KARACHI: In association with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Khaas Foodz in collaboration with Zaamin Group organised the celebrity special of ‘Dining in the Dark’ on Sunday.

Khaas Foodz, an organisation founded by visually impaired brother and sister duo Ali Khan Tareen and Chef Fizzah Hussain, focuses on training the blind and visually-impaired in the culinary arts and organising unique dinner experiences with a side of empathy known as Dining in the Dark.

The guests in Dining in the Dark experience what life feels like without the sense of vision. All are blind folded before being served various courses of dinner, prepared by Chef Fizzah. They can smell the food, taste the food, touch the food, but they cannot see it because they are wearing blindfolds.

The celebrities invited to experience Dinner in the Dark included model and actor Sarwat Gilani and rapper and showbiz personality Ali Gul Pir.

While trying to put the meat balls placed before her into her mouth, Sarwat Gilani dropped one. Still she did not give up and tried again this time to be able to enjoy the food. “Dining in the Dark also takes place in Africa and I’m glad that Khaas Foodz organise it in Pakistan also because we need awareness and we need to have more empathy for the visually impaired,” she told Dawn.

Celebrities have dinner with blindfolds to gain empathy for the blind

Meanwhile, the blindfolded Ali Gul Pir, who was enjoying dinner with his wife Dr Azeemah Nakhoda, also blindfolded, said that without being able to see the food served to him, he was able to feel its texture and taste the flavours better. “We take such things for granted otherwise. Now I can appreciate the food more,” he said.

Ali must have really enjoyed dinner as he was the first to finish the main course. Then he picked up his fork and reached for his wife’s plate to quietly steal her food. She didn’t even know it until someone without a blindfold told her about it as she laughed.

Dr Ratna Deewan, deputy director at Sindh Persons with Disabilities Protection Authority, was also blindfolded and served dinner. “I’m glad I was able to experience Dining in the Dark,” she said. “Otherwise life goes on with us taking for granted how we are able to see things while the blind face such a huge challenge. It has made me more sensitive to how they feel carrying out routine things,” she added.

There was also Dr Warda Nizam, a pharmacovigilance and regulatory affairs professional, who said that she did not enjoy Dining in the Dark. “I cannot enjoy my food while wearing a blindfold. I want to be able to see what I am eating. But it made me feel more for the blind,” she said.

The evening also included the release of visually-impaired rapper M.K. Anwar’s latest rap song ‘Laut aa’.

Visually-impaired singers and guitarists Adnan Ahmed and Aneeq Ahmed also kept things lively during the blindfolded dinner by singing famous Pakistani songs.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2025