Dear Prateek Jee and entire Access Indian Members, please read the whole content of this mail.
A hundred times salute to such a great successful lady. But, may I have the courage to reveal the other side of picture? Pasting the exact letter which I had written few days back to the NAB Headoffice in Mumbai after discussing particular issue with Honourable All India Secretary General, National Association for the Blind. To: Honourable All India Secretary General Date: 19/05/2010 National Association for the Blind Worli, Mumbai Subject: Regarding misconduct made by Honourable Secretary General NAB Kolkata Dear Sir, The purpose of writing this letter to you is not merely seeking justice or demanding any facility, in fact it’s an endeavor to reinstate attention of NAB towards the basic objectives and aims of Non Governmental Organisations. I am Himanshu Sahu, 28, 100% VI, lost my eyesight in year 2003 and now working in Allahabad Bank Kolkata as the Confidential Secretary of Field General Manager and Deputy General Manager. Earlier, after completion of Higher Secondary in year 2000 I had dropped my studies and had started doing business. As I have mentioned above that I am a late blind and after going through rehabilitation process of around two years, with the help of several NGOs and individuals, last year got employment. Now I have restarted studies and expected to appear in first year’s exams of Bachelor Degree Programme of IGNOU in coming June. For this very purpose, conventionally I require a scribe and to arrange it, I contacted NAB Kolkata office and along with this requested to the individuals and other NGOs, working for the welfare of Blind people. When I contacted NAB through telephone, the gentleman who received the call replied that I should contact Honourable Secretary General, Ms. Kanchan GABA, as only she can solve my purpose. Further, I called on the cell number of honourable madam and when informed about the issue,"come to the NAB office and give an application”, she replied harshly and disconnected the call. After two-three days when I called her again to ask about her availability in the office, so that I can submit the application and request her to help me. This time she stopped me from coming to office and asked the details about exam and my requirements. Further she assured me that she would look after the matter and asked me to call after three-four days. Hitherto, I have called her more than fifteen times, but each and every time honourable madam disconnects the call just after asking my identity. Sir, neither I had any intention nor interest to approach honourable madam personally; indeed I was trying to approach Secretary General of NAB Kolkata. As in individual the disgusting behaviour of respected madam clearly suggest me her approach towards the responsibilities assigned and expected to deliver from NAB and blind community. It reveals that the wonderful successes and fame, which respected madam has bagged during her career journey has made her big headed and taken her away from actual purpose and grass root level where still lots of issues and intricacies are awaiting to be solved. “I have been very competitive since childhood,”, “Law is a prestigious profession, and it also lets me help people who need assistance.”, “If you want to be a lawyer, you have to be a good talker,” she advises. “It is your mode of talking which influences your client. You have to be very communicative”, “We would like society to stand with us to serve the downtrodden,” signs off GABA. These are some of the expressions of so called vision of respected madam, to the media and other agencies like IWay. Is it parallel to the manner in which she treated me? Is she really assisting blind people? Does she truly stands with other blind people who can’t walk on ramp? I don’t think so, sir. I might sound cynical in my writing, but would like to assure you that I am completely optimistic person and possess humanitarian and supportive approach towards whole community. In the present scenario, where VI employees are craving and complaining for not getting work in banking sector, I am performing the job of “Confidential Secretary” of FGM and DGM within only one month of my joining in the bank. I too deal with a number of business tycoons of Kolkata, complain of several customers and even instruct branch managers on behalf of Zonal Head. Employees from our other offices especially come to meet me and witness that how can a blind perform such a job? DGM, the person who himself was the Chairman of the selection committee and had no idea about how VIs work, now acknowledges our capability and efficiency. But these praises and acknowledgements have not taken me away from my responsibilities and still I consider myself as a blind person and forward hand to them who require my assistance. However, arrangement for the writer has been already made through my personal contacts, even than I am informing about the incident because The behaviour of respected madam has deeply disheartened me and it is absolutely unexpected from the person who is well aware of our pain and agony and herself has gone through the similar adverse situations in her life. Therefore I request you to kindly ensure that repetition of such incidents don’t take place at least from individuals holding prominent position in NAB which is known for it’s philanthropic efforts. I expect that somebody would make honourable madam realize that she is allocated with a duty of facilitator rather than a dictator. And to serve our community she requires coming out of the milieu where she is surrounded with celebrities and busying in organizing dazzling charitable ramp shows. Your kind response would be highly appreciable. Yours sincerely Himanshu Sahu CS to FGM Allahabad Bank Kolkata Reach: 09051055000 E-mail ID: [email protected] I request officials of NAB that kindly don't take this mail as a attempt to defame the organisation. I explicitly accept and admire the contribution of Nab for the blind community. On 8/9/10, prateek aggarwal <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello all, > > the following story has tremendously inspired me. > > its about a woman, who showed the world one of the best definition > of achievement. > we are proud of her! > i'm just amazed to read all