Retina India congratulates Mr Avneesh Singh from New Delhi for his completion of the Executive MBA program from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode. (Ed: For those not in the know, Kozhikode is situated in the State of Kerala, on the south-west coastal border of India.)
Since Mr Avneesh Singh's MBA journey, as much as others like Mr Pranav Lal from New Delhi, and Mr Vishal Jain, who is currently studying at IIM Lucknow, are inspiring to others, we thought we should share this story with you. Below is Mr Singh's story, in his own words. Enjoy, and get inspired!
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"Dear all, I will like to share the journey of the last 13 years, which has many transitional stages, but it has led to a satisfactory life so far.
I always had a passion for mechanical engineering. I could never imagine a life without machines, especially when machines create speed. This keen interest in speed & engineering made me specialize in thermal sciences in my mechanical engineering course.
When I came to know about the progress of my retinal degeneration, this keenness suffered a big blow. It was shocking to know that I will have to give up my ardent desire for speed & machines. Leave aside driving, I will not even be able to walk well with reduced vision.
Many suggested to me to leave the field of engineering, and switch to a safer profession like management or bank officer, but it was an excruciating idea for me. I realized that mechanical engineering was not practical now, but it was very difficult to abandon my passion. Moreover, the alternatives, such as becoming a bank officer, were something that my mind could just not accept.
To go on with my zest for engineering, I finally decided to pursue my career in computers that looked more viable, due to availability of assistive technologies like magnifiers, high contrast mode etc.
It was initially hard to create interest in computer engineering, which I always considered to be inferior to mechanical, because it lacked high speed adventure that is integral part of thermal sciences. But since it was the only practicable path at that time, I pushed through it.
Vision loss was even rapid in last few semesters of my degree. I was able to complete computer engineering but future looked quite uncertain.
I always had a passion for mechanical engineering. I could never imagine a life without machines, especially when machines create speed. This keen interest in speed & engineering made me specialize in thermal sciences in my mechanical engineering course.
When I came to know about the progress of my retinal degeneration, this keenness suffered a big blow. It was shocking to know that I will have to give up my ardent desire for speed & machines. Leave aside driving, I will not even be able to walk well with reduced vision.
Many suggested to me to leave the field of engineering, and switch to a safer profession like management or bank officer, but it was an excruciating idea for me. I realized that mechanical engineering was not practical now, but it was very difficult to abandon my passion. Moreover, the alternatives, such as becoming a bank officer, were something that my mind could just not accept.
To go on with my zest for engineering, I finally decided to pursue my career in computers that looked more viable, due to availability of assistive technologies like magnifiers, high contrast mode etc.
It was initially hard to create interest in computer engineering, which I always considered to be inferior to mechanical, because it lacked high speed adventure that is integral part of thermal sciences. But since it was the only practicable path at that time, I pushed through it.
Vision loss was even rapid in last few semesters of my degree. I was able to complete computer engineering but future looked quite uncertain.
I used to ask the ophthalmologists I consulted about the rate of degeneration, and the amount of time I had before I loose my useful vision, but all of them gave me hope instead of stating facts. I knew that macula in my left eye was degenerating very rapidly, and right eye would be following the degeneration in the same pattern. So one day, I bluntly asked an ophthalmologist that I know that I am loosing reading capability, and whether it was time for me to start learning Braille and similar skills. He replied with hesitation that I should start some practice of Braille.
This thought of learning Braille was not tolerable for my parents because I could still somehow read, but I was stubborn on this issue and made my way to the AICB- New Delhi, where I started learning all the skills that were now a must for self subsistence.
Accepting blindness was very tough for both me and my parents, but this step became one of the turning stones in my life. It helped me overcome fear of the approaching blindness, preparing me for the worst-case scenario, and actually made me more efficient in performing day-to-day activities.
But at the same time, it also made me realize that rehabilitation centres are overlooking the new generation enabler, the technological advancements that information technology is presenting, and are actually underestimating the potential of visually impaired.
I continued working as freelance programmer and kept on refining my potency in JAWS scripting and using programming platforms with the help of JAWS.
