Role reversal: Take yourself on a blind date

The Dark Restaurant is aimed at creating awareness of the difficulties faced by the visually impaired

KARACHI:

To quote Atticus Finch, ‘You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them’. The Dark Restaurant initiative has people stumbling around in the dark, trying to understand what it’s like to be blind.

Part of the experience is to remind people of the advantages they have as ‘visually able’ people. For the blind, the world is full of surprises, not all of them good.

MCR’s Corporate Social Responsibility head Saba Hassan believes that people can only understand something when they experience it themselves. Her brainchild, the Dark Restaurant, will be re-launched in Karachi on September 30 at the Pizza Hut branch near Bilawal Chowrangi.

“We need to teach the next generation that disabled people are not to be pitied, they can instead be enabled or disabled by their environment,” said Hassan.

The inclusion of disabled people into the service industry is not widespread in Pakistan, but Pizza Hut seems to have gotten on the bandwagon years ago. People fondly remember the little person who worked at the Boat Basin branch as someone who was always laughing and dancing. The restaurant chain employs many such individuals, including visually impaired workers in call centres, as part of its ‘Made From The Same Dough’ initiative. This is one trend that needs to catch on in Karachi and fast — the trend of compassion.

The Dark Restaurant

Upon arrival, you are greeted by a team of impaired servers who ask you to place your phones and other light-emitting devices in a locker. You choose from a variety of pizzas and a waiter leads you into a darkened room with your hand on his shoulder. Blindfolds are also provided in case customers feel it isn’t dark enough.

The staff is polite and patient, treating you like you are indeed blind. They help you walk, sit and describe where exactly they have placed the utensils and plates. From the first moment you step into the dark restaurant you begin to understand a fraction of what the visually impaired have to deal with every day. Though the waiter leads you to your table at a slow pace, your disability now makes it seem as if he is running, leaving you to stumble behind.

With one sense taken away, the others are heightened. The air-conditioner sounds loud, the sound of your fingers tapping on the table sounds loud and the hushed whispers of other diners sound the loudest. Sitting in the dark makes the silence almost unbearable. A feeling of utter isolation prevails throughout the meal, despite the waiter’s frequent inquiries. You can tell there are other diners present but not where or how many they are.

When the first course is placed in front of you, the waiter explains its positioning and that of the utensils. It is humbling to realise that the visually impaired people are often treated like children, having everything explained to them every step of the way. They rely solely on others and are forced to trust them completely.

The second course, the pizza, arrives and you realise there are so many ways for the visually impaired to injure themselves. The waiter opens a soft drink can, the sound of which is startling.

After a laughably unsuccessful attempt at eating that takes twice as long as it usually would, the third course is brought out — the dessert. As expected, the messiest course is saved for the last, with drops of chocolate coating customers’ hair, clothing and faces. The aim of this experience is to have people experience what visually impaired people do every single day. The environment in which we live must enable the impaired members of society to function as normal people. By enabling them, we are in essence removing their disability.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd,   2015.