Sometimes destiny puts hurdles and challenges in front of you, but those who accept these challenges and keep moving forward are the real winners. Rama Ganesh Parsekar is one such winner. A resident of Keri-Sattari, Rama passed his 12th standard in the commerce stream from Government Higher Secondary School at Sanquelim in March 1995 in the regular category. However, Rama is 100% visually impaired. He has glaucoma and retinal detachment, which have deteriorated his eyesight. He has been disabled since 1979.
Rama lost his eyesight when he was two and a half years old. “I lost my sight completely in both eyes for about two months after a long illness. After some medical treatment, I regained 35% vision in my left eye, but my right eye did not recover. I went through school and college with limited vision in just one eye. I passed my SSC and HSSC without any help from a scribe or writer and without any concessions. Until year 12, I was treated as a non-disabled student because my disability was not recognised. My favourite subjects were Hindi, Marathi, and computer science.”
“After completing Class 12 in commerce, I enrolled in the first year of a BA at Government College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Sanquelim. It was then that my eyesight began to worsen every day. Eventually, I had to leave college and stay at home. Years passed,” recalls Rama, now 48.
When he became completely blind, he stayed at home for 19 years, continuing to receive eye treatment and searching for a suitable educational institution. “My parents were worried about how I would cope with my disability and were reluctant to let me leave home. But I convinced them, and I started attending the National School for the Blind (NAB) in Goa at St Cruz. That was the turning point in my life,” he adds with a smile.
At NAB, Rama learned to use a smartphone and computer with the help of the screen reader app NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access), which allows visually impaired people to use computers with headphones or speakers. Once he gained confidence, he travelled to NAB Mumbai for vocational training. He then went to Bengaluru for advanced computer training at Enable India, an NGO that provides various types of training and empowers people with disabilities by making them economically independent and offering job opportunities in different sectors.
After completing his training at Enable India, Rama got a job as a computer trainer at their Bengaluru office. For six years, he travelled to different states to teach visually impaired students from year 3 to post-graduate level. “I taught basic computer skills, Android mobile use, and typing in English and Devanagari to over 400 students from Bengaluru, Jharkhand, Belagavi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Goa. The institutions I taught at included Noamundy Sabal Centre for Special Abilities, Maheshwari Blind School, Divya Vidyalaya in Jawhar, Palghar, Drushti in Kanya Kendra Girls Blind School, and Patiala School for the Blind and the Deaf, as well as the National Association for the Blind.”
With his experience and exposure, Rama started working as an LDC at the Government College of Arts, Science and Commerce from October 3, 2023. He also mastered an assistive device called KIBO. “Science and technology have given freedom to disabled people, making them independent,” he believes.
Rama comes from a middle-class family of eight, with three elder brothers and two sisters. He was the youngest and the only one with this disability. After losing his father in 2001, he now lives with his elderly mother. Determined to improve his life, Rama aims to find a suitable life partner, buy a bigger home, and continue helping other people with disabilities (PwDs). He keeps himself updated with the latest news, listens to devotional songs, and writes Marathi poems. He also enjoys Marathi movies and has participated in skits, giving heart-warming performances.
Rama advises his students, both disabled and non-disabled, to put in more effort in whatever they do, not to worry about their shortcomings, and to think positively. He also advocates for the proper use of technology to overcome challenges. “The government should digitalise all sectors so that visually impaired and other PwDs can use them independently. There should be free hostel facilities for PwDs in Goa, and the government can work towards this,” expresses Rama, who enjoys playing both indoor and outdoor games. He likes to travel, have fun with friends, and go on picnics.
When asked what he excels at, he promptly replies, “learning new technology.” With a positive outlook on life, Rama’s only expectation from the world is empathy, not sympathy.
