#151:From my unlocked diaries: In Pursuit of Purpose – EquiBeing Foundation

It was January 3rd, 2022. I was busy in my office at Khanija Bhavan in Bengaluru … and my phone rang.?It was an unknow number.?But for some strange, involuntary reason my fingers swiped on the phone, and I ended up picking up that call. ?????

It sounded like a familiar voice, but took me a few seconds to know who it was??On the line was Anantha Lakshmi, whom we called AL (in fact she wanted to be called that way!), one of my former colleagues at Fidelity Investments (Fidelity), a company I worked with till 2020. ?It was now perhaps over 2 years since I interacted with AL.?

AL was Head – HR for one of the Business Units at Fidelity with about 2,000 people. I vividly remember having interacted with her during my Fidelity days, and what clearly stood out about AL was her ‘Vision’ … a vision of a different kind.

Back to the phone call; AL asked me if she could come over to Khanija Bhavan to meet me??She wanted to bounce off some ideas and thoughts, and she felt I could in some way help.?Curious and unsure, I agreed to meet AL.

Few days later AL was in my office, very prompt and at the appointed time. ?After exchanging pleasantries, AL settled down depositing a thick bound book and a kindle pad on my desk.?That fat, bound book got me very curious!

What I heard that day from AL over the next 1 hour, not only made me address her as - Dr. AL, but also left me wondering how a person can be so focussed and determined in - Pursuit of a Purpose. After 2 decades in the corporate sector, and quitting her last cushy job with Fidelity, Dr. AL went on to complete her PhD with the prestigious Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. ?

Her doctoral thesis was an in-depth research of about top-30 blind achievers from India.?Some of them were doctors, lawyers, corporate leaders and technologists whom Dr. AL had personally interacted and chronicled their struggles, methods and how they managed to succeed.?With a lot of passion, she explained to me and Rudra, my colleague in KARC-2 about a few of such blind achievers. ??

What left both Rudra and myself spell bound was Dr. AL herself is visually impaired.?But, there she was, with her detailed research busting many myths that surround blindness and blind people – they are sad, ignorant, depressed and anxious individuals and hence need lots of sympathy, help and charity. ?

Dr. AL suffers from ‘Macular Degeneration’, a degenerative visual condition.?Sighted till about the age of 7 years, Dr. AL gradually started to lose her sight over the years.?She has managed to overcome this disability with sheer grit, passion and hope, as against falling prey to self-pity and societal sympathy.?That’s what makes Dr. AL stand out among many such people with visual impairment. ??

Curious I asked Dr. AL – ‘But why did you quit a nice, cushy job?’

Dr. AL answer was clear and candid – ‘Balu, that was my ?1st Chapter of my life.?I now want to dedicate my time and effort to put my research into practice, to give a ray of hope and make a difference to so many out there with visual impairment’.?

With help from a team of passionate volunteers and donors she has recently set up a charitable trust called – ‘Equi-Being’ with a purpose to enhance education, employment, livelihood and quality of life of persons with disabilities.?Dr. AL dreams of a world that treats persons with disability with dignity and respect.?

Through her research and her own lived experience, Dr. AL underscores the importance of physical agility for visually challenged children.?Keeping this in mind, Equi-Being is piloting several events in schools, to make sports more inclusive.??Besides, other focus areas have been reviewing educational aids for the blind, educating parents and teachers on how to enable them and being a role model for blind children.

In the last several months, Dr. AL and her team have been actively working with the State Disability Departments in Karnataka & Kerala.?Meeting with many bureaucrats, she has started to convert her vision into action. ?

Dr. AL and her team interacting with the staff of Govt. blind school in Hubli, Karnataka

Dr. AL interacting with blind kids in a School in Mysore?

A Blind football exhibition match conducted at DPS, Bangalore North, as a way of inclusive sports awareness?

Despite a slight set back in her health in the last few weeks, there is no let up in the zeal and drive to be focussed on her purpose. Dr. AL and her team have pulled off many swimming and football camps for blind children with an aim to make them fit to compete at a district level, with normal children !

Swimming camp for the visually impaired kids conducted by Equi-Being at Kozhikode, Kerala

Looking back, it’s been about 11 months since Dr. AL set out to execute on her vision.?Her attitude to keep trying, and never give up is truly admirable.?

Often for many of us who are ‘sighted’, challenges & fears become bigger in our head, when they are translated through what ‘we see’ through our eyes, and how we process them in our head.?Perhaps it’s this very ‘lack of vision’ that gives Dr. AL the courage and drive; not be bothered about how the world responds & reacts, but instead just focus on sheer effort, in pursuit of the purpose.?What is needed is an ‘inner vision’.

Dr. AL has vehemently opposed any form of sympathy & charity towards the vision impaired, and goes on to say – ‘For almost 15 – 20 years of my life, I waited for blindness to be the villain that would end my life.?And then it dawned on me when I grew in the corporate world that I was an edge better as compared to my peers.?It was because of my ability to think, without applying any judgemental, visual filters, and only using my mind and heart.?That’s when I understood that this experience gave me so many advantages.?And I was waiting here for many years, only thinking about it as a - Disability’

I am glad I could be of some little help in Dr. AL's journey.??Those wishing to contribute to Dr. AL’s journey in terms of support, financial help or just join her in her ‘Pursuit of Purpose’, can reach out to her on phone -?98809 10903 or follow EquiBeing on …. Instagram handle – https://instagram.com/equibeing.foundation?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Balu

Nov 13, 2022

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