Walk Along 3.0 in Chennai: matching strides with the differently abled  

Inclusion can arrive in an air of condescension. It is the idea of the able-bodied “including” the differently abled in “their world”. It is true that the differently abled need to be included in this monstrous world that shut them out in the first place, but it has to be done in a manner that upholds their dignity. By choosing one preposition over another, Walk Along 3.0 has silently condemned this unconscious, nevertheless odious conceitedness, and asserted the place in the world the differently abled should enjoy as a right, not as a dole. Young Indians (Yi) Chennai’s annual flagship accessibility event, Walk Along 3.0 does not term itself a walk for persons with disabilities (PwDs), but a walk with them. The walk has one able-bodied person matching strides with one differently abled person. “It is about presence, not performance,” say organisers. “You do not walk ahead or behind. You walk together.” And the event having walked the talk, it has done three editions on the trot, growing in stature from edition to edition. In normal circumstances, the past is the best predictor of the future. Hence a peek into the first two editions to know what to expect of the third, whose approaching footsteps can be heard. Walk Along 3.0 would arrive on August 10, 2025 at Elliots Beach in Besant Nagar.