Purple Fest 2023, Celebrating Diversity: held its first-ever accessible car rally, featuring visually impaired individuals as navigators and braille maps as their guides, making it a historic event.
On Saturday individuals served as drivers in this innovative exercise that displayed the true meaning of interdependence.
The Blind Car Rally was flagged off by the Minister of Social Welfare, Subhash Phal Dessai and State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities, Guruprasad Pawaskar. Television actress, Pooja Bedi was the special guest.
State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities, Guruprasad Pawaskar, was overwhelmed with emotion as he spoke. “I thank The Rotary Club of Panjim and all the Rotarians who have come here to be part of this unique- Blind Car Rally. I’m sure you’ll carry great memories from this Purple Fest. It is a dream come true, as I wanted to organise something like this for years now.”
Pooja Bedi, Television Actress stated, “I think it’s really wonderful when people come together to empower, help and support each other and encourage people to do better and shine bright.”
Sujith Kumar, Director of Pro Sports, the organizer of rally, said “The response from participants is very positive and they loved the rally.”
35 cars with 35 drivers participated, along with 40 navigators who came from various parts of the country.
The format of the rally was:
1. There was one car assigned to a navigator and the navigator was a person with vision disability
2. The navigator was given a rulebook with rules, directions and speed limits five minutes before the rally. There was a prescribed route, with caution marks, speed breakers, traffic signals, and crowded places of the route in Braille.
3. There were marshals at various locations to the left of the road where the driver had to stop to note marshals the speed and time.
4. Each minute delay would cost a penalty and a double penalty applied if they got there early.
5. Neither the navigators nor the drivers knew the location of the marshals, who were holding red boards. If a car missed a marshal or turned onto the wrong road, they were disqualified.
So, at the end of the rally, after all data is calculated, the person with fewer penalties is declared the winner.
The rally began at INOX Courtyard in Panjim at 10 a.m., traversing around Miramar Circle and making a U-turn at the old Panjim bridge. From there, the route continued down Chogm Road before turning towards Calangute Church and eventually returning back to the starting point.
The Blind Car Rally concluded successfully, with all participants safely completing the course and experiencing a unique and empowering event.
The visually impaired navigators and sighted drivers worked together in a spirit of interdependence, relying on braille maps and the navigators’ directions to navigate the route.
The rally was hailed as a historic and meaningful celebration of diversity, and the successful completion of the event was celebrated by all involved.
The results of the Blind Car Rally will be declared on Sunday, January 8.
