Karan Nagrani is a self-described “blind, gay mental health warrior.”
He suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease.
He migrated from Delhi, India at the age of 19.
Mr Nagrani dreamt of becoming a pilot.
But at the age of 11, he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic condition that has left him with about three per cent peripheral vision, severe night blindness and a hearing disorder.
“It didn’t happen suddenly, obviously, so it’s a slightly gradual process,” he tells SBS Punjabi.
“I would play sports after school, like badminton or cricket, and I started to notice that I was not following the shuttlecock as well, or when you are playing cricket and if I was fielding and the ball was right in front of me, I wouldn’t see it and my friends were like ‘pick it up’, and I would go like ‘pick what up?’”
The social stigma of disability
Karan Nagrani with his mum, who also has retinitis pigmentosa. Credit: Supplied
The 36-year-old shares the condition with his mum, who lives in New Delhi with the rest of his family.
Mr Nagrani says “coming out” as having a disabilityhas been a lot harder than coming out as gay, as he was strongly discouraged by his family from sharing about his vision issues with friends or relatives.
“I grew up with the mindset that this is something I need to hide, and my parents came from a good place. They thought they were helping me out by telling me not to tell anyone about my condition to save me from complicated conversations,” he shares.
In 2006, Mr Nagrani moved to Australia to find his “place in the world”and to pursue a degree in marketing.
After many successful years in the field as a marketing professional, he eventually had to bid goodbye to his career due to the gradual deterioration of his vision.
“The biggest loss for me has been my career because I can’t use computers anymore.
“I have a background in graphic design, filmmaking, marketing campaigns, all that stuff that I did. But I can’t do that anymore. I can do it on my phone for now because the screen is very tiny, if that makes sense.”
But despite the hardships, he still feels like the “luckiest guy in the world” because of the unconditional support and love he gets from his husband and the rest of his family.
Karan Nagrani with his husband David. Credit: Supplied
He is unstoppable
Mr Nagrani, who is preparing to be completely blind in a couple of years, is a man who possesses enviable optimism and spirit.
My life is not less than yours, just because my vision is going.
Nowadays, he channels his positivity into developing visual content that he regularly shares on his Instagram page to raise awareness about the spectrum of blindness.
He often uses humour to convey his message and to show the world what it means to live with retinitis pigmentosa.
Mr Nagrani was recently nominated as the ‘Blind Australian of the Year’ by Link Vision Ltd., a West Australia-based organisation that supports people with low or no vision.
“I am not an emotional person, but I actually had tears running down my face when I heard about the nomination because what to me seems like a fun, casual, relaxed way of raising awareness was validated in a way that just changed my perspective.
“It made me feel like what I am doing is actually making a difference.”
Voice of the minority
Karan Nagrani also represents gay people who live with a disability. Credit: Supplied
Mr Nagrani also uses his time to represent gay people who live with a disability, a minority within a minority group, whose concerns he says are hardly voiced.
“There is so much judgement within the gay community because there’s such an emphasis on looking good, being fit, what clothes you are wearing, and then you have got a guy with a cane who is blind. It’s very demoralising,” he says.
According to LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, 39 per cent of LGBTQA+ people aged 14 to 21 identify as having a disability or long-term health condition, while at least 18 per cent of LGBT people in Australia between the same age group reported being culturally and linguistically diverse.
When asked what’s next in his journey, Mr Nagrani says he is an “open book” and would like to explore more ways of raising awareness, albeit in a fun way.
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