It takes drive and determination to get a seat in the two-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB). The total strength for the PG course, which started earlier this month, stands at 441.
In the newest batch are 21 students who refused to let their disability get in the way of their goal to study at IIMB. Some had offers from multiple IIMs, but decided to pursue a course at IIMB because of its reputation. Many have already faced some tough challenges in life with courage, and are looking forward to their time at the institute.
Alok Ranjan, who hails from Bihar, was paralysed from the neck down following a spinal cord injury in a road accident in 2012. Instead of giving up on his dreams, he decided to follow his entrepreneurial drive.
“I was always good in quantitative analysis, logical reasoning as well as verbal reasoning. With the help of assistive devices and by enrolling for online courses, I secured decent marks in CAT. My interviews also went off well," he said. His long-term plan is to start a social enterprise to help differently-abled persons, women and children.
Mihir Anand Kapse, who hails from Mumbai, was employed at an investment bank for over two years. But he faced his biggest challenges while pursuing a course in engineering when he had a ‘severe autistic burnout’, and was unable to perform any advanced task.
"As a result, I took 6.5 years to complete my course when it should have taken four," he said. His job has helped him with autism. He then began preparing for the Common Admission Test. "I joined an online class in June where all the basics were taught. I would log on after returning from my work at 10 p.m. It usually would go on till midnight and later, I revised all my basics till 3 a.m. On weekends, I used to attempt mock papers," he said.
He got a 99.97 percentile in CAT. He attributed his success to his consistency.
Some of these students feel that the environment in private sector companies and academia is becoming more conducive to persons with special needs.
Zubin Sheth, an engineer who hails from Kolkata, worked in an investment company for four years before joining IIMB. He has been diagnosed with a type of scoliosis with multiple joint disorders due to which he has limited mobility.
He feels that there is a significant and positive change in India concerning physical disabilities, which is reflected both in terms of empathy from people and supportive infrastructure. "Private workplaces are all about removing barriers for any person with limitations. They are open to feedback and to accommodating changes," he said, adding that this is also seen in academia.
For Sowmya G.L. from Chennai, communication is a daily challenge. She was diagnosed with profound bilateral hearing loss when she was just two months old. She underwent intensive speech therapy and training so that she is not dependent on sign language.
“Different people have their own unique accent/way of speaking, which is sometimes hard for me to follow. However, I either request them to repeat or to write things down as the situation warrants, which helps me follow the conversation to an extent," she said.
She uses assistive technology in the form of hearing aids, but due to hearing loss of nearly 100%, they help only to some extent.
She has always been a high performer with a high score in the JEE followed by a course in IIT Madras from where graduated in 2019 with a dual degree. Although she was placed in a top multinational company, she chose to pursue an MBA.
