Finding the right support
Twenty-seven-year-old Darshan Kamble was born sighted in Mumbai, Maharashtra. His father is a truck driver and his mother, a homemaker. 
Darshan was born as a weak child and kept in the incubator for several days after birth. He developed some vision problems at the time, which went unnoticed by the family. As he grew up, he was enrolled in a regular school where he studied till Class IV. 
Afterwards he started facing issues in seeing the blackboard or reading his textbooks. He couldn’t even write his homework and so he informed his parents of this problem. The family contacted the school to share the same and one of the teachers advised them to enroll Darshan in a special school for the blind.
The boy restarted his education at Happy Home school for the Blind in Mumbai. Here he was taught to read and write in Braille script. He also learned mobility skills, making him independent to navigate places. 
While in school, Darshan developed an interest in sports as well. He pursued cricket and judo for the blind and aspired to play at the state and national level. But he was aware that his training at school was not up to the mark. 
Later, while pursuing his college education, Darshan took up an advanced judo training and from 2016 onwards, he started participating in state and national level championships. Till date he has participated in eight events and bagged silver medals in 6 of them! 
Recently, Darshan participated in the 12^th National Para games held in Amritsar, Punjab. While traveling, he encountered a logistical challenge. His return ticket showed unconfirmed even though he made an advance booking from Punjab to Mumbai. The last minute confusion caused him anxiety and he reached out to the Eyeway Helpdesk. 
The Eyeway counselor suggested that Darshan visit the DRM office and explain them about his blindness and the fact that he is a national level player. But the nearest office was 130 kilometers away and Darshan had a championship to worry about. 
So, the counselor who also happens to be a member of the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee of Western Railways, contacted the Mumbai zone office for a possible solution. He informed the authorities about the challenges faced by a blind passenger who was representing the country in the judo tournament. The issue was promptly resolved, and Darshan could travel back on a confirmed ticket. 
It's unfortunate that even accomplished individuals who participate in mainstream activities independently become crippled by systemic issues given their disability. The counselor’s intervention helped ease the player’s worries and he could focus on the national tournament.
Team Eyeway