A.N.I.
Nagpur; January 11, 2006

A gifted but determined blind girl in Nagpur may never see what appears on the television screen, but she has become India's first blind television newscaster and is now looking forward to scaling new heights. Amrita reads her news scripts in Braille.

At 21, Amruta Bhople is a television newscaster with B.C.N., a local news channel in Nagpur. The channel had organised auditions for newsreaders to which Amruta, a gold medallist in English literature, went with trepidation.

“Since everyone else in society holds biases and doubts the capabilities of a visually challenged person, I too would be hit by the occasional bug of self-doubt. I would pause to wonder if I could really make it even though I had phenomenal interest. So, when the B.C.N. channel called for screen tests, I applied but also feared if I would make it at all. But right from the first test onwards I realised that I could and would make it to the top and also do it better than most," said Amruta.

Amruta's mother Chhaya Bhople has stood by her through all her trials in life. Chhaya feels that Amruta's success is a result of determination. She is not overtly worried about Amruta's future, as she believes that Amruta, who never says die, will succeed in life.

“I would not call the impediments that Amrita faced as huge calamities. Had it not been for these obstacles she would have not been such a fighter, a winner. She continuously challenges herself to excel and pits her capabilities against the sighted so she has no mean goals. She has a lot of interest in her studies and she also stood in the merit list amongst general candidates in her 10th matriculation and plus two examinations," said Chhaya.

The young woman’s next goal is to read the news for a national channel or any of the popular private television channels