The Happy Pod: Inviting strangers round for dinner

0:00Nidhi:This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

0:30Nidhi:No bouncing between tabs. And best of all, no spreadsheets. Stop managing software and start managing your business with one unified system. Try for free today at odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com. Self-directed investing. Trading. Full-service wealth management. Automated investing. Financial planning. Thematic investing. Retirement planning. Phew. And to think, that's just a small taste of what Schwab offers. because Schwab knows that when it comes to your finances, choice matters. No matter your goals, investing style, life stage or experience, Schwab has everything you need, all in one place, so you can invest your way.

1:11Nidhi:Visit schwab.com to learn more.

1:15Vik:This is The Happy Pod from the BBC World Service.

1:25Vik:I'm Holly Gibbs and in this edition the couple who invited strangers round for dinner So now we have four friends that's a good feeling it's a beautiful feeling I feel that I belong here now which is what I was looking for I'm very greedy I want to have the whole world my friend How one father has helped his blind son enjoy the World Cup

1:55Vik:Plus a cake lover's dream come true. So I always think of cake picnic as a moment to make magic in a world that needs it. So thank you all for making that dream come true today. A chance encounter that gave a listener the opportunity to thank the teacher who changed his life. And

2:17Nidhi:I've had a lot of people say that it brings them a lot of joy. I've had kids tell me like they stop by every single day.

2:25Vik:A payphone with a difference.

2:30Vik:Making friends when you move to a new place can be difficult. but one couple who relocated from India to Northern Ireland came up with an unusual way to meet new people and create lasting connections. Nidhi Pal and Vic Parisher decided to invite strangers to their house for dinner. Those who wanted to join them had to fill out an online form and the couple chose groups of 10 people who they thought would mix well. Now the couple say they have 60 new friends. Olivia Copeland joined them at their home as they prepared for their sixth dinner party, cooking and listening to relaxing music. You move into a new country and you leave your comfort, your friends, your family behind.

3:15Vik:Someone you've known for years and years. And as a mature adult, it becomes even more difficult to make friends. And then I suddenly realised that, OK, so we have no friends. We have no social life here. and I didn't know how to actually make friends because how do you walk up to someone and say, I want to be friends with you? It's not easy. So I came up with this idea that this is what we used to do back home in India as well. We were just two of us. You should have a social life because as a human, we are social animals. So we didn't have friends, just a couple of friends. It's very difficult to go out and just meet people and make friends, you know, and in a different country where we don't know their culture How do we have to approach them?

4:00Vik:They don't speak the same language. It's a different language. So we thought of opening our door. We started as like for friends. Everyone was like praising and they kind of like pushed us to do more. People liked the idea and they felt that it started filling in the form. And I noticed that, okay, so it's not just us who are feeling that. There are a lot of people who are open to this idea. and here we are on our sixth supper and I cannot be more proud and grateful. How has life changed for you six months later? You know that when you go outside there might be someone you know. So it's a good feeling.

4:45Vik:That's why we started this, to have friends now. I think we have accomplished that. So that's a good feeling. It's a beautiful feeling, yeah. It has completely changed. I would say six months ago, I knew nobody here. I feel that I connect better. I have someone I can call in need or when I'm happy, when I'm sad. I feel that I belong here now, which is what I was looking for. And does it still feel a little bit nerve-wracking, even the sixth time, inviting new people, complete strangers to your home? Absolutely, because you're opening your personal space to someone. You have never seen them. you are going by with what they feel in the form and you're going with your gut.

5:30Vik:We've been very fortunate we've made a lot of friends during this tradition but yes it is nerve-wracking. My hands are like shaking right now as well. Some of the people that you've invited tonight are also new to Belfast. Yeah. How do you hope that they feel after spending time here this evening? I hope they feel at home. That is the only thing that I want them to feel. I hope they feel that they belong here. And I hope that I'm able to show the real Belfast. It is beautiful and I hope it reminds them of home. I hope they feel comfortable. And what's your plan for these dinners? Do you think you'll just keep inviting 10 people every month?

