Re: [AI] Your disability is your ownership - My Take by Amar Jain, winner, NCPEDP Mphasis Javed Abidi Public Policy Award 2018

2018-07-29 Thread Amar Jain
You need to be excellent at it than all of us today.

Sent from my iPhone

> On 29-Jul-2018, at 12:41 PM, Arijeet Patil  
> 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: accessindia@accessindia.org.in
> 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 
> tr

Re: [AI] Your disability is your ownership - My Take by Amar Jain, winner, NCPEDP Mphasis Javed Abidi Public Policy Award 2018

2018-07-29 Thread Ved
Really inspiring and motivating.

-Original Message-
From: AccessIndia [mailto:accessindia-boun...@accessindia.org.in] On Behalf Of 
Amar Jain
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2018 10:33 AM
To: accessindia@accessindia.org.in
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

Re: [AI] Your disability is your ownership - My Take by Amar Jain, winner, NCPEDP Mphasis Javed Abidi Public Policy Award 2018

2018-07-29 Thread Akash Kakkar
Nice Amar.
Inspiring

On 7/29/18, Arijeet Patil  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: accessindia@accessindia.org.in
> 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.
&

Re: [AI] Your disability is your ownership - My Take by Amar Jain, winner, NCPEDP Mphasis Javed Abidi Public Policy Award 2018

2018-07-29 Thread Arijeet Patil
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: accessindia@accessindia.org.in
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

[AI] Your disability is your ownership - My Take by Amar Jain, winner, NCPEDP Mphasis Javed Abidi Public Policy Award 2018

2018-07-28 Thread Amar Jain
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