03/04/2026
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁?
At the Udaan Intern Meet, this question shaped conversations, reflections, and shared journeys.
For years, Sense International India has worked alongside persons with deafblindness (PwDb) to build communication, confidence, and vocational skills. Through the Udaan Fellowship, this journey is now expanding with interns with deafblindness stepping into employment pathways and leadership roles.
This year’s meet 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀. Understanding HR practices, experiencing workplace culture, and building confidence as professionals. At its core, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗳𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.
What stood out most was the emphasis on self-advocacy, learning to speak up, negotiate, and claim space with confidence.
As Miranda Donbosco Tomkinson, lecturer, National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), shared,
“𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘧𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘶𝘴.”
And in Krishan Kaushal’s words, reflecting on his journey,
“𝘔𝘶𝘫𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘩𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘵𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢... 𝘭𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘩𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘪 𝘬𝘪 𝘱𝘦𝘩𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘩𝘶𝘥 𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘺𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘯𝘢 𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘪, 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘩𝘪 𝘩𝘶𝘮 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘬𝘪 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘬𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘈𝘱𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘲 𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘺𝘦 𝘬𝘩𝘶𝘥 𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘬𝘩𝘯𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘩𝘪𝘺𝘦.” (𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘶𝘱, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴)
The meet was not just about preparing for employment, it was about building a community that learns together, advocates together, and moves forward together.
