Paridhi Choudhary & Alenjith K Johny |November 11, 2024

Chennai’s Museum of Possibilities nurtures a sense of community and independence for people with disabilities(PwDs). In the garden behind the Museum, 27-year-old Sibbi Vishnu K P is talking to plants as he waters them.

The Museum is situated on Kamarajar Salai near Marina Beach, Chennai. It showcases a wide range of assistance devices, from braille equipment to adaptive living spaces.

“He never misses his duties,” said the museum manager Prabhakaran K, observing Vishnu’s dedication. “His intellectual disability doesn’t pull him back – he finds joy in everything he does, especially watering the garden area.”

The museum not only provides devices that can be helpful for the PwDs, it also gives them financial independence.

Vishnu is among the 12% of the three crore employed PwDs in the country. Earning  Rs20,000 per month, he maintains financial independence and contributes to the museum’s mission.

The museum, established in 2022 and funded by the Tamil Nadu government, is managed by the non-governmental organisation Vidya Sagar, a pioneer in disability and development activities in India. The space was created to allow people to experience and learn about assistive technologies firsthand.

The cafe at the top of the museum is run jointly by Winners Bakery and Confectionary and Vidyasagar. It provides vocational training to PwDs and also trains them for at least four months, after which they are placed in cafes across the city.

It employs six full-time staff members: three guides, one physiotherapist, one speech therapist, and a manager. The museum is divided into three domains: work, life, and play. Each domain presents assistive and adaptive technologies.

“We believe that it’s not the mental or physical attributes of a person that makes them disabled; the environment is the determining factor,” said Kaaba Nazia, a speech therapist at the museum.