With a Will to Do

Dr Satish Amarnath

Blindness is working to the advantage of a doctor in Bangalore who treats AIDS patients; they open up in the confidence that he can't see them. Dr Satish Amarnath, was a victim of an acid attack, has been treating HIV/AIDS patients for 20 years. He lost his sight completely after the attack, but he feels his disability brings patients closer.

“They know I can't recognize, and that makes them very comfortable,” said Dr Amarnath, medical director, Manipal Cure and Care. He has noticed that the confidence of the patient is better when the doctor gives them privacy. Patients are generally reluctant to talk even to their doctors about the HIV infection. “but in my case they derive strength from the knowledge that, when they compare themselves to me, they are normal in everything except their immune system, which is weak,” said Dr Amarnath.

Some even give out his name as their own when they have to give blood samples for testing. “The stigma associated to this disease is so strong that people don't want to give out their real names to the lab, and so they adopt my name.”

Someone threw acid on Dr Amarnath while he was taking a stroll. “I still don't know who did it and why, because I cannot recall anyone who held a grudge against me. The cops say it is case of mistaken identity. Whatever it is I knew I had to be strong in order to support my family,” said Dr Amarnath.

On the 40th day after the attack the doctor was back at work. “I could not afford to break down. I heard my daughter crying and that was when I promised myself I would not let my family cry. I had to make myself strong, or I would be destroying three more lives, of my daughter, son and wife,” he said.

Source: Dr. Confidence, Mld Day, (Mon–Sat). New Delhi, 3 December 2007.

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Employees and aspirants have this to say…

Sminu Jindal: “Part of the blame for this rests with employers and some with the disabled population,” said wheelchair-bound Sminu Jindal, Saw. “It is we who want to be treated differently and taken special care of. If we want jobs, we should be willing to work like normal individuals, we are not special, we are simply differently able,”.

Sanjiv Sachdeva: from the NGO Samarthyam has little complaints from the private or public sector. He said on most occasions, the candidate refuses a job because of accessibility issues. “If the environment was disabled–friendly, automatically we would be happier accepting jobs though a good chunk of our salary gets spent on transport.”

He also commended the effort of the BPOs which have cab services and also good salaries.

Pinku Kumar: a polio–affected job–seeker “The problem really is that most people eye our handicap with suspicion. I see it as a good opportunity for us to interact with the companies in a friendly environment. The employers also come mentally prepared to hire a disabled candidate. This removes the mental fear of being rejected on grounds of physical disability.”

Sharmila Divatia: A cushy IT job wasn't enough for the Mathematics post–graduate from Baroda University. So the 43–year–old, who was detected with cerebral palsy when she was six, enrolled for an MBA course with the Indira Gandhi National Open University.

“I was six years old when I had come from school and gone to sleep. The next thing I knew I had convulsions and went into coma. I suffered from encephalitis. My life was saved but it changed forever,” she said. Sharmila recalled the harrowing experience of job hunting. “I got selected but during the personal interviews, they rejected me. I think people believe a physical disability ensured a mental one too,” she said.

Her dream is to run a dairy farm some day. “I want to retire soon and run a dairy farm, milk cows and keep animals. I love open spaces… so I would take up a farmhouse and raise cows,” she giggled.

Jansi Rani: Polio disabled her left leg when she was two and since then the calipers have been her constant companion.

But the 27–year–old could not stop grinning while narrating the strange co–incidence when she got a job in a BPO called Caliber Point. “The similarity of the two words was so striking that I asked the co–ordinator at my placement agency if they meant the same (as the Tamil alphabet is the same for b and p). He explained caliper stood for ability and that I was chosen because of that and not because of my calipers, which symbolized disability.”

Jansi Rani was chosen as service executive. “My job involves entering data into health forms from the UK and my superior tells me that I have picked up fast in my two months here,” she said. Rani got the BPO job after she and 12 other physically–challenged girls were short changed by the Tamil Nadu government which had promised jobs in the state press. “The officials at the employment exchange told us to take ITI training in book binding after which we were assured of jobs in the press. But when we went back with our ITI certificate we were told that our turn would come later even though we headed the list of prospective candidates,” Rani said.

