R Mall (Group Activity) - Report - Anand Vaidya

R Mall (Group Activity) - Report

- Anand Vaidya

Date : Saturday, 27th November 2010

Place : R Mall, LBS Road, Mulund(West)

Time : 10 AM to 3:30 PM

Members Present : Anand Vaidya, Akhil B'Shriram, Ashok Gupta, Chanda Jagde, Manisha Bhurke, Sharda Jitekar, Yasmin Shaikh, Yogesh Panchal & one guest member Ujwala Vyavahare (my aunty)

Report :

After our group meeting on 21^st November, our next activity was to visit a shopping mall as it was part of our research project. We were discussing about which shopping malls have accessibility. Only I, Amod, Manisha & Yogesh have visited shopping malls before. Manisha knew a shopping mall in Powai. I & Amod knew some shopping malls in western suburbs but were not sure about accessibility there. Yogesh suggested that we can go to ‘R Mall’ in Mulund. He told us that he went there on many occasions to watch movies with friends and it has good accessibility all over. All of us decided to go on Saturday, 27^th November to ‘R Mall’. We also planned to see a movie in the morning as there will not be too many shoppers at that time.

The agenda behind visiting shopping mall was to look at the accessibility inside/outside mall, attitude of mall staff & shoppers/visitors towards us and atmosphere inside the mall. Also many members of our team had never visited shopping mall before. If we are doing a research on ‘Employment Opportunities for Differently Abled in Shopping Malls’, then all members must have a fair idea of what a shopping mall look like or what facilities are available for people who are disabled.

I was trying to hire a SUV like TATA Sumo for whole day for 8 members of our team but could not get a single one. So finally I hired a Taxi to carry 5 members of our team & others by Rickshaw. I took my aunty Ujwala Vyavahare along with me to assist four female members of my team in case they need any help. You can see below a map of our juorney to ‘R Mall’.

Journey to R Mall - Map

I booked movie tickets online on ‘Book My Show’ website for morning 11:00 AM show of ‘Break Ke Baad’ movie at ‘R Adlabs-R Mall’. I got an online offer of 20% discount from VISA Company on 4 out of 9 tickets that I booked. I booked tickets for 9 seats in the third row.

As we reached ‘R Mall’, security personnel present at the entrance of the mall came forward to help me get all my members out of the Taxi & then inside the mall. Our Taxi driver Abbasbhai also helped us a lot. There is a ramp for wheelchair users to get inside the mall. None of us had any problems getting inside the mall. Once inside, the mall staff showed us a place to sit. All my group members sat there and I went to collect movie tickets from the Ticket Counter on the third floor.

As the movie was to start at 11 AM so all of us used this free time to see the mall. First we saw the ground floor. There was absolutely no problem for wheelchair users or people using crutches as none of the shops there had any steps at the entrance. It was accessible with wide doors. All shops had glass doors so every shop was also visible from outside. There were Lifts and Escalators to move up & down the floors. Sharda & Chanda wanted to try Escalators, they had only seen that in movies or TV serials. This is the first time they were watching how Escalators move a person automatically up or down. As Chanda was wearing artificial limbs so she could not get on or get out of the Escalator as she feared she might fall down. But Sharda wanted to try it. So she went along with Ujwala aunt but could not get on the Escalator. On seeing this the mall management personnel came and stopped the Escalator, told Sharda & Ujwala aunt to get on it and then started the Escalator again. Other shoppers were looking curiously as to what was happening. As the Escalator started I could judge from the glow on her face how much happy she was feeling that day. I really appreciate the mall staff for not even thinking twice to stop the Escalator as it could cause inconvenience to other shoppers present in the mall.

Then we went to the third floor by lift where 'R Adlabs' Multiplex is situated. Some of us had tea at the food stalls present there. Soon Yogesh arrived on the third floor on his own, as he regularly visits this mall with his group of friends to watch movies or to shop. One by one each one of us went inside the Multiplex. The entrance at the Multiplex had separate door for wheelchair users and there were two wheelchairs kept aside in case of an emergency.

