Sanjay Gaonkar lost his eyesight at the age of 24 to a rare disease. Now battling multiple odds for 15 years, the 39 year old has successfully created jobs for several people.
“I completed my bachelors in mechanical engineering in 1994 and everything seemed on tract in my life. But the same year, I started losing my eyesight and, with it my confidence. We are a middle class family and back then, I had no idea how I would support my family with a failing eyesight. My doctor told me I would eventually lose complete vision and should accordingly train and prepare myself by visiting the Helen Keller institute for deaf & blind in Navi Mumbai as well as the national association for the blind (NAB) India. I eventually lost full vision in 1997. It was the lowest point in my life” says Gaonkar, a resident of Thane city, Maharashtra. A state-level gold medalist, Gaonkar had to give up athletics too after the loss of vision. However, his family and friends did not give up on him. They “instilled” back his confidence and he decided to use his skills in entrepreneurship. “I had lost my sight, but my mind was working. I thought why not put my education into good use and start my own business. I approached NAB India and Maharashtra State Handicapped Fiancé & Development Corporation, which lent me Rs. 4.5 lakh in 2004 to set up my own business” he said. Accordingly Gaonkar along with his Partner Atul Malvade, started a business in Navi Mumbai. The firm, which handles machinery and fabrication work for a variety of business, now employees 45 engineers and 100-odd workers. In recognition of his efforts, Gaonkar was recently given a National Award in the category of best self-employed. In 2009, Gaonkar has also received an award from the state of Maharashtra meant for those who are handicapped but self-employed. He was also declared the “outstanding self-employed blind entrepreneur” by NAB India in 2012. I started with one laborer and today we have 45 engineers and 80-100 laborers and workers, I want to expand further and he recently started a manufacturing unit in Bhiwandi for barrels and drums used in oil sector. It has been a tough, but a rewarding and humbling journey” he said. Source – The Sunday Express. Time to meet up again! Register for AccessIndia Convention 2014: http://accessindia.org.in/harish/convention.htm Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in 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..
