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Tom Sullivan

Actor, singer, author, producer

Visual impairment: Blind due to oxygen oversupply during incubation at birth

Born: 27 March 1947 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA

"Any negative can be turned into positive." This is one of the many "Sullivan's Rules". As an actor, singer, author, producer and motivational speaker, he empowers those around him with his lifelong commitment to achieve.

Born prematurely, Tom was administered an over dose of oxygen while in the incubator. Tom lost his eyesight. But, he never allowed blindness to restrict his way of life.

Vikram Dalmia

Business and Entrepreneurship

Visual impairment: Retinitis pigmentosa

Born: April 4, 1969

"My struggle and impediments in life came more from my family than the outside world,” says Vikram Dalmia. A successful entrepreneur and cricketer, he had to fight attitudinal barriers within his family to make a mark for himself. His conviction proved him right.

Siddhartha Sharma

Entrepreneur

Visual impairment : Became blind at 28 years due to an accident

On December 28, 1990, Siddharth was 24-and-a-half-years old. Enthusiastic about a fast paced environment at Fascination India, he was enjoying every moment. His life changed forever that night in a motorcycle accident. He lost vision in both eyes. However, he did not let that come in the way of his growth as an individual.

Satish Amarnath

Professional

Visual impairment : Blinded by an accident

He had always wanted to be a microbiologist. “My parents wanted me to do medicine so they encouraged me to apply and I got a seat,” he remembers. “After completing medicine, I went back to Microbiology, but the only difference being that now it is Medical Microbiology and not Industrial Microbiology.”

Shivaji Laxman Chavhan

Business and Professionals

Born: July 12, 1951

Visual impairment : Lost eyesight at the age of four following a cataract operation

"Its all in my brain, whether it’s account-keeping, recruitment or staff management”, says Shivaji Laxman Chavhan who does not use any computer or any software; his high-powered concentration, memory and insight give him the necessary skills to run his travel business.

Paul Mudda

Banking professional and social entrepreneur

Blind: From birth

An old Japanese proverb says, "Fall seven times, stand up the eight". Paul Mudda has certainly stood up several times. But for him the falls were twice as painful. Grappling with being visually challenged as well as coping with the trauma of being an orphan is a daunting prospect. Yet Paul has overcome every hurdle in life and stands today as an epitome of inspiration.

Nafisa Shikari

Professional

Visual impairment : Born with visual impairment

In 1988, Nafisa Shikari became Manager and Corporate Dealer at the Central Bank in Mumbai. Till date, she executes ready and forward transactions, advises her customers on hedging their exposures and coordinates with the bank's International Division to arrange foreign currency loans for her clients. Apart from this she also handles the submission of R-returns, a fortnightly statement of all the sales and purchases of foreign currencies of her branch, to the RBI.

K. Ramakrishna

Business and Entrepreneurship

Visual impairment: Blind since ten years of age

Born: January 7, 1950

"You can't be more than what you have unless you become more than what you are. It is worse not to have a vision than being a blind" - K. Ramakrishna

Jyotindra Mehta

Professional

Visual impairment: Retinitis Pigmentosa

Jyotindra V. Mehta was born in a middle class family in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. His visual impairment due to retinitis pigmentosa was a big shock to his family. However, they overcame their anguish and life carried on. Mr. Mehta attended the National High School in Ahmedabad . He was a bright student and Maths, Science and Sanskrit were his favourite subjects. But he was denied studying the first two because of his visual impairment.

Heeru Chandnani

Visual impairment: Blind since birth

Born: April 16, 1978

Making it in life with the right approach and attitude

“Everywhere you go, there are problems, it is how you handle them” says, Heeru Chandnani. For Heeru, her disability is almost a non-issue; it’s all about being comfortable and making others comfortable about your disability. Her positive attitude and practical approach has enabled her to achieve success in whatever she chose to do in life.

Dilip Loyalka

Professional

Visual impairment : Retinitis pigmentosa

Born: December 30, 1958

He manages two businesses in Kolkata, is the author of several well-known books, and has been honoured with several awards. He is also India 's first visually impaired chartered accountant. Meet Dilip Loyalka, a self-made man.

Dr. Ashwini Kumar Agarwal

Visual impairment: Retinitis pigmentosa

Dr. Ashwini Kumar Agarwal is a specialist in banking, and has worked as the Director, National Association for the Blind (NAB), Delhi from 1999-2004.

Atul Sahay

Visual impairment: Became blind at 15 years

Mahantesh

Mahantesh, who had lost his vision due to typhoid at a very early age, has vowed to banish all the adversities the visually impaired students face. With a mission to guide, assist and encourage visually and physically challenged children to pursue higher studies he, along with two other visually impaired friends, started an organisation called Samarthanam Trust For The Disabled. In the local language, the word samarthanam means capable.

Kanchan Gaba

Visual impairment: Blinded in early childhood due to glaucoma

Dipendra Manocha

In 2005, Dipendra Manocha received national award for his contribution in the area of disability. Being visually impaired himself, since his early childhood, Dipendra overcame all challenges and graduated as a merit student. He also completed his M Phil in Indian Classical music. However, during his Ph. D, Dipendra was frustrated by his dependence on others for reading and writing. It was then that he decided to switch his interest from music and devote his life to finding a solution to this problem.

Sant Surdas

Surdas was born blind to poor parents. As a child he was a victim of neglect and abuse among his three brothers, as a result of his impairment. Despite his poor start in life, he eventually came to be known as Sant Surdas.

The child was known as Sur because his parents and neighbours forgot his name. His journey from such misery to being the famous Sant Surdas, to whom even emperor Akbar paid homage, is truly awe-inspiring.

Surdas was born in Siri village near Delhi in 1478 A.D. Being blind, the world including his parents, was unkind to him.

Ravindra Jain

Singer and Musician
Visual impairment: Born blind
Born: February 28, 1944

Ravindra Jain is a consummate musician with a degree of consistency rarely seen in the industry. Born blind, he never allowed his blindness to come in the way of honing his inborn talent.

Buse Gowda

Dancer
Visual impairment : Became blind at three, due to accident
Visual impairment did not come in the way of this dancer who has mastered the Bharat natyam, especially abhinaya.
Buse Gowda has over a thousand performances to his credit. It all started 17 years ago at the Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind when Buse Gowda, as an inquisitive eight-year-old boy, chanced to meet Ashok Kumar, a dance teacher who was just then establishing his school, 'Natyanjali'.

Binod Bihari Mukherjee

A recipient of Padma Vibhushan, Binod Bihari Mukherjee was an artist with diverse interests. His creativity was so intense that it found its way of expression not only in form of paintings but he also murals and sculptures.

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