Employing Blind Massage therapists
This film showcases Sparsh Foot Spa, a one-of-a-kind center in Mumbai, staffed by skilled massage therapists who are blind. Narrated by Ritika Sahni, a disability rights advocate and founder of the NGO Trinayani, which operates the spa, the film introduces viewers to massage therapists Ramesh Chavan and Nilesh Rathore. Both hail from rural Maharashtra and have found meaningful employment in the heart of the city, exemplifying empowerment and inclusion.
At Sparsh Foot Spa, the therapists apply their specialized training to deliver exceptional massages, challenging perceptions about disability and showcasing their expertise. This film delves deeper, highlighting efforts to break barriers, foster independence, and demonstrate that quality service transcends all boundaries.
My name is Ramesh, I am from Maharashtra, from district Yavatmal, and I have shifted to Mumbai, where I live in Naigaon with my family.
I have two daughters.
I completed a diploma in massage therapy from Victoria Memorial School, which is in Bombay Central, in 2012.
There is a spa called Sparsh Foot Spa, located in Kandivali where I work as a massage therapist.
Hi Ramesh.
Hi.
Like us, many have migrated from villages to cities, and here, they have received training as massage therapists, some from the Victoria Memorial School and some from NAB (National Association for the Blind).
Sparsh Foot Spa has been operating for 13 years.
Our therapists work in a variety of settings- be it marathon, carnival, fair, wedding parties, mehndi parties, office parties, Diwali fair.
They receive invitations to many places, especially to corporate offices where people spend long hours hunched over their computers and the feedback we get from them is amazing!
They often enquire if our massage therapists can visit them daily for shoulder massages, as despite being visually impaired they have the ability to expertly identify all the pressure points.
These are the kinds of feedback we get from our friends who take these therapies and it makes us feel very good because it is essential for you to have confidence in the skills of our massage therapists.
Because then, you help empower them, turning them into earning members of their families.
There are plenty of people who might hesitate to take a massage from our blind therapists, believing that it would be a sin to get a massage from a blind person.
To them we say, that if they are willing to get a massage in a spa, from a sighted person, from a person without visual impairment, then, why not from our therapists?
By declining their services, you are depriving visually impaired therapists of their livelihood.
So that perception change is also something that we look forward to, with each therapy session that we do for our friends who are disabled or non-disabled.
The money our massage therapists earn is not a donation or charity; it is a fee for a professional service offered. This is incredibly empowering for both us and our therapists.
If you want to hire our therapists, please get in touch with us on the numbers given and the email id.
If you are interested in opening up a spa, hiring blind therapists, we will be more than happy to facilitate that for you.
(Ramesh preparing for an outdoor event)
We really need to create many more job opportunities and make our workplace more inclusive.
That’s the only way we’ll be able to change perceptions, when we work with them, when we work along with them.
accessibility, awareness, blind massage therapists, blindness, Breaking Barriers, changing perceptions, disability advocacy, disability inclusion, disability rights, employment for the blind, empowerment, exceptional service, foot massage, inclusive workforce, independent living, meaningful employment, Mumbai, Nilesh Rathore, Ramesh Chavan, Ritika Sahni, rural to urban employment, skill development, Social Impact, Sparsh Foot Spa, Trinayani NGO, vocational training, wellness industry
