Never-say-die attitude is what made them winners

Visual impairment did not stop Kempahonniah from Tumakuru from working hard to achieve his dream of being an IAS officer.

Mr. Kempahonniah secured the 340th rank in the UPSC examination on his third attempt. “My wife, Anchitha, helped me study by making notes and made me listen to records. My examination and interview was in Kannada,” he said. When asked if visual impairment was a hurdle in writing the examination, he said: “Problems are ubiquitous, but we have to overcome them with confidence.”

An undergraduate student at St. Francis College, Hyderabad, walked into the office of the principal at Devnar Foundation and said she wanted to teach blind children painting. He was nice enough to tell her to go ahead, and she held a very successful workshop. To ensure she could do it, she had practised with her eyes closed and using indents to create a touch-based outline. On the second day of the workshop, a participant came up to her and told her, with confidence, that he could draw a fish on a shoebox using just his tactile sense.