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In the era of AI and new Digital World why we stay in sentiments for Special Education, Braille* and Sign Language*
Ram Kamal, Editor & Publisher
With immense joy, deep satisfaction, and an unyielding sense of pride, Chakshumathi brings you this special edition of Diversity Magazine. This issue is not a plea for charity, nor is it a showcase of pity. It is a roaring celebration of our students who have demonstrated what we can only describe as "Insane Independence" in education, shattering outdated glass ceilings by taking their board and competitive examinations completely independently using computers. They are already the undisputed champions of their own lives.
To a world that has historically looked at disability through a lens of suffocating sympathy, these youth are sending an unmistakable, collective message: We no longer want your sympathy; all we demand is full, equal opportunity. Now let’s talk about the opportunities for nearly 300,000 students with visual impairments who are identified in 9 States and who are out of the progress. There will be many more unidentified when we survey rest of India. It is time for the Department of Education, Government of India to wake-up and denounce the old methodologies and implement inclusion of these children under digitally accessible pedagogy. In a sample survey by us in 9 States of India, it is confirmed that:
If Governments, Parents and NGOs join hand with the assistive technology marvels, inclusion and progress will be real. Since 2010, Chakshumathi has relentlessly showcased children with blindness proving their capabilities—writing exams on computers and aggressively pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for higher education. For years, India’s premier institutions, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), were simply not ready to believe in or accept these brilliant minds. Driven away by systemic rigidity, these students turned to global Ivy League universities, which welcomed them with open arms.
Consider the story of Karthik Sawhney, the first blind student to face absolute rejection from the IITs for a BTech admission. Instead of letting his dreams wither, he was embraced by Stanford University, excelled, and is today a leading computer scientist at Microsoft. It was only after seeing such students become global academic sensations that Indian institutions began to wake up to the reality of what they had lost.
Yet, even in 2026, securing admission to the IITs and navigating the inherently non-accessible Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) remains a monumental hurdle. Driven by intense public outcry, authorities finally allowed blind candidates to write the JEE using computers.
But a laptop alone does not equal equity. Because the question patterns themselves remain stubbornly inaccessible, complete independence is routinely denied. For a visceral look at these exact trials, turn to page 36 to read the harrowing firsthand experience of Mohammed Ayaan Khan.
True educational equity requires an absolute overhaul of our infrastructure. Except for the incredible Amita Rathva (featured on page 39), every single student highlighted in this issue studied in mainstream, integrated schools. Amita, residing at a hostel, transitioned into mainstream schooling from the 9th standard onward, fighting hard to bridge the academic gap and claim her right to educational equity. She represents the changing face of children with visual challenges who have historically been destined to spend their lives confined to segregated "Blind Schools".
This is the exact philosophy driving Benetech’s Project Saksharata. This vital project supports blind schools across India to leapfrog into the digital age, urging them to entirely forgo old, typed, exclusive forms of education that are inherently riddled with limitations.
If the skeptics still demand proof that digital excellence is achievable, they need look no further than the icons featured in this issue. Our own Chakshumathi Chairman, Dr. T V Raman, is living proof of what is possible. As a blind computer scientist and mathematician, he is widely regarded as the founding father of modern digital accessibility and serves as a Distinguished Computer Scientist at Google. Read page 8
We celebrate legends like Mr. Harish Kotian, India’s hidden pioneer who became a blind computer coder as early as 1985 and went on to head the Systems department at the Reserve Bank of India as an AGM. These are not isolated anomalies; they are part of a rich lineage of brilliance:
Furthermore, we must reflect on the profound historical perspective offered by Pedro Zurita, the former Secretary General of the World Blind Union. In his iconic "Open Letter to Louis Braille," Zurita boldly warned his peers that for Braille to survive and truly liberate, it must transform and merge with digital technology. Let’s all Work together to create tax payers not pensioners.
Truly, Ram Kamal