this. > > taken from a blog on the web, the article is pasted below. > > > --- > Kanchan Gaba was only eight years old when her world became dark. She > was in Std II, and one morning she woke up to see… nothing. "I rubbed > my eyes several > times and then screamed out in horror. I felt the world closing up > around me…" Doctors said she had glaucoma with retinal detachment. “I > was too young > to understand what I had lost,” she says, but her parents refused to > believe that their daughter had become blind. She remembers their > mood; for one year, > they took their daughter everywhere possible for treatment. They > finally reconciled themselves to the fact that their daughter would > never see again. > > "I was admitted to the Calcutta Blind School. I started learning > Braille. My mother tongue was Punjabi, and the medium of instruction > was Bangla. So even > though I scored 94% or 96% in all subjects, I got only 36% in Bangla,” > Kanchan remembers. “I was determined to excel in that subject too.” In > her Std X > exams, this strong-minded young girl topped the Handicapped Section in > West Bengal. She then finished her Std XII exams from Lady Brabone > College, and > went on to go to law college on a national scholarship. > > In school, she had joined the four-and-a-half year Girl Guide > programme with other children, all sighted. "Once again I was happy. > The programme included > first-aid training, tent pitching, fire fighting, forest and mountain > trekking." Along with completing her secondary and higher secondary > level exams with > elan, Kanchan completed her Girl Guide course – learning first-aid, > survival skills in a jungle, walking over wooden bridges, crossing > streams, etc. > > Later, Kanchan did a full-fledged course in rock climbing at the > Darjeeling Institute of Mountaineering, scaling the Tenzing Rock, the > Gambhu Rock and > the Sandakfu. She won the state's Best Girl Guide medal, and qualified > for the national meet in Adra, Purulia. Here, she defeated nearly 600 > non-disabled > competitors from all over the country to win the President's award, > presented by Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma, in 1994. > > The President of India is the chief patron of the Bharat Scouts and > Guides, which is affiliated to the International Scouts and Guides, > headed by the Queen > of England. Kanchan has represented India twice at international Girl > Guide meets: in London (1997) and Bangladesh (2001). > > In London, she was the only blind person among 700 participants. The > gruelling competition’s 40 challenges could be completed by only 40 > children, Kanchan > being one of them. > > She did everything much faster and better than others. "I climbed the > difficult Harrison Rocks, abseiled from a 150 feet high tower, > rappelled down rocks > and did river rafting...," and scored much higher to win the Best Girl > Guide in the World Award. > > Queen Elizabeth II, while presenting the award, admitted, "I would not > have believed Kanchan’s story had I not seen her perform with my own > eyes." A dinner > was hosted at the Buckingham Palace in her honour. > > In 1997, Kanchan received the SCORE award for Sporting Excellence (in > the blind category), given to her by Kiran Bedi, and the Neelam Kanga > ‘Successful > Woman’ Award in 2003, presented by the Mumbai branch of National > Association of the Blind. > > Why did she take up law as a profession? “I have been very competitive > since childhood,” she reveals. “Law is a prestigious profession, and > it also lets > me help people who need assistance.” For her studies, she had a reader > who recorded relevant material for her. She studied by listening to > those recordings > as there were “no Braille books at that time”. > > She started work with a senior lawyer while in her fifth year of > L.L.M., organising briefs for clients and doing consultancy work. > Today, she works at > K.D. Associates, and is a successful lawyer in Kolkata, dealing with > intellectual property issues. > > Computers are a great help when she is preparing her briefs. She has > screen reading software, and uses CDs a lot. She also has a reader for > her work. > > Kanchan is a person of myriad interests. She has worked on a year-long > research project on the plight of women prisoners in Bengal. Her work > was supported > by the Scholar of Peace award from the Foundation for Universal > Responsibility, an NGO headed by the Dalai Lama. “I have a background > in both sociology > and law, and women’s issues always interest me,” explained Kanchan. > The second reason for her choice of subject was more personal. “There > is a belief that > disabled people only work for disability. But given a chance, we would > like to serve society as a whole.” She has presented her findings at a > seminar; > and hopes to publish them soon. > > “If you want to be a lawyer, you have to be a good talker,” she > advises. “It is your mode of talking which influences your client. You > have to be very > communicative.” > > Why she does what she does is motivated by a strong desire to > transform the social mindset that takes blind or visually impaired > people for granted, or > views them as fit only for charity. > > She feels that she has been lucky that she has found good people to > help her. Society functions on a give-and-take basis; if you want > something from people, > then you have to contribute your share too – whether you are blind or not. > > Kanchan Gaba can be contacted at [email protected]. > --- > > regards, > Prateek agarwal. > Skype: > Prateek_agarwal32 > Wanna see inside me? My blog is the telescope: > http://www.myfriendprateek.blogspot.com > website: > http://www.prateekagarwal.webs.com > > the best way to accomplish your softwares/websites development needs. > You tell, I’ll build. > > Voice your thoughts in the blog to discuss the Rights of persons with > disability bill at: > http://www.accessindia.org.in/harish/blog.htm > > 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 > -- Thanks and regards Himanshu Sahu Reach: 09051055000 Voice your thoughts in the blog to discuss the Rights of persons with disability bill at: http://www.accessindia.org.in/harish/blog.htm To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. 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