Some months later, I visited NAB Delhi and met Mr. Dipendra Manocha. After getting to know of my engineering & programming skills, he suggested me to start contributing to accessibility related projects. He encouraged me by stating that I am a rare combination who knows the needs (as I myself suffer from vision loss), and also have the capability to develop access technology. I came to know about DAISY books then, while Mr. Manocha also introduced me to the field of accessible digital publishing. Finally, I ended up working with the DAISY Consortium as a software developer.
A couple of years later, I got the responsibility of leading the Obi project – the audio NCX book production tool. The success of Obi was a benchmark in my career that helped me gain the trust of my seniors that resulted in attaining the responsibility of the Obi-Tobi project, formerly known as the Urakawa project. Now, I was not only leading the cutting edge project, but was also involved in research of upcoming technology along with experienced minds from different parts of the world.
Along with the professional development, my academic life also took on a new dimension. After 5 years of experience in technology development, I thought of going for management education because now my ambition of becoming a self dependent engineer was fulfilled and I was leading software development projects.
It was time to look for proper management education and with God’s grace, I got admission in Indian Institute of Management – Kozhikode in year 2008. Now I was again a student, completely dependent on screen readers, and the problems of accessible books rose up again. But there was no effective solution available.
The administration of the institute told me that none of them had any experience of having a visually impaired student. It took some months to get the minimum facilities required for visually impaired. In first 2 terms, I could not even get extra time for giving exam through scribe. But gradually, the guidelines were formed, and most of the things were sorted out as the course progressed. This was a learning experience for the institute also, so such of the problems were, in a way, expected. IIM-K also tried to contact publishers for electronic copies of books for me, but publishers were not able to provide any of them.
I graduated from IIM-Kozhikode in early 2010. But it was not the end of my academics. My vision loss had moulded my fascination for machines into a quest for understanding war strategies, and the study of human mind. So I decided to go further for advanced specialization in strategy.
It was a challenging year, full of excitement, stress & many amazing experiences that tested me and also helped me develop me into a mature person.
On March 17, 2012, I graduated from Indian Institute of Management – Kozhikode in Executive MBA specialized in strategy. It was satisfactory to successfully complete one of the most rigorous management programs in India, but I will say that it is just a milestone.
A long journey still lies ahead. Now, along with project management responsibilities, I am also part of strategy formulation management team of DAISY Consortium.
And the journey continues...
It was time to look for proper management education and with God’s grace, I got admission in Indian Institute of Management – Kozhikode in year 2008. Now I was again a student, completely dependent on screen readers, and the problems of accessible books rose up again. But there was no effective solution available.
The administration of the institute told me that none of them had any experience of having a visually impaired student. It took some months to get the minimum facilities required for visually impaired. In first 2 terms, I could not even get extra time for giving exam through scribe. But gradually, the guidelines were formed, and most of the things were sorted out as the course progressed. This was a learning experience for the institute also, so such of the problems were, in a way, expected. IIM-K also tried to contact publishers for electronic copies of books for me, but publishers were not able to provide any of them.
I graduated from IIM-Kozhikode in early 2010. But it was not the end of my academics. My vision loss had moulded my fascination for machines into a quest for understanding war strategies, and the study of human mind. So I decided to go further for advanced specialization in strategy.
It was a challenging year, full of excitement, stress & many amazing experiences that tested me and also helped me develop me into a mature person.
On March 17, 2012, I graduated from Indian Institute of Management – Kozhikode in Executive MBA specialized in strategy. It was satisfactory to successfully complete one of the most rigorous management programs in India, but I will say that it is just a milestone.
A long journey still lies ahead. Now, along with project management responsibilities, I am also part of strategy formulation management team of DAISY Consortium.
And the journey continues...
With regards,
Avneesh Singh
Avneesh Singh
Really a wonderful and inspiring story.
ReplyDeleteIn India there are many Visually Impaired who work hard to acheve their goles, but very few get success.....
Why not you put logical or mathematical captcha instead of graphical one?
ReplyDelete