– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Hi everyone. My name is Nandita Gupta

and I'm a petite Indian woman with long

black hair wearing lilac today.

Now 5 years ago

I was on a party boat.

A Bollywood dance party happening right

here in Seattle on Lake Union.

Now for those of you who know me, I love

good Bollywood music.

So there I was grooving, having the time

of my life.

And that's when I knew

this was a good first date.

And then suddenly

everything changed.

My chest started seizing. My lungs were

burning.

I couldn't breathe.

So I frantically looked around at the

source of this problem

and lo behold

somebody was smoking.

I was having an asthma attack.

So I quickly find my bag, dig out my

inhaler,

take a quick hit. Um I'm trying to act

casual because I'm still on a date. Uh

so I mumble something to my date and I

bolt up the deck to get some fresh air.

So I'm holding on to the railing for my

dear life.

Uh [sighs] breathing

letting my lungs settle

staring out of the Seattle skyline.

And I turned and I saw that he'd

followed me up.

So I turned to my date and I said

are you sure you want to do this?

You don't know what you're getting into.

Are you sure you want to date me?

Because here's what I was thinking about

in that moment.

His life would be so much easier

if he was dating someone more normal.

And here's what I mean by that.

No more triple checking the air quality

before making plans.

No more canceling plans last minute

because the air quality changed.

My sister got married in India last

year.

And I couldn't make her wedding.

Why?

Because the doctor told me

that it was dangerous for me to travel

back home. Not uncomfortable,

dangerous.

That's not an inconvenience.

This is a life shaped by something

invisible.

So, here I was listing out every reason

why he shouldn't date me, uh why he

should stay away.

Um

and you know what he said?

He looked at me and he said that he fell

for me and all of me.

And that my experiences, including my

disability, made me who I am.

He wouldn't change a thing.

So, 5 years later we're married.

So, clearly this deck conversation

didn't scare him off.

But here's what I've been thinking about

ever since that night on the deck.

I was the one who saw my disability as a

barrier, not him.

I was scaring him away or trying to

scare him away from something I hadn't

yet learned to see differently myself.

And you know, back then I didn't have

the language for it. All I knew was here

are places I can't go to. These are some

experiences that are closed off to me.

Ooh, here are some things I can't do.

And I carried that. I carried that for a

very long time.

And it's truly taken me years to

internalize this.

Nothing was wrong with my body. Nothing

was wrong with me.

It was the world

that hadn't included me.

And that is what I want to talk to all

of you about today. Like that's what I

want to discuss with you today.

This imprint, this magic, happens when

the world is designed to be accessible.

Where everyone can truly show up in

their most authentic self.

And it's measured by the people who feel

seen and heard because we showed up.

And so let's explore this question

today.

How might we truly build an inclusive

world

when no one is left out regardless of

their disability?

Now when I say disability, what comes to

mind?

A lot of people think permanent

disabilities, you know, someone who

might be using a wheelchair, someone who

might be using a cane.

Extremities.

Disability is so much bigger than that.

So picture this.

A small, charming

village

and rough and uneven cobblestone

streets.

And where the sidewalk meets the street,

a hard edge.

No slope, no transition, just a hard

edge.

A young mother is maneuvering

maneuvering a stroller with her two

children. One of them is crying, the

other one's pulling at her sleeve. Oof,

she's struggling. She's struggling to

get the stroller over the curb.

A couple is carrying four oversized

suitcases,

dragging them across the street. One of

them hits the curb. Domino effect,

everything goes flying.

They're sweating, they're apologizing,

they're stressed. How are they going to

make the flight?

And finally, a woman in a wheelchair.

She rolls up to the curb and just

stops

because there's no way up.

Now, she has to go all the way down, go

around, and something that should have

taken her 10 seconds

is going to take her 10 minutes.

Three completely different people. Three

completely different situations.

But they're all experiencing the exact

same barrier.

And the environment is creating this

barrier.

The mother,

that's a temporary disability. She's

only using the stroller for a few years.

The young couple, that's a situational

disability. That's just for this one

flight.

And finally, the woman in the

wheelchair, that's a permanent

disability.

But the curb doesn't care.

It's the same exclusion for all of them.

Now, I want you to picture the exact

same scene, but with one small change.

A curb cut.

So, instead of the hard edge, imagine a

smooth and sloped transition for where

the sidewalk meets the street.

Now, what happens?

The young mother with the stroller

easily go right up. The suitcases, they

glide right over. And the woman in the

wheelchair just crosses.

10 seconds, done.

Boom.

And that's the beauty of what happens

when we design for disability.

If there was a grandfather using a

walker, if you had an injured ankle and

you're struggling to climb up a step,

when you design for disability, you

design for everyone.

