they are still underestimating. They are still excluding us. They're still not understanding. What I would say is stop underestimating us. Treat us as how you would treat sighted people. We are also like look, visually impaired is just a part of my story. It's not my entire story. But the one thing that I'm really happy is social media is being a easy platform in which you guys can actually showcase your talent or your goals that you're really interested in,
Hayley: Now moving on to arguably my favourite part today in this episode with Sahania, we're
Sahana: Mm.
Hayley: gonna talk about your career and experiences. But can you tell us about any ideas of potential career paths you might have, or maybe if you already have one right now, and what led you to your current profession?
Sahana: I have been part of singing reality show in India and I won third place for that. Yeah, I was and then I became Indian Asia Book of Record holder for identifying forty music records in a minute. And my future path is to become a music composer, to like to be an independent artist and in which I would want to make my and release it in like into the album. That's my goal.
Hayley: And just to let our audience know, you have a very strong social media presence. How many followers do you have right now?
Sahana: now I have 110,000 followers. in Facebook I reached 30,000 followers. And Twitter is also the same. Like X for example. X is also the same.
Hayley: It's a quite the increase. You do grow in popularity very, very quickly, what has inspired you most in your life?
Sahana: firstly my family through their encouragement they inspired me to keep pursuing into my goals and to never stop, you know, growing. And also I'm really inspired by the musicians who work incredibly hard
Hayley: Especially the idea that some people think talent is just talent. Often people forget how talented people have to work really, really hard to be where they are as well.
Sahana: Yeah, practice and determination is the key and also learning from mistakes.
Hayley: What is one challenge, turning point or defining moment that helps shape who you are today?
Sahana: For me, I would say a turning point first. So when I was 8 years old in 2018, I participated in a reality show in India. So this is a singing reality show, and which is only in Tamil language. that was my first ever time participating, and that is how many people knew me. By participating in the reality show, many people actually supported me and still supporting me, including the celebrities like actors, actresses, musicians, and many people. And this is how I won third place and this is how I actually became Indian Asia Book of Record Holders. this just reminds me that woking hard and by not giving up you can actually achieve everything. And also there there were some challenges I actually faced. But I wouldn't let these challenges to stop. me doing things if you face any challenges means I don't want you all to stop doing anything sometimes you have to adapt things or sometimes you just have to work hard but we all just have to keep pursuing in our goals.
Hayley: Were there ever time when someone doubted your goals, abilities or dreams? And how did that affect you and how did you move forwards?
Sahana: Many people doubted me. Like, can I actually beat the record? So when I'm doing like Asia and India Book of Records, there were lots of people who actually doubted me. can I actually identify these chords? I didn't actually stop woking on my goals I still kept going even though people doubted me, I still kept going. I think that's the way to actually achieve and to prove them wrong that well I actually can
Hayley: what personal qualities or characteristics have helped you become the person you are today?
Sahana: Determination, patience and confidence. Determination is because Even though lots of people made assumptions or had doubted me, I still kept going rather than giving up or rather than quitting something, by achieving all of my goals it It just reminded me that confidence is also important. Confidence does not mean that you would not face any challenge. So when you face any challenge, we just we just have to like keep going. That's what confident actually means.
Hayley: Could you share like maybe a time when you went through a significant challenge and you just had to push through even when you were like really struggling?
Sahana: Okay. I think I faced lots of challenges academically after coming in India because the way I studied in India is different compared to, you know, the way I studied here. And you know, in the mocks I was kept failing mostly in every exams I was kept failing, I was not doing everything good as expected. But what I remember is that even though I failed in the exam several times, that doesn't mean that I'm not good at it. It just reminded me that look, I need more practice or I need to change the way I approach things. That's the thing that I actually learned from difficulties in the academics here. after getting results I actually got disappointed. Yeah, seriously, I I got disappointed. I was yeah, I was literally concerned for a few hours after coming home. my god, why did I do that? Come on, I could I'm not like that. that doesn't mean like failing does not mean that I'm not good at it. It just means that I need to correct my mistakes or I need to approach something in a different way.
