It's a lovely spring afternoon when MobiCrew sat down with 24-year-old Vineet Victor from Asansol, West Bengal. Right off the bat, he confessed his love for music and couldn’t contain his excitement when we mentioned the upcoming Ed Sheeran concert in March. He’d already missed the Backstreet Boys and the Jonas Brothers, so Vineet was beside himself at the prospect of watching Ed Sheeran live in India.

Vineet loves music. He’s a wheelchair octapad player for the Spina Bifida Foundation’s band Elixir and performed at Purple Fest Goa in January. He’s been learning the octapad since 2011 and plays the most popular covers we know today. But what’s even more awesome is the fact that he’s been travelling for as long as he can remember, with a super supportive family behind him.

“When Vineet started going to school on a wheelchair, or when we started taking him to malls, and if he felt like he stood out too much, we’d tell him it’s not so much for you than it is for awareness,” says J. Renu Victor, his mother. Renu manages Vineet’s social media and YouTube channels, where they talk about accessible travel and their experiences from around the world.

There was a time, Renu recalls, when accessibility was unheard of when travelling around India. Not that things have changed drastically, but with more and more people speaking out, there is quite a difference. “We’d gone to Goa in 2010, and there was no accessible exit at the station,” says Renu. “We were advised to wheel the wheelchair on the railway tracks to exit the station.” Infuriated, Renu wrote to the Goan tourism department, and was pleasantly surprised to receive an acknowledgement and apology for what the family went through, and an assurance that this situation would be remedied immediately. “Now all the stations there have ramps,” says Renu. “You have to speak up.”

One of Vineet’s most favourite places in the world is Switzerland because it’s so accessible. “Getting to Mt. Titlis, the trams in the cities, everything was so easy,” he says. And one of the things he wants to do is going back to check if things have changed or improved, and if there’s an activity he missed that he could do this time.

Vineet’s channel is full of useful nuggets of information for anyone who needs it. For example, you need to ask for help and equipment when you need it no matter where you are. Always do tons of research before going anywhere – make sure you are aware of the disability section, all accessibility information, specific documents you may need to carry for entry to certain places or to enjoy a certain experience, and always be prepared. 

Keep going Vineet! The world awaits.