Inside the Multiplex there were 4 screens and all had either the straight entrance or a ramp in case the entrance was a little high. Our movie was in Screen 2 and it had a straight entrance. We went inside but there were stairs to go to the third row. On seeing our difficulty the Multiplex Manager came and told us that he will make arrangements for us to sit in the last row, which is actually reserved for physically handicapped. He politely requested to those who were sitting in the last row to move ahead in the third row and those people immediately moved in the third row without creating any problems either for us or the Multiplex staff.

Till we sat comfortably on our seats the Multiplex staff stood beside us in case we needed any help. Soon the movie 'Break Ke Baad' started. It was as usual a typical Bollywood masala flick. A 'do not use your brains, just sit n relax n enjoy' type of movie. During the Interval, Multiplex Manager came to us and politely asked us if we wanted anything to eat like popcorn or cold-drinks. But none of us wanted anything so we thanked him for his kind gesture. Yasmin had brought some biscuits for all of us to eat. After the movie we came out and stood at the glass window to absorb some sun light as the atmosphere was too cold inside Screen 2. Yasmin told us that this is first time in her life that she saw a movie on a big screen. Her community do not allow women to go to Theaters/Multiplexes to watch movies. She was feeling very happy as she is the only woman in her family to watch a movie in Multiplex that too in a biggest shopping mall.

We went outside the Multiplex to have lunch. All food stalls were on the third floor where the Multiplex is situated. We chose the first stall 'Only Paratha'. We ordered 'Paneer Makhanwala', 'Paneer Tikka', 'Nan' & Mineral Water. Manisha ordered 'Medu-Wada' for herself. It was a self-service system. You order, you pay, you take your plates, you eat but you do not wash your plates as all the bowls, plates, glasses, spoons were use-n-throw material. But I personally did not like the service offered by this stall. They did not provide us enough plates, glasses or paper napkins. I had to request them to give me more plates, glasses or paper napkins. I think they should count how many people are there and give the exact number plates or glasses. But yes the food we ordered was truly delicious, I & Yogesh loved the 'paneer'. It was yummy!

After having lunch we just went for a small stroll on the third floor. The place is spacious enough to move wheelchairs without causing any inconvenience to other shoppers. Then we went to the ground floor by lift. The lift-man & some shoppers helped me to take everyone down. Sharda again wanted to come down using Escalator but could not so she came by lift till first floor and then came down to the ground floor using Escalator. At the ground floor, we ate 'vanilla with hot chocolate' ice-cream. We also discussed about our purpose of visiting this shopping mall, what we saw, what we felt, how was the accessibility for physically disabled, how was the mall staff's & visitor's attitude towards us. I told my group members to write their own experiences & their own thoughts about this visit as I will also be writing my own experience about this visit.

It was 3:30 PM and it was time to go home. So I called our Taxi driver Abbasbhai & Ujwala aunt hired a Rickshaw for Chanda & Sharda. We thanked the security personnel & the staff at the mall for helping us and making this day in our life a memorable one. We will cherish this memory forever in our minds. You can see below a map of our journey back home.

Journey back home - Map

The reason why I did not inform the 'R Mall' management about our group's visit in advance is to caught them unaware and then judge their attitude towards us. But I must say their attitude towards us was very polite & helpful. As far as accessibility is concerned, I think it had excellent structure to access all parts of the mall. Only Toilets were not easily accessible for wheelchair users. It also had emergency ramps to move from one floor to the other in case there is a power failure or if fire broke out.

One of my group members pointed out to me that there were no holding bars on walls or on ramps and also the slope of the ramp was quite steep. It is very important to have all these things but we must also look at the positive side that this mall ensured that people who are physically disabled also visit their mall, shop, watch movie, eat & move freely. After all it is our 'Right to Entertainment' as any other human being.

I suggest all my readers who are physically disabled or who has a friend who is physically disabled to visit 'R Mall' at least once and experience yourself the warmth & the affection that you receive from the mall staff and also the beauty of this grand mall itself.

I thank my Ujwala aunt for helping me make my group's visit to 'R Mall' successful & enjoyable. I also thank Yogesh for suggesting 'R Mall' for our group activity. Finally I thank all my group members for making this group activity successful.