There is one question to which I answer by thinking out loud, and finally conclude by shrugging my shoulders. This muddle is when people ask me what I do on the weekends. Well, practically, I just laze around and cannot help but realise that it’s Monday already. Time flies, but it flies faster if it’s a weekend. Do you agree?

But surprisingly, my last weekend was  very different from my routine and it is a day I will never forget in my life. It was going to be a normal day until we decided to go to the Inorbit mall. We were all busy shopping in the mall when pangs of hunger hit in. After a quest for good food, we zeroed in on this place called Dialogue in the Dark, which is a part of the mall.

We walked in, assuming it was a normal restaurant. At the reception, we were told that the restaurant ran on a special theme. We looked at each other’s faces in perplexity, when they told us  that it was going to be pitch dark inside the restaurant. So, we buckled up ourselves for an adventurous dine out. Their menu was limited and we were asked to make a choice, out of 4 different combos. Very soon, came in a person who was our guide for the evening. After a few instructions, we were asked to assemble in a line, put our hands on each other’s shoulders and walk in slowly.

And there we were, in a room completely bathed in darkness. No candles, no lights. The guide kept giving us directions and helped me find a chair, and asked me to shift to make chairs available for the rest of us. The service was quick and we were given our respective platters. The guide, then started explaining what was on our plate and we were asked to touch and identify them. The food was delicious and we ate until we couldn’t move. We kept talking among ourselves and also to the guide who said he was a foodie just like us. Interestingly, a guy from the crowd started to sing and entertained everyone. Everybody started singing along with him and enjoyed themselves. Great food, unusual atmosphere, and his melodious voice; the combination was just perfect. In the end, when we were done with our meal, the guide helped us find our way out. What he told us still rings in my mind. He said that he was blind and that all the people working there were blind as well. The whole concept of the restaurant was to make us feel how their world is like and how they find happiness in it. He said that it was their unique way of showing their world to us. They all have a common motto of  “Your senses make your world beautiful, it is time to awaken them. Don’t just see. Experience instead.”

One thing I regret the most is not experiencing the exhibition part of the Dialogue in the Dark. I have heard a lot about the exciting things we get to experience there.  Apparently it is  a dark place too, where we are made to touch certain carvings on the wall and asked to guess what they are. We are made to sit down on a bench and listen to the noises around us. For instance, we get to hear the water from the fountain, birds chirping, leaves rustling, etc. We are taken on a tour of a bridge, a crowded market, and a park, to sense things around us. We are then taken to play a special version of cricket where we are given a long bat and told to kneel on the ground and listen to the sound of the ball and hit it when it comes close. I can’t wait to go back there and experience these for myself.

Hats off to the service and the concept. It was such a beautiful experience for me. Just go ahead and add this place to your to-do list for the weekend. This place will leave a long-lasting and profound impression on you. Above all, the concept of this place is winning hearts all over. It taught me that that losing one’s ability to see is not as hindering as we think it would be. We are all so afraid of losing what we have, that we think we cannot do without it. Well finally, I would say, the blind are not disabled. They are differently abled.

Share this on: