It’s all reflex for these blind masseurs

Standing outside the gate of Metta, a foot reflexology spa at Pali Village, Bandra is no surprise. It is the greetings from the visually challenged staff, all ready to give a foot massage, that can surprise many. Joanita Figueiredo, owner, Metta, looking calm and relaxed is eager to talk about her journey so far. “When I thought of opening a reflexology spa, I never planned for all this. Things happened and I am a different person now. They changed me”, says Figueiredo about her staff.

A qualified nurse and a yoga teacher, she did a course in foot reflexology from Bangkok. Once back, she started giving lessons in different spas across the city. One day a call changed her life. “I got a call from the National Association for the Blind asking to teach their students foot reflexology,” she adds.

Figueiredo agreed to teach. “I didn’t know anything about teaching people with disability and it took a little time for me to realise how the whole process is done,” she stated. However, she managed to overcome the problem and successfully trained the students. The real challenge lay thereafter as finding a job became difficult.

“Even if they were placed in beauty parlours, it was difficult for them to do everything because of their handicap, thus they were paid very less. A meagre Rs 2,000 a month is too less for anyone to survive in this city, despite they being trained professionals” said Figueiredo. She decided to start her own parlour and began with three of these people.

She now has seven, few partly blind and the remaining completely visually challenged.
Metta, which means loving compassion in Pali language, seems apt for the kind of work the staff does.

With a pay scale of Rs 5,000 a month, the staff is quite happy. As Anand Rai, 24, one of the staff member says, “I was never interested in studies. I worked for a while at different places but with a pay scale of Rs. 1,500 a month, it was very difficult to manage. But here I am satisfied”. He keeps praying that this place gets many clients as he doesn’t want to struggle yet again.

Talking to them made Figueiredo realise that life is not all about being in the rat race. It’s also about stopping and looking around. “They are blessed. They don’t even know that they have changed a part of me. We get so involved in our daily life and its problems.

They live life without any regrets,” she adds. A case in point being her staff — 30-year-old Nilofar, who lost her eyesight partially after meeting with an accident. Nilofar, whose one eye had got damaged when she was few days old and now may lose the other eye due to a laser treatment gone wrong, is still upbeat and positive. She takes this in her stride and says “bad luck second time.”

On their part, the staff are full of praise and consider Figueiredo a mother figure. “It’s like a family now”, says Sunil Pilame, 30, who lost his eyesight ten years back. Nilofar Hakim feels that since the start was so nice she wants it to continue this way forever. “Here at least we feel as equals,” she says.

At Metta, one can pay a mere Rs 200 for a foot massage session. Figueiredo says, “I want to keep it reasonable for everyone to avail the benefits of the spa.”