Good Madleen that you have said it is perfectly normal to be guided in england too. We here in India have not lost the colonial mentality of centuries and believe in copying and pasting habits from west. Here, the ambience seemed to suggest that a blind person must at all cost be independently mobile for it is the paradigm of productivity in west. Hope the opinions would change now in India.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mann, Madleen Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 8:57 PM To: Geetha Shamanna; [email protected] Subject: Re: [AI] behaviour of my superior Dear Mahesh, I would be shocked about this too. I think it is perfectly normal to be guided by someone. Indeed here in England people would probably try to ask for a support worker to fly over to the states for a conference with them, just to avoid hassle and to get the most out of the conference and the trip. I think it was fair enough that he asked you for a one to one communication but as you state you are the person who really should be going there so please if at all possible don't withdraw your nomination but show them how capable you are. Maybe it's the opinion some people have but it is by all means not the opinion they should have. And as for the comments about accidents, they can happen to everyone not just to you because you have no sight. Please update us on this Best wishes, Madleen Mann RNIB Customer Sales and Support/Technology 105, Judd Street London WC1H 9NE t: 0207 391 23 08 E: [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Geetha Shamanna Sent: 24 September 2010 16:05 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AI] behaviour of my superior Hi Mahesh, Please do not get me wrong for asking you these questions, but how independent are you? Do you travel to work and move around within the office on your own? Do you use a white cane? Do you travel independently outside Pune on your own, be it for official or private purposes? The impression colleagues at work have of us blind people is to a large extent dependent on the way we conduct ourselves. If a blind person requires assistance to move around within the office or to commute to work, colleagues will always assume that blind people are dependent. It is not their fault entirely; that blind person in their office might be the only blind person they have come across in their whole existence. Instead of going to the press and publicising this issue, what is probably required here is for you to have a long and candid talk with your superior and try and convince him that you are capable of looking after yourself during the US trip, and that you will not be excessively dependent on the colleagues traveling with you. You can also ask him to specifically list out his reservations; you can then address them individually. If you have traveled alone previously, tell him how you did so and how independently you dealt with the situation. It won't be easy, but each of us will have to fight this battle on our own. Finally, if he is not sufficiently convinced and does not agree to send you to the conference, do not give up. Whenever opportunities to travel to local conferences or other events within Pune or other parts of India arise, be the first one to apply. He may not be averse to sending you to local events; so make full use of it and try to be as independent as possible during these events. You will then notice how your superior's impression of you changes. Geetha ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mahesh Shah" <[email protected]> To: "accessindia" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 5:45 AM Subject: [AI] behaviour of my superior Dear Friends-- I am writing to this list after a long time. I wish to tell you an incident happened in my office , which shocked me. Every year, a delegation goes from my office, C-DAC, to participate in SuperComputing conference in USA. This year I put my self-nomination for this. I am the most qualified and most senior person for the job. But my boss called me for a one-to-one discussion and informed me that it will be 'embarrasing' to send a person (VI) like me in . the delegation. Because I will require someone's support and will hold someone's hand. Also if some accident happens to me because of my disability, he and office will be hold responsible for why they sent such a person. I was really shocked and upset with the behaviour. Then I withdrew my nomination for participation in the conference. Friends, I want to show you that how these learned so-called superiors fail to understand the VI peoples aspirations and behave in such a nonsense way. Thanks for sharing my concerns. Mahesh Shah Pune 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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