Full Circle: My Friend Nisha

Last July, I met Nisha Batra for the first time at a Speaker Slam event. I recognized her from commenting on some of my posts, and she mentioned she was so happy to meet another South Asian woman with a disability who was talking about their experience with it.

Which made me realize that (at that time), she was perhaps the first South Asian woman with a disability I'd met (and I think I can still only count the ones I know on one hand) - which felt really special.

Nisha had mentioned to me that she wanted to share her story too, and now, almost exactly a year after we met, I'm SO excited that I'll be cheering her on at Speaker Slam next week! 🙌🏽

We met for lunch last week, and I told her the story of how seeing and relating to other speakers with disabilities sharing their stories on the Speaker Slam stage - like Ingrid Palmer, Marjorie Aunos, Ph.D., MAPP and Mike Shoreman, to name a few - back when I was still hiding mine, made me realize the point of talking about it.

That if I could listen to their experiences and feel so seen and encouraged, that maybe that was the point of sharing - so that someone who maybe doesn't even realize they need to hear it, can feel more understood and less alone.

And I just know that Nisha's story is going to do the same for the people who need to hear hers too. Proud of you Nisha! 🎉🙌🏽💖