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I’m Naresh, an MBA student in DoMS, IIT Madras. Currently doing summer internship with one of the leading national conglomerates. In our family, we have five members. My parents are not educated but they want us to study well and reach new heights.
Choosing the right career path is the key to success in life. However, for many individuals living with disabilities, a lack of early career guidance creates immense, unnecessary hurdles.
This is my story—the story of how I went from facing complete blindness and deep uncertainty in a rural village to leading state-wide educational reforms and researching assistive technologies at IIT Delhi and to an MBA student at IIT Madras. My main goal in sharing this is to show the incredible impact that proper career guidance, mentorship, and technology can have on a person's life.
I grew up in a supportive family of five. While my parents were not formally educated, they deeply wanted my siblings and me to study well, reach new heights, and become role models for others. I have an elder sister and a younger brother, both of whom are sighted. In our generation, and across all our surrounding villages, I was the only child born with blindness.
Because my eyes looked completely normal, my family did not realize I had a visual impairment when I was born. It was only when I turned two that they started noticing something was wrong. People around me used to throw coins and balls to test my sight; I would always find them, but I was doing it by listening to the sound, not by looking. Even our local doctor missed the impairment because I would naturally turn my face toward people when they called me and walk straight to them by following their voices.
Driven by a relative's advice, my father took me to major eye hospitals, including the LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) and Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai. The specialists explained that my condition was due to an incurable "nerve weakness" affecting the signals between my brain and my eyes. My father was so desperate for a cure, but the doctors explained that surgery was impossible and could cause brain malfunctioning. Realizing medical science could not restore my sight, my parents turned their focus entirely toward my education when I turned six.
My educational path began with major challenges because the school systems around us simply were not ready for a blind student:
My life took a major turn for the better when my paternal uncle discovered the Rural Development Trust (RDT) primary school for the blind in Battalapalli, Anantapur district. Impressed by their care, my parents enrolled me immediately. I quickly adapted to the loving environment, and the next ten years at RDT felt like heaven to me.
I later transitioned to the RDT High School for Inclusive Education (HSIE) in Anantapur for my 6th standard. This was my very first experience in an inclusive school, and it completely changed my perspective. I quickly realized that studying alongside mainstream peers is highly comfortable, efficient, and deeply beneficial for visually impaired students.
During my 8th standard, I received my first laptop from the school. My natural curiosity led me to hang around my seniors. I watched how they used the JAWS and NVDA Screen Readers and practiced on their systems. With that basic knowledge, I began using my own laptop to read, study, and take notes, eventually graduating from the 10th standard in 2018.
I completed my 11th and 12th standards in the commerce stream and pursued a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) in Computer Applications.
The COVID-19 lockdown opened a massive door for me. I read a newspaper article about "Let's Flatten the Inaccessibility Curve" (Let's FICE), an online education initiative for the blind run by an NGO based in Kerala called Chakshumathi. I joined the two-month program and completely understood modern assistive technologies.
Recognizing how life-changing this technology could be, I contacted the director of RDT's Disability Inclusive Development sector to bring this program to Andhra Pradesh. To overcome the language barrier, I took on the responsibility of translating the materials and teaching classes for a newly formed Let’s FICE Telugu Group.
After the pandemic, this relationship grew exponentially:
Alongside this, I volunteered my technical skills for broader regional impact by collaborating pro bono with Benetech India's Digital Literacy project. I conducted workshops in Telugu, training visually impaired individuals across South India on how to couple Android devices with external keyboards and access digital books.
I completed a full year of dedicated volunteering at my alma mater's inclusive campus, helping to transform the school's traditional learning tools into digital tools. My incredible growth has led me to my next big chapter: I have been selected by the National Centre for Assistive and Health Technologies (NCAHT) at IIT Delhi to work as an Assistive Technology Trainer and Researcher.
From a young boy navigating a village by sound, I have grown into a technology researcher and educator. I am forever indebted to my alma mater and mentors for creating a path that proved to me that with the right tools, guidance, and mindset, nothing is impossible.