For those who are adept at turning adversity into opportunity, overcoming setbacks is an art. On World Disability Day, being observed on December 3, some physically-challenged persons share their unforgettable experiences and their undying urge to scale greater heights.

Supporting her family in all aspects, P. Satyavathi, a visually-challegned girl, knew how to make the best use of opportunities. Her exceptional quality of grasping things made her stand out from the rest. After scoring 71 per cent in Intermediate, Satyavathi was able to get recruited in Revenue Department as a junior assistant. Handling both incoming and outgoing calls with ease, she says, “One has to be attentive in keeping track of the in-house meetings and pass on necessary information to relevant departments. Though it is certainly a challenging task, I have now learnt the art of multitasking.”

Satyavathi aspires to clear, in a couple of years, Group I examination while pursuing postgraduation in public information. She says, “Visually-impaired persons should be given a choice. Unfortunately, we still come across people who underestimate our capabilities. This trend should change.

Even after 25 years of his professional life, S. Nimton Babu’s zeal to stretch beyond his limitations made him most popular Principal of Government Residential School for Visually-Challenged Girls. He loost his vision due to congenital disorder, but his constant quest to break the glass ceiling keeps him going. “Rather than feeling sorry for the visually-impaired children, I believe in building up their competencies. My only vision is that they should be treated on a par with the mainstream of society and allowed to explore different domains,” says Mr. Nimton Babu who is keen on setting up a computer lab to equip his students with soft skills.

Nothing can certainly stop S. Ananth Kumar, a hearing-impaired person working as typist at Revenue Divisional Office, from scaling heights. His colleagues say that he is quite efficient at work, switching from Telugu to English languages and vice versa in a split second. Communicating through sign language, he says that he eyes the senior assistant post.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/inching-towards-success/article6657412.ece