6:15Vik:When will you have enough friends? It's never till the time we have the energy and time. and people want to come, we would keep inviting. We're not doing anything special. We're cooking food. It's our home. So we just ask people to just try. Not just food, just sit with us, listen to us, talk about yourself, share the stories, and just laugh together. So that's what we want to do, and I don't have any plans to stop it. So I'm very greedy. I want to have the whole world, my friend. Nidhi Pal and Vic Parasha. The World Cup continues to grip football fans across the globe. But for one father in Iran, he has been finding a creative way to help his blind son experience the games.

6:58Vik:He's created a makeshift football pitch and guides his son's hand around to mimic what's happening on screen. The video has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people on social media. Our reporter Gabriel O 'Regan has more.

7:12Nidhi:This is the moment Ardashir helps his blind son Ali Reza experience the thrill of the World Cup.

7:26Nidhi:Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo has just scored a goal in the 5-0 match against Uzbekistan. Nine-year-old Ali Reza is sat with his hand resting on a cardboard football pitch. Plastic straws make up the goalposts and a marble is used as the ball. As his dad watches the match on TV, he guides his son's hand across the cardboard to mirror the game in real time, including his son in the action with a piece of homemade tactile technology.

7:53Vik:Aw, that's so cute.

7:54Nidhi:Yeah. I love that.

7:56Vik:He's so excited. That's so cute.

7:58Nidhi:That's Jill Sloan. She plays for Canada's women's blind soccer team.

8:02Vik:It's very creative of the dad to find a way for his kid to experience the game in a tactile way. For the dad to be able to give his kid that experience in whatever way possible, it's so sweet and so forthwarming and it's really meaningful because a lot of parents who have kids with disabilities, they do everything in their power to give their kids the same experiences as sighted siblings or sighted peers.

8:25Nidhi:Until recently, Jill's experience of following a live match as a fan meant piecing together an audio puzzle.

8:32Vik:I would be sitting there trying to figure it out based off of, let's say, the crowd's reaction or the whistles being blown or I would just constantly be poking my fiancé like, hey, what's happening now? What's going on now? What just happened? It's kind of annoying for me because I don't get all the information at the same time as everybody else, and then I feel like I'm kind of annoying him.

8:51Nidhi:FIFA have called this year's World Cup the most inclusive tournament in history. There's a dedicated app providing highly detailed audio description for every single match. There are also haptic boards, effectively a high-tech version of the cardboard pitch that Ali Reza and his dad use. Jill recently used one at a match between New Zealand and Egypt in Vancouver, using FIFA's audio description app and a haptic board together for the first time. I think it was the first time I've ever been able to fully, independently sit there

9:21Vik:and experience a game in real time. That's a big thing.

9:24Nidhi:The technology translates the geography of the pitch directly into Jill's hands.

9:28Vik:It's like a plastic rectangle-shaped board that you would just rest on your lap. On top is raised tactile lines that indicate the different areas on the pitch. And then like a, it's like a pulsating, vibrating dot comes onto the board and it's representing like the soccer ball. I could also feel it and hear it in real time and be able to track the ball and half the time like, oh, they just got a foul. And my fiance's like, wait, what? What just happened? It's like, there was times where he didn't even realize what was happening yet. But because I had the description and the haptic board, I like, I knew before he did.

9:59Vik:And it was so like, kind of just a breath of fresh air and so relieving just to get the chance to be a real fan and again, not have to miss out on any part of the game.

10:06Nidhi:But making that fully immersive experience seamless requires a very specific type of broadcasting skill. Standard television or radio commentary isn't enough. The audio describer must paint the pitch entirely with words. I'm Dave Rogers. I am a multi-sport commentator across television, live streaming, radio, but it all began with audio description. Body language in sport is so important. Think about a goalkeeper and the way they'll shout orders at defenders. What do they look like? Is, you know, their chests puffed out, their mouths are open and barking? And unless somebody tells you that, you're not going to know.

10:44Nidhi:It's just helping people maximise their experience of sport. There are still hurdles to clear. The haptic boards are currently only available to ticket holders inside the stadiums, and attending a major World Cup fixture is an expensive luxury. The cost to include blind and visually impaired sports fans with an audio description or with a haptics board or with an inclusive space. The cost comparatively is relatively tiny. Jill hopes to eventually see this technology trickle down to local clubs or even be made available for fans to borrow and use in their own living rooms. But for now, whether it's a vibrating haptic board in a huge stadium or a marble on a piece of cardboard, blind and low vision fans are finally getting to feel the beautiful game more than ever before.