During childhood, all her weight had been borne by her right leg–before the calipers were fixed–so this limb failed to grow to its normal length. Her only hassle is commuting as she has to change two buses to reach office.

Dinesh Gupta: Delhi's physically–challenged have Dinesh Gupta to thank for making low–floor buses available. The 33–year–old who suffers from cerebral palsy with spastic quadriparesis or paralysis is shy of tom–toming his achievements.

A couple of years age, Dinesh filed a case against the Delhi Transport Corporation and the Delhi Government in the Chief Commissioner of Disabilities' office for the inconvenience caused to the physically challenged because of bused that were not convenient for them. Soon, a disabled–friendly bus (Route 620) was introduced between IIT and Shivaji Stadium as an experiment.This year, 200 low–floored buses hit the roads. The Delhi Government has promised to have all present buses replaced with disabled–friendly ones by 2010.

Sanjay Ghosh can play the sitar with his right leg. Misdiagnosed with diphtheria when he was just five, Sanjay lost the ability to move his limbs. At 49, he has no regrets.

“I knew I was different from other kids but I used to take offence every time somebody said I could not do something because of my physical drawbacks,” he said.

“I could never believe that I was handicapped and I used to feel humiliated when people used to call me one.”

Two years on, after treatment and exercise, life returned to his legs and left hand but the right hand remained dead. But Sanjay still managed to learn swimming and cycling.

“I was always looked upon as a helpless human being who could not do the things that he wanted to. It was this pity that made me strong and I developed a stubbornness to achieve things,” Ghosh said.

“When I started playing the sitar, at the back of my mind I knew I had to do it and it did not matter whether I used my leg or my hand,” he said.

As a painter, Sanjay's works have been put up by V.S Arts in Washington DC.

“When I was 16, in one of my exhibitions, somebody had called me disabled…. I felt so hurt that I refused to recognize him the next day. That reaction is something I still regret,” he said.

Satyajit Singh: came to Delhi with dreams to become a graphic designer, from a village in Nalanda, Bihar. Both his legs are polio affected, so moves using his hands with the support of his left leg. “We are special children of God. I realize that there is added struggle for people with disabilities but then I don't see why we should not follow our dreams?”

The final year B. Sc student, who likes to listen to Jagjit Singh and Sonu Nigam in his free time, has been working with the National Association for the Blind as a computer faculty for the last one year.

Does he like his job? “Absolutely, it not only gives me a sense of independence but I also feel complete,” Satyajit said.

“I think one has to have a patience and determination to reach where you want. The going is difficult but not impossible,” Satyajit said.

Source: Wanted jobs, The Hindustan Times, Patna, 3 December 2007.

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Veena Mehta Verma

Disability is surely not a curse. Disabled and challenged people do not need sympathy. What they ask for is an opportunity to showcase their wits. Going against all odds, visually impaired Veena Mehta Verma, working as Senior Assistant Officer (HR) with the National Thermal Power Coropration Limited (NTPC) Vindhyachal has achieved a respectable position in society.

At the International Day of Disabled Persons in New Delhi, Mehta bagged the National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in the “Role Model” category from President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil.

“Today, she has become a role model for everyone,” said the president.

Twenty–nine year old, Veena Mehta is visually impaired since birth. But the commerce graduate never allowed her impairment come in her way. Besides, she is an MBA in Human Resources and a PG Diploma in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management.

However, reaching here wasn't easier for Mehta. Her legal battle to get admission to the MBA course paved the way for others seeking admissions in such courses. Her exemplary performance in FCS Software Solutions encouraged NTPC to employ more visually impaired persons. She is first blind woman to have been offered direct appointment to the E2 level as senior assistant officer.

Metha is even keen in extra curricular activities and participates in paragliding, mountaineering, horse riding and fashion shows. Mehta is even keen in extra curricular activities and participates in paragliding, mountaineering, horse riding and fashion shows.

Source: Differently abled, The Pioneer, New Delhi, 6 December 2007.

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