A ‘vision’ary step for the visionless

If Rakesh Pandit, a second-year student pursuing his degree in Arts, has a harrowed look on his face, there’s a reason for it. His computer has crashed and he needs urgent replacements. Which should be easy enough to do in a city like Pune, which can lay claims to be spearheading the IT revolution in many ways. The problem is that Rakesh is a visually challenged person and his requirement for the special software installed in his computer cannot be easily fulfilled. However, Rakesh need not worry about this being a perennial issue. Come January 2008, any such demanding situation will be met head-on courtesy a special resource centre for the blind which is being set up by the Pune-based Snehankit Association For The Blind. It’s a centre that will provide 100 different services and equipment for the visually challenged under one roof. Located on Kumthekar Road, the resource centre will have a collection of not only software for mobile phones and computers but also regularly required items like walking sticks, audio calculators, and braille watches that help make the blind self-reliant. “Our study shows that a lot of visually challenged people from all over Maharashtra come to Pune for many of their needs, which also includes education and medical treatment. Since there is no single resource centre that offers various facilities, we thought we would start one,” says Rahul Deshmukh, founder-president of the Association. Interestingly, the centre will be run by visually challenged persons. In fact, the Snehankit Association came into being when Rahul proposed the idea to his friends Siddarth Dhukte, Rohit Patil, Amit Durge and Mahendra Ladkat in 1998 when they were all studying together in a school for the blind. “We had been facing quite a number of problems and realised that our experiences were similar to those of others who were in the same situation of helplessness. The Association came into being in a small room and essentially started as a place to build confidence among the visually challenged with competitions and networking,” Rahul informs. With time, and the building up of resources, a computer-training institute was established. “This, we felt, was necessary so that the blind would not feel left out in a world that was quickly moving towards complete computerisation,” he adds. The computer centre works on the software called Jaws for Windows that is a screen-reading software and reads aloud the typed words. Through this software even the non-seeing can work on the internet and even make power point presentations. Students here undertake different courses in domains like MS Office, CNC++ etc. That nothing is impossible is a fact that Rahul and his friends not only believe in but have also proved. A meritorious student in class 12 as well as in BA, Rahul has done his masters in Sociology along with a degree in education. “The general perception in our society is that the visually challenged cannot do anything. That’s wrong. Our capabilities cannot be dismissed. The only thing is that we have to achieve our goals by adopting another route. Our association works with the goal of creating awareness among people by telling them that our potential is as good as those of people with normal sight,” Rahul states. Reverting to the resource centre, Rahul informs that once operational, it will help at least 5-6 lakh visually challenged people in Maharashtra. “We are also hoping to provide counselling and career guidance services for the blind in addition to reaching out through our Disability Employment Cell,” he says. The venture capital for this centre has been to the tune of Rs 6 lakh and Rahul and his team are in talks with a company called Freedom Scientific in the US to obtain assisting technology such as a software called Note Taken that helps the blind take notes in a classroom and an audio notice board that helps the visually challenged working in bigger organisations listen to official updates. “We admit that recurring expenses will be beyond our capabilities and therefore are soliciting corporate assistance,” Rahul states. The hurdles, he knows, are aplenty. But as in the past, he is confident of stepping over them.

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