11:31Vik:Gabriel O 'Regan reporting. We often talk about chance encounters here on the Happy Pod, and when one of our listeners found himself in that position, he got in touch. Edward Drew was at his local theatre in the south-west of England when he spotted Emma Hudson, who he'd last seen 12 years ago in Abu Dhabi, more than 7 ,000 kilometres away. It's safe to say Emma has had quite the impact on Edward's life. I caught up with both of them about their emotional chance meeting.

12:02Nidhi:My mum encouraged me to join the school talent competition, which I won. And after that competition, Mrs Hudson invited me to join the school choir. And then from there, by joining the choir, joining different drama groups in the school, I really found a sense of community and belonging, which I had struggled to find at school. I went into some professional acting as an adult. and this basically takes me to going to my local theatre in Devon and almost like a mirage seeing Mrs Hudson in the in the foyer and being like what are you doing here like 12 years later four and a half thousand miles away from Abu Dhabi just really this amazing encounter just recognizing that this is the person who really started it all me it was such a huge thing and I've been looking to contact Mrs Hudson for a few years now just to thank her for everything that I have now.

12:57Vik:Emma, what did you think when you saw Ed? I was absolutely blown away. I just heard this voice say, are you Emma Hudson? And then I turned around and recognised Ed straight away. It was just the most bizarre but fantastic experience and it's so lovely to reconnect with Ed and we've got plans to meet up as well which will be lovely and catch up even further still but you know I literally was floored I had no idea that Ed was living in Devon and I'm sure he was the same didn't know I was living here either and and there we were in the same place same time. Ed you said that you wanted to reach out to Emma in the years before this chance encounter what was it that you wanted to say to Emma?

13:41Nidhi:Oh so much I mean I think school is such a formative time for people and I think a lot of people a lot of young people struggle to find that sense of belonging that sense of security and safety I didn't really know who I was at that point but really allowing that space of freedom and creativity with other people allowed me to come into myself if I didn't have music or theatre I don't think I would have come out I came out as gay when I was 14 in Abu Dhabi and I felt really really held and really held in those spaces and I really just wanted to thank Emma because I think teachers have such a crucial role in spotting musical talent.

14:19Nidhi:If Emma hadn't had done that, I don't think I would have joined that choir. I don't think I would have joined that drama production and all the things that followed since. So I really just wanted to thank Emma. What an amazing, what an amazing teacher.

14:30Vik:Emma, how does that feel knowing that you had that much of an impact on one of your students? It makes me feel really emotional. and I've been teaching for 33 years and I think you forget sometimes that you do have an impact on young people's lives you know we do our day-to-day and do the things that you know we routinely do I run choir rehearsals orchestra rehearsals we do shows and when you meet somebody you meet them after such a long time and then they sort of tell you that you've made a difference it's just amazing I mean I think that's really everything when you're a music teacher if you've manage to inspire one person or however many people, it means a huge amount.

15:08Vik:How grateful are you that you've bumped into each other very randomly? Yeah, it was just amazing. I'm just so delighted that we've had the chance to reconnect. And hopefully this is the start of more meetings and collaborations. And even if we just get together for coffee, it'll be amazing. That was Edward Drew and Emma Hudson. Do you have a story that you want to tell us? We'd love to hear from you. As ever, the address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk.

15:42Vik:Coming up on The Happy Pod. We all share the same rhythm while laughing. So a very regular type of signal and we all, you know, laugh in the same way, apparently. A new discovery about our closest animal relatives.

16:04Vik:This is Lele Pons from Suite 305 with Lele Pons. Suite 305 with Lele Pons is brought to you by Duracell. Game day at my house, it's chaos, but the fun kind. The TV's ready, the remotes are ready, the kids' toys are going off, somebody's blasting music in the kitchen, and suddenly everybody needs batteries at the exact same time. That's why I keep my Duracell batteries stocked. They keep for 12 years in storage, so you know they're really good whenever you need them. And Duracell just released limited edition Duracell and Messi battery packs. The design is inspired by Messi's iconic left leg tattoo.