Many people who have a disability don't let it prevent them from leading a fulfilling life. They are an inspiration to both disabled and non-disabled people alike. Alpana Dubey, Goma Rai, and Vishal Jain are among the few people who have proven that visual impairment cannot deter them from achieving their goals.

Alpana Dubey from Pune, Maharashtra lost her eyesight due to meningitis hydrocephalus, while in class 10. Thereafter, she came to Delhi and joined the National Association for the Blind (NAB), where she was taught how to work with computers. The course at NAB enabled her to use JAWS, a screen reading software for the visually impaired.

Alpana took up commerce and finished her schooling from National Open School, Delhi, scoring 80 percent (98 in accounts) in class 12. She went on to pursue B.Com. through correspondence. In 2010, she cleared the Common Admission Test (CAT) and got calls from IIM Bangalore, Kolkata, and Indore. She also made it to Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) and Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Pune.

When she is not busy with her studies, Alpana likes cooking and playing the piano.
 
Goma Rai from Solukhumbu district in Nepal lost her eyesight to prolonged typhoid when she was only four-and-a-half years old. She has done her schooling partly in Nepal and partly in India, and graduated from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, in BA (Programme) course in the foreign students’ quota.

Goma took coaching for the CAT from Career Launcher, where she was given study material in the e-text form. Volunteers from the IIT, Delhi, helped her with mathematics. In 2010, she cleared the CAT and got calls from IIM Lucknow and Indore and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Goma said “NO” to the IIMs and instead opted for TISS as, according to her, it is the best institute for studying human resources.

Vishal Jain is from Bellary, Karnataka. He had more than 90 percent eyesight during his childhood but it started deteriorating gradually due to retinitis pigmentosa. He had to discontinue his studies for almost three years. He then went to Bangalore with the intention of learning computers. He secured an aggregate of 80 percent marks in both class 10 and 12 (from Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore) and an aggregate of 76 percent in his graduation.

Vishal joined a coaching institute to prepare for the CAT. He was given study material in the e-text form, and provided with readers for further assistance. Students from the IIM, Bangalore also helped him a great deal. He cleared the CAT in 2010 and was admitted to the IIM, Lucknow.

Vishal has a passion for music, and is also making a mark as a percussionist.

Apart from the above three, in recent years many more visually impaired persons have made it to the IIMs and other prestigious management institutes. Some of them are Jatin, Gaganbir, Nupur Jain, Sonali Jain, and Sanjeev Mishra.

It should be noted that the Government of India mandates that all government run/aided management institutes reserve 3 percent seats for persons with disabilities (as per the provisions of Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995).

These people highlight the fact that one has to accept every challenge in life and transform it into an opportunity to achieve his or her dreams. It is not easy to be visually impaired nor is it a handicap that prevents you from having a good life.

Though being visually impaired brings its own share of problems and challenges, it should not be allowed to become a handicap that prevents one from leading a good life.