Success Stories of Visually Impaired Candidates

ROSHAN RAJAN, VOICE AND ACCENT TRAINER, 24/7

I came to Bangalore to realize my dream of becoming a singer. But when I came here, I got to know about the IT industry and the growth in Call Centers, and thought it was a good start to earn some money. So, I started looking out for my options in this field. One of the primary requirements for these kind of jobs, is to have good computer knowledge. Most of my computer knowledge was through self-learning. Since no one believed in my ability to work with computers, I had to prove them wrong. I not only did a course at NIIT, but also topped it. Later, I found out that EnAble India guided persons with disabilities and placed them in various organizations. I approached Shanthi Ragavan, the founder of EnAble India and within a week she got me this job.

As mentioned earlier, music is my passion, I also learnt Hindustani music and started playing various instruments like keyboard, harmonium, violin and mouth organ. My brother Rithick and I compose our own music. When I was a child, unlike other kids, my only toy used to be a tape recorder and I spent most of my time listening to music. Now, at my workplace, the environment is very flexible. My manager and co-workers understand that music is my passion and so whenever I have some concerts, I am allowed to change my shift timing.

Initially, I thought it would be tough to get along with other people at the workplace, but when I went there, it was a different scenario. Everyone was very friendly and it’s very nice working there. Once, when we were playing a game where people had to break the balloons blindfolded, and when my turn came, they blind folded me! They looked at me as one among them. Our office has a lot of cubicles and most of the partitions are made of glass. That makes it difficult for me to use my cane. My friends in my office always guide me and I most often don’t walk alone In his words: “one of the important things that visually impaired persons should consider when they come to a work environment is to have the urge to out-perform and to look at the positive side of anything that they do.”