Dialogue Car Rally 2012

ACE - DIALOGUE IN THE DARK in association with National Association for Blind (NAB) - Chennai and the Madras Motor Sports Club - Chennai, organized a unique Blind Car Rally, which brought together the visually impaired and the sighted in an equal partnership, themed as "BOND WITH THE BLIND".

This was not an ordinary car rally, but an extra ordinary one!

100 cars, 100 visually impaired navigators, 400 sighted participants and thousands of onlookers from the visually impaired and sighted community witnessed a spectacular event on Sunday, 14th October 2012. The rally was flagged off from Lake View Park at Necklace Road at 8:30 am by our Commissioner of Police, Mr. Anurag Sharma (IPS) along with Commissioner of GHMC, Mr. Krishna Babu (IAS).
What distinguished this rally from others is that a visually impaired navigator holding a Braille map in their hand instructed the sighted driver to cover a route of about 30km. This was a great opportunity for visually impaired and sighted to bond with each other and promote diversity & inclusion.

A special feature of the event was - about 100 blind children cheered the 100 blind navigators with a musical performance showcasing their talent to the audience. Another addition to this, was 44 volunteers from St. Peter's School volunteered for the event as "young champions of diversity & inclusion".

This is not it! The prizes are the most exciting part of the event. 3 brand new computers worth Rs. 35,000 each were given to the first 3 winning visually impaired navigators. The winners from the sighted world were not left far behind either. The first prize winner won prizes worth Rs. 30000, the first runner up, worth Rs.18000 and the second runner up, worth Rs.12000.

Dialogue Car Rally was a great showcase of sighted and visually impaired mingling and bonding with each other. A great deal of partnership to win a race, unheard of. Participants now claim themselves as "Champions of Diversity & Inclusion" and take oath in supporting the cause for all the years to come.

This event would not have been possible without the support of our title sponsor - ADP, Television Partner - Channel V6, PBEL City and the Department of Disability Welfare, Government of Andhra Pradesh and our Gift Sponsors Taj, News Cafe, Alankrita, Lawrence & Mayo and Lifestyle.