And that's the beauty of this.

It's all about making those small

changes and making those changes.

And that's actually is called the curb

cut effect, where a solution that's

designed to help one group of people

ends up benefiting everyone else.

And guess what?

You're going to need these curb cuts

someday.

If not permanently, then maybe

temporarily, or just in certain

situations?

I know I do.

Now, a quick show of hands.

How many people here are in a

relationship or have ever been in a

relationship?

All right. Oh, we have a good crowd.

Okay.

Now, keep those hands up

if you've ever had a fight about chores.

Oh, I see you. Yes, I see you. Okay.

Keep those hands down. Put those hands

down.

So, pretend you're me.

You're in the middle of doing something.

Maybe you're watering your plants.

And your husband walks up to you and

says,

"Hey, babe. I'm going to go work out. Uh

your mom called. Make sure you reply to

her. The landlord sent an email, so

respond back to that. Oh, and make sure

you take the chicken out of the freezer.

I'm going to cook later. And your

prescription's ready, so make sure you

pick that up. Oh, and the laundry's

ready, so make sure you put your clothes

away. I sorted them for you. And yeah,

I'm going to go, so I'm headed to the

grocery store. If you need something,

let me know. Bye."

Okay, how many remember everything on

that list?

Wow, no hands. Okay. How many remember

maybe half? 50%?

All right. All right.

How many remember maybe one thing and

then just forgot everything else?

Yes. Raise those hands proudly. Yes,

that's me. That's me.

So,

he thought he was being helpful. He's

like, "Well, I was being efficient. I

was telling you everything so you can

plan your day."

And I thought

I was failing.

Why can't I just remember things like a

normal person?

Here's the thing.

I have ADHD.

So, my brain doesn't process these long

verbal lists.

But you know what it loves?

It loves checkboxes.

My brain

will move mountains for that little

check box.

And the minute we figured that out,

magic happened.

No more fights, no more frozen chicken.

He just sends me a list, I check things

off. Everyone's happy, yay!

So, what changed?

Did my ADHD suddenly disappear?

No.

Did I develop better memory?

No.

The environment changed.

So, we adjusted how we communicated.

Earlier, when my husband was rattling

off this list at rapid speed,

the way the information was getting to

my brain

just didn't match the way I process it.

But the minute we adjusted that,

I wasn't disabled anymore.

I was empowered.

And guess what?

Most of you just experienced that as

well.

You know, you may not have ADHD,

but the environment that I created,

rapid, one time only,

and completely verbal,

disabled you from succeeding.

And that doesn't mean anything's wrong

with you.

It just means that we need to be mindful

of the environment we create.

Because if this environment is only

built one way,

it excludes everybody else who doesn't

fit the mold.

And guess what? We all process

information so differently.

And so, it's super important to be

mindful of

how might we really create that

environment for everyone.

It's all about making those small

changes that can create massive impact.

But here's the thing I've noticed,

not just in myself, in all of us.

We forget.

I mean, hey, you just saw me forget an

entire grocery list. We forget. And it's

not malicious, it's not intentional, but

we just forget that not everyone moves

through the world the same way we do.

And what might feel effortless to

someone could be an invisible barrier

for someone else.

And that's why inclusion has to be

intentional.

It's not a training, it's not a

checkbox, it's not a one and done.

It's a lens.

It's a lens that you pick up every

single time

you walk into a room, have a

conversation,

build something, go to work, do

anything.

It's a lens.

You have to be intentional

and it has to be intrinsic.

Because what happens when we forget?

What happens when we don't pick up that

lens?

Someone feels it.

They feel the absence. They feel the

oversight.

They feel that moment that someone built

something and just

didn't think about them.

I know what that feels like.

I know some of you know what that feels

like.

But I also know

the feeling

when someone does include you.

I'd love to share a story that truly

changed my perspective of what

intentionality can do.

So, a few years ago, I was a UX

researcher at Zoo Atlanta

and our goal was to build an inclusive

experience at the zoo for everyone, but

with a focus on people with vision

disabilities.

Let me let you in on a little secret. I

thought I understood who I was designing

for.

I did not.

You know, vision disabilities isn't just

a one thing. You know how we talked

about making assumptions that it's all

about permanent disabilities. It's not.

It's a spectrum.

So, you could have 10 people standing in

front of the exact same elephant exhibit

and experiencing something completely

different.

You know, one might see the elephant in

shifted, muted colors.

One might only see half the elephant.

And someone else might not see anything

at all.

And our goal was to build an experience

that truly

honored every single one of them.

So, what did we do?

We went out there into the community and

we asked questions.

