The Taste of Darkness!
Imagine! You are all alone in a pitch dark night with absolutely no traces of light. I guess this already gave you goose bumps. Let me add up to your misery now. You will have to be in that situation for a day. Without eyes, the dependency on all other sense organs increases incredibly. It is very difficult for a normal person like us to imagine ourselves in that scenario. Rather impossible!!
So have you ever imagined that, how would the life of a blind person be?
Taste of Darkness!
I am neither talking about any of the RGV's horror movie nor about a fictitious novel. 'Taste of Darkness' is a special restaurant of its own kind and India’s first 'The Dialogue in the Dark' franchise. Dialogue in the dark is a social enterprise which finds its origination in Germany in 1988. It is now located in more than 130 cities of about 30 odd countries. The motto of this franchise is ‘To create a culinary journey that challenges your taste buds and table etiquette. To give us a feel of how world is for visually impaired people'.
One such franchise is at Hyderabad that I visited sometime during my short stint with TCS, Hyderabad. One will have to reserve a table in advance with full payment made. As a customer, we had to shell-out all of our illuminating objects or anything that could enhance vision before entering the experience chamber. After that, a restaurant employee was assigned to us who served as a guide-cum-waiter and would accompany us for the entire evening. As we entered into the experience chamber, we had to simply surrender ourselves into the hands of the guide. Then the guide took us to the table reserved specially for us, through a pitch dark passage with lots of turns and Ups & downs. We were served a four-course meal starting from the soup that ended with the dessert. At times, we almost made our minds up to smuggle out a few slices of salad to find the color of the pieces. We could also feel the soothing music, wondering what was actually surrounding us. It was no less than a horror scene.
Your mind will be full of questions. Alas! All unanswered. And, as soon as the dinner got over, the guide struck an informal conversation with us. He offered to answer any question that we had in our minds.
Of course, there were several questions revolving in our mind like planets in the solar system. I hesitatingly asked the guide, 'I cannot see a simple thing on my table, I fail to imagine my hands on the table, I am even finding it difficult to eat my meal in such ink-dark environment. Then how do you manage to provide this excellent hospitality'? The guide responded, 'I cannot see. So this darkness doesn't make any difference in my life. In-fact all the employees in this restaurant, apart from the cook and the front office staff, are visually impaired'. Hearing this, an electric current ran through my body.
An hour long dinner was a humbling experience where we learnt the extent to which we rely upon our senses, specially eyes. It sensitized us with the abilities of the blinds. They have proved that they might be physically challenged but are not at all handicapped. They have spared themselves from being an object of sympathy; rather get admired for their skills.
My motto behind writing this experience is to elucidate the value of something that we have. In the second part under this title, I will try to answer some 'unanswered questions' and the message that I want to leave everyone with. And one last thing (hope this reminds you of Steve Jobs), the food is less important than the idea. The thrilling thoughts and the “reality” is what compliments this worthy experience.
nice... excited to read the second part :)
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