Hayley: Mm. Mm. I really like the idea of like finding a new approach. I think a lot of people
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: often forget that. People think woking harder or even easier, giving up. But definitely finding a new approach is a good idea. Right. So moving on, what is something about you, for example, an unexpected hobby, talent, interest, or personality trait that people might not expect?
Sahana: Many people wouldn't actually believe that I could actually perform well 'cause they think that on visually challenged people can do only certain things or like really, really like they would have lower expectations but when I perform they'll be surprised. my god, how on earth did he do that like that? And like I just love surprising people and
Hayley: Mm.
Sahana: proving them wrong. Look, it's assumptions wouldn't work, that's what I would say. Assumptions would never ever work.
Hayley: What is one public misconception about blind or visually impaired people that you would most like to challenge?
Sahana: I would say that many people believe that blind people can't be independent and do everything by themselves. they so like they believe that they can't do like they can't be independent. that's the main thing, main thing that I really have to change. We also can be independent but the way we approach like the way we walk is by using cane. The way we travel around is by using an app i in the phone. Like that, the way we approach and the way we do things is different compared to sighted people. But that doesn't mean that we can't actually do everything by ourselves. that's the thing I really want to challenge.
Hayley: So how would you personally advocate for accessibility?
Sahana: yeah. First I would say that people have to understand and listen to us and ask that how can we help you what kind of things do you need to succeed so if it is in school if I am in school I would say that the teachers have to actually ask students what kind of support do you need to succeed so that
Hayley: Mm.
Sahana: so that they also know how to support us We just have to share and explain.
Hayley: Yeah, it's also also we're all always told to have a voice and that we have a voice we should use it to advocate for ourselves. Mm.
Sahana: Yeah. Yeah. We just have to talk. We just have to speak up to the people.
Hayley: Yeah. And often they're more than happy to listen to you actually, so you shouldn't be nervous.
Sahana: Yeah. And what kind of support do you need and what kind of approaches do you want to use to actually do whatever you want and then they will support according.
Hayley: What advice would you give to other visually impaired people who are facing uncertainty, exclusion
Sahana: Mm.
Hayley: or a major challenge right now?
Sahana: Okay. Firstly, people would always you know underestimate you before even knowing what kind of things you can do. So when when people underestimate you, I don't want you to, you know, start thinking I can't and like stop believing in you. so when they underestimate you means you just have to prove them wrong and show that no, this is not true. I can actually do. For example, they believe that I can't play piano well. But I just have to prove wrong. I shouldn't worry or I shouldn't be giving up by hearing lots and lots of misconceptions and misunderstandings. We just have to work hard and be patient and we just have to confidently show that we actually can do everything.
Hayley: And what advice would you give to the general public about how to better understand, support and include visually impaired people?
Sahana: Do ask them, I'm happy to help you. What kind of support do you need? Rather than simply underestimating them, let them actually be part of the community. Let them participate in whatever you guys are doing. So what I would say is stop making assumptions, treat us equally as how you would with the sighted people. Because visually impaired is just part of us. It's not the entire story.
Hayley: Mm, yeah, I think that's very important. Visual impairment is only a part of us.
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: It's not exactly entirely who we are. And thank you so much
Sahana: Yeah, exactly.
Hayley: for talking with me today, Sahana. It's been such a pleasure.
Sahana: thank you.
Hayley: To begin, could you share a few basic details about yourself for the archives, including your name, age, gender if you would like to share, where you were born and where you currently live, and what languages you can speak.
Sahana: Sahana and I'm 16 years old. I'm born and brought up in India, and now I've recently migrated in UK for past three years, and I've just completed GCSC in Woking High School, and now I'm about to start my college next month. So the languages that I speak is Tamar, which is an Indian accent, like Indian language. I And English is my second language.
Hayley: I would say you learned English rather well, didn't you, when you first came?
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: Improves really fast. Now, how would you describe your visual impairment? could you share a little about your visual impairment if you would feel like comfortable? in particular, when did your visual impairment begin and what was the cause? Was it something you were born with or something that developed later on?
Sahana: No, I'm visually impaired since birth. that doesn't mean it stops me to do whatever I can do.
Hayley: our audience what you what kind of you do as a career or what your career will definitely be?
Sahana: Mm-hmm.
