Ask any of the hearing-impaired students at the Little Flower Convent Higher Secondary School who topped their school this year what their ambition is, and the answer is the same: chartered accountancy.
This, said the teachers, is thanks to one of their former students, S. Deepika who is now a chartered accountant and works at Cognizant Finance.
“Deepika has inspired a lot of students here to take up CA. She is the first and only one from our school to become a chartered accountant,” says M. Jesintha Rosalind, principal of the school.
ADVERTISEMENT
At Deepika’s home in K.K. Nagar, the television runs on mute, as she and her parents — both hearing-impaired — watch a Tamil serial.
After she finished school in 2007, Deepika began studying for CA, while completing a commerce degree at the University of Madras through correspondence.
“It took three attempts and it was very difficult. But, I finally cleared it in 2012,” the 25-year-old writes in response to questions from
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
For one year, she worked at an audit firm and went everywhere for audits – banks, corporates, trusts and schools.
“It was very good but I wanted some corporate experience,” she says.
Seven months ago, when a position came up at Cognizant, Deepika applied and wrote a test.
On her first day there, she was scared, but has now settled in as a trainee on the revenue team.
“I’m the only differently-abled person in my office but all my colleagues are very friendly and supportive. I communicate with them by writing notes and while they use the phone, I only work on the computer,” she writes again.
For her parents, Sudershan Kumar, a gazetted officer in the Indian Air Force and Chitra, an office superintendent, her education was paramount.
“After my marriage, I moved to Delhi where my husband was. When my daughter was born, doctors diagnosed her impairment and advised us to transfer to Chennai as education would be better for her here,” writes her mother.
And so, when Deepika was three, the family moved south. Deepika’s younger brother Dipesh, who does not have the disability, works at a healthcare firm, she says through a note.
On weekends, Deepika learns Bharatanatyam and her favourite occupation in her spare time is watching television shows on her laptop with the subtitles on.
Prison Break, The Mentalist and Friends top her list, she said. Otherwise, she curls up with Harry Potter.
“I owe my teachers a lot. It is thanks to their encouragement that I decided to take up CA,” Deepika signs off.