Cooking without Looking: Culinary workshop held for visually impaired

In a heartening move to empower the visually impaired with essential life skills, a two-day workshop titled “Cooking Without Looking” concluded at the Institute for the Blind, Sector 26, Chandigarh. Held on June 14-15, the initiative was aimed at instilling confidence and independence among the blind by teaching them basic cooking techniques and kitchen safety through live demonstrations and practical learning.

The workshop was organised by the Positive Abilities Rotaract Club in collaboration with the National Association for the Blind (NAB) (Delhi Branch), the Institute for the Blind, Chandigarh, and Rotary Chandigarh Shivalik. It saw the enthusiastic participation of 20 visually impaired individuals along with 20 volunteers who supported them through the sessions.

Veena Mehta Verma, Director NAB Delhi Dwarka and the chief resource person, shared, “This is the second workshop for the visually impaired conducted by me — the first was held in Delhi. Because we focus on hands-on learning, we intentionally limit the batch to 20 participants to ensure individual attention. They are introduced to basic skills like steaming, boiling, cutting, chopping, lighting a gas stove and even changing a cylinder. It’s an effort to normalise the idea that blind individuals can cook too. The goal is to help families realise that their blind members can participate in the kitchen and even live independently in another city.”

Veena also explained that the participants were familiarised with appliances such as choppers, blenders, microwaves and air fryers. They were trained to identify kitchen ingredients and spices using alternative senses—touch, smell and taste. A veteran of over 17 years in empowering the visually impaired through cooking, she also shared that she was the second runner-up at the Golden Eye Chef International competition in 2024, a global platform for blind culinary enthusiasts.

The initiative received praise from dignitaries like Ritu Singal, who inaugurated the event and commended the unique effort. Dinesh Kapila, Chairman of the Society for the Care of the Blind, and industrialist Hari Om Verma also lauded the organisers and participants. KP Singh, president of Rotary Chandigarh Shivalik, reiterated the importance of inclusive programmes in building a self-reliant community.

A student shared, “Through these two workshops, I now feel more confident in the kitchen and can handle cooking without my parents worrying all the time.”

Special Educator Anu Tandon, from the Institute for the Blind, noted, “Five of our students are now eager to replicate what they learned in their own homes. Most of them, though adults, had no prior exposure to even basic cooking.”

Chandigarh