Hayley: So what what what's your career pathway? What would you like to do? Which, as you mentioned, does not prevent you from a visual impairment does not prevent you from chasing your dreams, shall we say?
Sahana: Yeah, true. So my my career is based on music. So I play multiple instruments like keyboard, piano, and now I'm recently learning to play guitar and I do sing and I do perform on stages and my future goal is to become a music composer and to be an independent artist.
Hayley: wow, so Hami, just out of curiosity, how many musical instruments do you plan to learn?
Sahana: for now I can play almost every instrument that belongs to keys and now I'm currently woking on strings like guitar for instance and I've learnt violin when I was young.
Hayley: do you have like the Indian traditional instruments that you know how to play?
Sahana: Yeah, I've played one. That's also you know, that's also a string instrument. That's called Vena. It looks like a you know, sitar. A a big it has like twelve to sixteen strings and it's really heavy. It looks like that.
Hayley: Wow, that sounds really complicated. Yeah, that sounds really complicated. So what three words would you use to describe yourself and why?
Sahana: Determined, musical and independent. I'm determined because when I have when I would like to achieve something, I don't like giving up easily. I'm musical because music is my big part of my life and I express everything through music and independent because I would like to do everything by myself. Of course I would ask help whenever I need. But I do want people to let me do whatever I want by myself.
Hayley: Mm and of course we're gonna emphasize that later on in the podcast, but I think it's really important for the general public or just anyone to know more about how visually impaired people like to be independent, can be independent, but also need help
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: Yeah. Great. So how did your experience of visual impairment shaped the way you grew up and understood the world around you.
Sahana: Hmm, so as I'm visually impaired, it made me to be like aware more about the world in different way compared to the sighted people. as I am visually impaired, there are some certain things that I need to either adapt or do something in a different way, but that doesn't mean that I can't. So it just taught me that I just have to, work hard or find my own way to do something that I'm willing to do.
Hayley: Just to elaborate on this question, would you mind if I asked about how did your experience of visual impairment in let's say early life as in before you came to England shape how you viewed the world and how that changed after coming to England
Sahana: Like the way we see the world is completely different. way we all see the world is different. And the way we approach things is also different.
Hayley: Do you think it's really different compared to England?
Sahana: Yeah, India is more poorer, I would say. India in India I would definitely say it has less support for visual impaired people.
Hayley: a goal of yours, such a successful singer, could also be like in the future maybe just advocating for a blind people in India Yeah.
Sahana: Yeah. Because you know, if I talk about like technology or if I talk about the supports, there is barely anything that we actually could do in India. My parents have to actually work extremely hard to get everything done. But once I came back to England I'm so happy because my parents finally got freedom and I have all of the supports that I actually needed. And now I'm finally becoming an independent person rather than asking someone for help for almost everything.
Hayley: How did your family respond to your visual impairment growing up if you don't mind? any like family or cultural expectations about what visually impaired people could do, like or could not do,
Sahana: Yeah, there there were lots of assumptions before and my parents also didn't know how to actually manage. But to be honest, we didn't actually follow any cultural expectations. My family did not. They instead actually encouraged me and made me to do everything. They made me to achieve all of my goals that I wanted to do and they and also to challenge myself beyond the limits. So they actually supported me a lot. This is how I actually, you know, grown up.
Hayley: different perspectives, How would you say that compared to traditional culture that you would grow up in? So what's the expectation, what are the assumptions that you would say that were put on visually impaired people before?
Sahana: Yeah, before like even for me, even to my parents, they kept on asking me, how am I going to walk? how am I gonna talk? how am I gonna see things? how am I gonna do all of the basic things by myself? Cause I'm VI. So like, there'll lots of questions. if I say, I I love performing, then They will ask, how how am I going to, you know, perform? How am I going to entertain the audience? How am I gonna how am I going to go onto the stage?
Hayley: Sometimes they have like lower expectations for you.
Sahana: Yeah, there was lower expectations, underestimation, to be honest.
Hayley: Well, I think you should go back and prove them all very wrong,
Sahana: Yeah. Yeah.
Hayley: Did your education take place in a mainstream school? A school specialised for blind and visually impaired students or a combination of both? And how did that environment shape your learning experience, confidence and sense of belonging?
Sahana: people. In in that primary school, I don't think they actually had enough support for all of the people, like all children. So for example, we didn't have cane. We have to go by ourselves without using a cane. And and then the way we write things, it's not we don't use like Braille Note Touch or any updated technology. Instead we use like the stylus and slate. And
Hayley: Mm, the most old fashioned, yes.
Sahana: yeah, everything is old fashioned and also their expectation is to only focus on the education, not for like participating in a reality show or anything else. So it was like really terrible. The primary school was terrible. So After from year five onwards, I moved into a mainstream school, which has in that school It's like Woking high school. So that school was much more better, and I've learned a lot. Even like I've learned how to be friends from sighted people, not only from blind people. I've actually learned how to communicate with them, how to ask. Help if needed. It was it was a different experience compared to the special school that I went. And my friends, I had lots and lots of friends who always helped me from taking me to the canteen, from taking me to the classrooms, and for writing all of the notes if needed and helping me through studies. They were an important pillars I would say in my school.
Hayley: Mm.
Sahana: Even even in Woking high school, even the teachers have actually helped me a lot. To be honest, I would say like understanding is the key than technology or anything else, like any other achievements.
Hayley: How did it make you feel, like your sense of belonging? Did it make you feel more comfortable, more at home, what's the difference between making friends with blind people and making friends with all sorts of people?
Sahana: So making friends with all sorts of people means like well you can ask for any help without without being afraid. Yeah, and also they would understand you
Hayley: Do you think it's very important to make friends both in the blind community but also outside the blind community?
Sahana: Yeah, it is really really. So when you be friends with blind people, you would also know, I'm not the one who's actually visually impaired. Or I'm not the one who faces these you know, these situations who came who overcame these challenges. So by being friend with blind people, you would learn that even the other students or people who are blind, they also face the similar challenges
Hayley: You mentioned earlier that you studied in a completely blind school and it focused mostly on education. What kinds of support or accommodations helped you succeed in school and in daily life, let's say compared to India currently in England in Woking high school? how did
Sahana: Mm-hmm.
Hayley: it change? What kind of accommodations did you have in India? And what were there any supports you wish had existed earlier, especially like in India. Both in the blind school I think and also the mainstream school you went to.
Sahana: In India I would say a lot. Firstly, advanced technology and accessibility is the main key. And the second is you know Some apps, like so for example, you're you're going somewhere in bus and you're using a special app, right? You actually see, next stop is this, next stop is this, like that. And when you go to like shopping, there is an app in which you will see all of the products, like the expiry date, which brand it is, how much does it cost, like that. So so in India, what I want is some special apps in which it helps blind people to actually figure out what they're doing or what they're buying by themselves and also they could travel by themselves I also ask them to actually be aware of the road safeties so I want to make sure that the roads are actually safe and there should be some separate roads, particularly for VI people, in which they can either like walk themselves without hitting in the vehicle or hitting other people or Like So it just helps you to avoid being in a danger, England it helped me a lot compared to India. So in England there was easy accessible technologies and there were lots of lots of teachers who actually explained everything easily like how like the way we could understand. To be honest, understanding is the key. compared to the equipment because they and the teachers and the friends actually understood and like understood all of the supports that I need. So they just they just don't have to do anything for you. what students need to succeed? What kind of help do do they need? So what I would say is for us we need like some adaptations or different way of approaching things. But everything is possible. That's it.
Hayley: How much connection did you have to the visually impaired community when you were younger and how has that changed over time?
Sahana: When I was young, I was fully with visually impaired students. I had friends who was only from visually impaired students, not with sighted people. But we actually to be honest, we actually been friends as normal. Like we did almost everything as other people. But there were some challenges that we actually faced. If I talk about the school, we struggled go moving around without using cane. We all struggled a lot. We struggled moving around. And we were actually afraid of asking help.
Hayley: why were you afraid of asking help if you don't mind?
Sahana: Because for because teachers were not supportive, only only my parents were When I was young, I just felt comfortable asking help only for parents.
Hayley: So you feel like they weren't understanding enough. You feel like they should have been educated more about how to
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: best let's how to best assist visually impaired people
Sahana: Yeah, yeah, of course.
