Nice Amar. Inspiring On 7/29/18, Arijeet Patil <[email protected]> wrote: > What a wonderful take Bhaiya...i glimpsed it just by reading the title line! > Once again, congratulations to all of you who have received this prestigious > award and helped in your own ways to change attitudes to the disabled (this > includes every single one on the list and I honestly feel that AI itself > should get one for its work), and may you have great successes in the > future! > Warmest regards, > Arijeet. > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > From: Amar Jain > Sent: 29 July 2018 10:33 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [AI] Your disability is your ownership - My Take by Amar > Jain,winner, NCPEDP Mphasis Javed Abidi Public Policy Award 2018 > > https://newzhook.com/story/19211 > > While I am not a big fan of sharing my own stories, but little I knew that > it can lead to mindset change. Amazing work by Newz Hook. > > From small-town Jodhpur to a career as a successful equity capital markets > lawyer with one of India's top law firms, Amar Jain's journey is truly an > inspiration. In My Take this week, Jain, who is one of the winners of the > NCPEDP Mphasis Javed Abidi Public Policy Award 2018, shares his story. > None of my family members have any career background in law whatsoever. My > father is into jewellery, my mom takes care of my food pampering, and my > brother is a software engineer. In fact, when I had to decide on a career > option, my father thought that law would be the easiest, given that his > friends studied a day before the exams, and yet did well for themselves! > I was born prematurely. While I was born fine, excess oxygen and negligence > by doctors damaged my retina. I developed retinal detachment. In simple > terms, my retinal veins do not have blood circulation for them to be able to > generate eyesight. In my case, the problem got diagnosed when I was four > months old at which point saving my retina was a nil possibility. > At the time, my family was based in Jodhpur where access to information, > awareness levels, opportunities, etc were all rather limited. The early days > of post-disability diagnosis are hard for anyone. Given the limited > awareness, the attitude you get is mostly sympathy rather than positivity. > Battling disability stereotypes > My parents did whatever they could to accommodate my blindness. As for > others, they changed their thinking based on how I changed. I used to get > comments like - 'what will this poor blind fellow do?' For people at large, > I was more like a social service obligation. > I used to sing and play musical instruments during those days, so people > thought I would become someone famous like the late Ravindra Jain. > Everywhere I went, I would be asked to sing and then people would give me > food and sometimes money. But no one would talk to me. All this led me to > quit music completely. > I got admitted to a blind school, which had its pros and cons. The thinking > there is quite limited. As career options, few were shown. In terms of > sports, cricket, chess and playing cards were the only avenues. Things like > grooming, no one talked about, all of which impacts you later in life. > The biggest challenge at that point in time was to acquire material in a > format which you could read on your own. Books were not available after > class 9 in Braille, and getting audio recordings done was a challenge. I was > lucky enough to find teachers who were enlightened and that got me here. > Attitude change > The turning point was in class 5 when I wanted to go for tuitions like my > friends. I went to my dad and said either get me tuitions or I can’t study > these books. He slapped me really hard and said either learn to do > self-study, or I will get a silver bowl for you to beg, because that’s the > only thing you can do in life if you can’t study. Exactly three days > thereafter, I kept all my books in front of him, and told him “Ask me > anything from wherever you want.”. That one instance made me work for > achieving dignity of my own. > After school I started looking at various career options. We decided that > law was the best option as every government department needs a law officer. > I thought if I do law, I can also help my community to get the rights which > all of us deserve. > Today, I am an equity capital markets lawyer. Simply put, when companies > want to raise money by listing their shares on the stock exchanges, or raise > further capital by issuing new shares or debentures, they come to lawyers > like us, for diligence, documentation, and other transactional advice. > Unlike traditional lawyers, I don’t go to court rooms. I work with a > corporate law firm in Mumbai. I love this area for many reasons. > First, I am not stitched to a particular industry or a company. So the > knowledge which I derive about different industries and companies is a huge > incentive. > Second, due to the current challenges where technology fails, many > experienced professionals believe that it is not possible for a blind person > to become a successful capital markets lawyer. And I want to change this > while I have the opportunity. > Third, I always wanted to work in financial and commercial law. Fourth, I > want to acquire the best of the intelligence from bankers, auditors, private > equity investors, and people running the businesses. > Lastly, I just want to do it. I don’t want 1,000 people who need me, I want > one excellent brain who needs me. > The message I want to give people with disabilities is that this life and > your disability is your ownership. Accept it, move on with it, and decide > for yourself what you want to achieve out of it. People cannot deny your > existence. Don’t allow others to choose things for you. Today, finding > information, right people, and opportunities has become easier. You need to > be active, network with the right people, get to know about other > disabilities, and work together to make life better. Attitudinal barriers > will continue to exist. > To recruiters I want to say this. Employing people with disability is not a > CSR kind of an initiative. They too have lives, and they too need jobs to > survive. And you have to, at the end of the day, deliver business to your > clients. So, understand their capabilities, challenges, devise strategies to > find solutions, equip them with technology, and give them the right moral > support. > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > > > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. >
Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