We truly wanted to understand

what would it even mean

to design this experience for the

community.

And we have a saying in the disability

community,

"Nothing about us without us."

And that is something we absolutely

followed in this project. And magic

happened.

That decision, that intentionality

changed everything about what we built.

And at the end of the project, I had a

participant walk up to me and say

something that has just

stayed with me ever since.

"Thank you for making us feel seen,

for making us feel included,

and that our experience at the zoo

matters just as anyone else's."

That's what intentionality does.

It doesn't just build better products.

It It fix broken experiences. It tells

someone you belong here. We thought

about you.

You matter.

And that's the imprint I want to leave

in this world.

But that's also the imprint I want all

of us to leave as well.

So,

let me bring this in full circle. Do you

remember the way I started?

Hi everyone. My name's Nandita Gupta and

I'm a petite Indian woman with long

black hair.

I didn't start that way because that was

a fun icebreaker.

I started that way because I didn't want

to assume that

anyone watching me can perceive exactly

what I look like.

That small action was

my way of ensuring that nobody felt like

an afterthought.

You have the same power.

Each and every single one of you

watching this right now,

you have the same power

to make someone feel heard, to make

someone feel seen, to make someone feel

included.

Starting with your very next action.

Maybe it's including captions on the

next video that you post.

Not just for the parent who's watching

while their baby sleeps, but also for

the person watching on the noisy train.

Maybe it's including 5-minute breaks

between meetings.

Just to give everyone's brains a moment

to

>> [sighs]

>> breathe and reset.

These small actions matter more than you

know.

There's nothing wrong with you. You are

perfect the way you are.

It's the world that needs to change.

It's the environment that needs to

change.

And maybe someone in this room needs to

hear that today as well.

Because inclusion is a choice.

It's a choice that we make over and over

again every single day.

And it leaves behind something that

outlasts all of us.

It leaves behind this feeling that

someone has

whether it's for the first time or the

hundredth time

that someone thought about them

and that they matter.

And that's the imprint I want all of us

to leave.

Thank you.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
petite /pəˈtiːt/ B2	adjective - small and slender, usually referring to a woman
grooving /ˈɡruːvɪŋ/ B2	verb - dancing to music in a relaxed way
seizing /ˈsiːzɪŋ/ B2	verb - suddenly experiencing a painful contraction or spasm
frantically /ˈfræntɪkli/ B2	adjective - in a hurried, excited, or chaotic way
inhaler /ɪnˈheɪlər/ B1	noun - a device for administering medicine to the lungs
casual /ˈkæʒuəl/ A2	adjective - relaxed and unconcerned
mumble /ˈmʌmbəl/ B2	verb - to speak in a low, unclear way
railing /ˈreɪlɪŋ/ B2	noun - a fence or barrier
disability /ˌdɪsəˈbɪləti/ B2	noun - a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities
internalize /ɪnˈtɜːrnəlaɪz/ C1	verb - to make something part of one's nature by learning or unconscious assimilation
accessible /əkˈsesəbl/ B2	adjective - easy to approach, reach, enter, or use
maneuvering /məˈnuːvərɪŋ/ C1	verb - moving or guiding something carefully or with difficulty
stroller /ˈstroʊlər/ B1	noun - a pushchair for a child
malicious /məˈlɪʃəs/ C1	adjective - intended to do harm
imprint /ˈɪmprɪnt/ C1	noun - a lasting mark or impression

Key Grammar Structures

• I was having an asthma attack.

  ➔ Past Continuous Tense

  ➔ Used to describe an ongoing action that was interrupted by a sudden event in the past.

• You don't know what you're getting into.

  ➔ Phrasal Verb (Get into)

  ➔ To "get into" something means to become involved in a situation, often one that is complicated.

• I couldn't make her wedding.

  ➔ Modal Verb of Ability (Past Negative)

  ➔ "Couldn't" expresses a lack of ability or opportunity to do something in the past.

• It's the world that hadn't included me.

  ➔ Cleft Sentence

  ➔ Uses "It is... that" to emphasize a specific part of the sentence (the subject).

• If you had an injured ankle, you would struggle.

  ➔ Second Conditional

  ➔ Describes a hypothetical or imaginary situation and its likely result.

• How might we truly build an inclusive world?

  ➔ Modal Verb of Possibility (Might)

  ➔ "Might" is used to ask for suggestions or explore possibilities in a thoughtful way.

• Nothing about us without us.

  ➔ Prepositional Phrases

  ➔ Phrases starting with "about" and "without" acting as descriptors for the policy or action.

• I'd love to share a story that truly changed my perspective.

  ➔ Relative Clause

  ➔ "That truly changed my perspective" defines or adds information about "a story."