Hayley: instead of just getting impatient or annoyed at them when they didn't learn something the correct way. Because
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: maybe sometimes you have to teach a person to walk around or navigate
Sahana: Mm-hmm.
Hayley: life slightly differently depending on their needs. Like if you're blind you have to be taught slightly differently. it
Sahana: Yeah, true.
Hayley: might take twice longer, but moving on to the next question. Were there moments growing up when you felt excluded, misunderstood, or like you did not quite fit in? how did you respond?
Sahana: There were lots of moments. there were and there are lots of moments in which I felt excluded. when my parents says that I can play keyboard I can sing and people start before like before even letting me do something people always assume certain things without even knowing that if they could do they always say she can't do some she can't do this or she can't do that because she's visually impaired. Well I always ask, did you actually let me do something before you even assume it? So society is still not understanding about us. They are they are still underestimating. They are still excluding us. They're still not understanding. What I would say is stop underestimating us. Treat us as how you would treat sighted people. We are also like look, visually impaired is just a part of my story. It's not my entire story. But the one thing that I'm really happy is social media is being a easy platform in which you guys can actually showcase your talent or your goals that you're really interested in,
Hayley: Now moving on to arguably my favourite part today in this episode with Sahania, we're
Sahana: Mm.
Hayley: gonna talk about your career and experiences. But can you tell us about any ideas of potential career paths you might have, or maybe if you already have one right now, and what led you to your current profession?
Sahana: I have been part of singing reality show in India and I won third place for that. Yeah, I was and then I became Indian Asia Book of Record holder for identifying forty music records in a minute. And my future path is to become a music composer, to like to be an independent artist and in which I would want to make my and release it in like into the album. That's my goal.
Hayley: And just to let our audience know, you have a very strong social media presence. How many followers do you have right now?
Sahana: now I have 110,000 followers. in Facebook I reached 30,000 followers. And Twitter is also the same. Like X for example. X is also the same.
Hayley: It's a quite the increase. You do grow in popularity very, very quickly, what has inspired you most in your life?
Sahana: firstly my family through their encouragement they inspired me to keep pursuing into my goals and to never stop, you know, growing. And also I'm really inspired by the musicians who work incredibly hard
Hayley: Especially the idea that some people think talent is just talent. Often people forget how talented people have to work really, really hard to be where they are as well.
Sahana: Yeah, practice and determination is the key and also learning from mistakes.
Hayley: What is one challenge, turning point or defining moment that helps shape who you are today?
Sahana: For me, I would say a turning point first. So when I was 8 years old in 2018, I participated in a reality show in India. So this is a singing reality show, and which is only in Tamil language. that was my first ever time participating, and that is how many people knew me. By participating in the reality show, many people actually supported me and still supporting me, including the celebrities like actors, actresses, musicians, and many people. And this is how I won third place and this is how I actually became Indian Asia Book of Record Holders. this just reminds me that woking hard and by not giving up you can actually achieve everything. And also there there were some challenges I actually faced. But I wouldn't let these challenges to stop. me doing things if you face any challenges means I don't want you all to stop doing anything sometimes you have to adapt things or sometimes you just have to work hard but we all just have to keep pursuing in our goals.
Hayley: Were there ever time when someone doubted your goals, abilities or dreams? And how did that affect you and how did you move forwards?
Sahana: Many people doubted me. Like, can I actually beat the record? So when I'm doing like Asia and India Book of Records, there were lots of people who actually doubted me. can I actually identify these chords? I didn't actually stop woking on my goals I still kept going even though people doubted me, I still kept going. I think that's the way to actually achieve and to prove them wrong that well I actually can
Hayley: what personal qualities or characteristics have helped you become the person you are today?
Sahana: Determination, patience and confidence. Determination is because Even though lots of people made assumptions or had doubted me, I still kept going rather than giving up or rather than quitting something, by achieving all of my goals it It just reminded me that confidence is also important. Confidence does not mean that you would not face any challenge. So when you face any challenge, we just we just have to like keep going. That's what confident actually means.
Hayley: Could you share like maybe a time when you went through a significant challenge and you just had to push through even when you were like really struggling?
