About me
Hi, I am Shobhika Kalra, an Indian, 30 years old girl based in Dubai. I am wheelchair-bound due to a degenerative disorder that I was diagnosed at the tender age of 13. Things are different and difficult more so because I was to walk on paths discovered by others already, like after school goes college and after that get a job. Though I have done all this, my body did not allow me to do it exactly. I had to decide on the way things should be for me. However, this hasn’t stopped me from pursuing my ambitions in life. I’m currently working with Eduscan as a Psychologist, run a beauty blog, and lead a social initiative called Wings Of Angelz. Wings of Angelz is an initiative that aims to make the world more wheelchair accessible and is registered with the CDA as a nonprofit social club. We’ve successfully managed to convince over 1000 places to become wheelchair accessible including key organizations like RTA, Emirates NBD, Bab Al Shams, etc. This initiative is in line with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed's vision of making Dubai disability-friendly by 2020. Wings Of Angelz was recently featured in a book called ‘Actions and Insights – Middle East & Africa’, which was launched by Sheikha Lubna. I personally believe that the single biggest reason due to which places are not accessible is the lack of awareness. I recently went scuba diving to spread awareness about wheelchair accessibility Inclusion and accessibility are important goals to ensure everyone gets equal opportunities. I was recently awarded for my community service by H.E.Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, U.A.E's Minister of Tolerance. I was awarded She the Change - Udhyami award from Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019 in Kashi, Varanasi. I am the youngest Indian in the Middle East to receive She the Change - Udhyami award. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019 was an initiative by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. I was given a certificate of appreciation from the Mohamad Bin Rashid Majlis for helping build Dubai's future. We’ve also received several accolades for our work including mentions from Kris Fade(Morning show host), LilySingh (Famous Youtuber), Hrithik Roshan (Bollywood Actor), Suneil Shetty(Bollywood actor) and various awards. We’re now keen to take our work on inclusion to the next level and we’re launching our app HeyPOD. POD stands for people of determination. The app aims to empower and enable people of determination by providing information on accessibility and career opportunities available. We are also expanding our work to beyond people with mobility impairment to people with vision, hearing and cognitive impairment. The app will be ready in Q4 2020 and we plan to have a big launch event for the app in Q1 2021.