Sahana: Okay. I think I faced lots of challenges academically after coming in India because the way I studied in India is different compared to, you know, the way I studied here. And you know, in the mocks I was kept failing mostly in every exams I was kept failing, I was not doing everything good as expected. But what I remember is that even though I failed in the exam several times, that doesn't mean that I'm not good at it. It just reminded me that look, I need more practice or I need to change the way I approach things. That's the thing that I actually learned from difficulties in the academics here. after getting results I actually got disappointed. Yeah, seriously, I I got disappointed. I was yeah, I was literally concerned for a few hours after coming home. my god, why did I do that? Come on, I could I'm not like that. that doesn't mean like failing does not mean that I'm not good at it. It just means that I need to correct my mistakes or I need to approach something in a different way.
Hayley: Mm. Mm. I really like the idea of like finding a new approach. I think a lot of people
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: often forget that. People think woking harder or even easier, giving up. But definitely finding a new approach is a good idea. Right. So moving on, what is something about you, for example, an unexpected hobby, talent, interest, or personality trait that people might not expect?
Sahana: Many people wouldn't actually believe that I could actually perform well 'cause they think that on visually challenged people can do only certain things or like really, really like they would have lower expectations but when I perform they'll be surprised. my god, how on earth did he do that like that? And like I just love surprising people and
Hayley: Mm.
Sahana: proving them wrong. Look, it's assumptions wouldn't work, that's what I would say. Assumptions would never ever work.
Hayley: What is one public misconception about blind or visually impaired people that you would most like to challenge?
Sahana: I would say that many people believe that blind people can't be independent and do everything by themselves. they so like they believe that they can't do like they can't be independent. that's the main thing, main thing that I really have to change. We also can be independent but the way we approach like the way we walk is by using cane. The way we travel around is by using an app i in the phone. Like that, the way we approach and the way we do things is different compared to sighted people. But that doesn't mean that we can't actually do everything by ourselves. that's the thing I really want to challenge.
Hayley: So how would you personally advocate for accessibility?
Sahana: yeah. First I would say that people have to understand and listen to us and ask that how can we help you what kind of things do you need to succeed so if it is in school if I am in school I would say that the teachers have to actually ask students what kind of support do you need to succeed so that
Hayley: Mm.
Sahana: so that they also know how to support us We just have to share and explain.
Hayley: Yeah, it's also also we're all always told to have a voice and that we have a voice we should use it to advocate for ourselves. Mm.
Sahana: Yeah. Yeah. We just have to talk. We just have to speak up to the people.
Hayley: Yeah. And often they're more than happy to listen to you actually, so you shouldn't be nervous.
Sahana: Yeah. And what kind of support do you need and what kind of approaches do you want to use to actually do whatever you want and then they will support according.
Hayley: What advice would you give to other visually impaired people who are facing uncertainty, exclusion
Sahana: Mm.
Hayley: or a major challenge right now?
Sahana: Okay. Firstly, people would always you know underestimate you before even knowing what kind of things you can do. So when when people underestimate you, I don't want you to, you know, start thinking I can't and like stop believing in you. so when they underestimate you means you just have to prove them wrong and show that no, this is not true. I can actually do. For example, they believe that I can't play piano well. But I just have to prove wrong. I shouldn't worry or I shouldn't be giving up by hearing lots and lots of misconceptions and misunderstandings. We just have to work hard and be patient and we just have to confidently show that we actually can do everything.
Hayley: And what advice would you give to the general public about how to better understand, support and include visually impaired people?
Sahana: Do ask them, I'm happy to help you. What kind of support do you need? Rather than simply underestimating them, let them actually be part of the community. Let them participate in whatever you guys are doing. So what I would say is stop making assumptions, treat us equally as how you would with the sighted people. Because visually impaired is just part of us. It's not the entire story.
Hayley: Mm, yeah, I think that's very important. Visual impairment is only a part of us.
Sahana: Yeah.
Hayley: It's not exactly entirely who we are. And thank you so much
Sahana: Yeah, exactly.
Hayley: for talking with me today, Sahana. It's been such a pleasure.
Sahana: thank you.
