Where there is a will, there is way. These words exemplify the life of 35-year-old Mohammed Asif Iqbal, the first Indian visually impaired to get a Management of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management in 2005.
Iqbal grabbed a job at PricewaterhouseCoopers Private limited where he is presently a Manager looking after e-governance and human resource issues. Iqbal has been felicitated with State Role Model award in 2007 by the West Bengal (WB) Governor. A National Award has also been presented to him by Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.
Interestingly, besides being studious, Iqbal is a techno-savvy person by using software like Job Access with Speech (JAWS) on his computer and inbuilt voice over on his i-phone. JAWS is a computer screen reader program for Microsoft Windows that allows blind and visually impaired users to read the screen either with a text-to-speech output or by a Refreshable Braille display. With the help of JAWS Iqbal reads online newspapers and does online banking. He is also a regular user of social networking sites and blogs.
This Bhagalpur born boy would often be discouraged by his teachers till class sixth for being unable to score well because of this 50 percent lost eyesight. “Sir I would suggest you to take your invalid son out of the school. He is not meant for learning, a teacher said to my father,” Iqbal said. But his parents always inspired him to study just like the parents of a normal child. At the age of nine-years-old, his United States based Uncle Dr Hodda and aunty (father’s elder brother and his American wife) took him with them to the US so as to cure his condition and provide better education horizons.
Describing the hurdles as a new comer to US, Iqbal said, “I used to fail in many subjects initially but my aunt would always say that I had the potential to perform well. With such motivating words and constant hard work I learned all the skills like studying in latest technologies convenient for people like me and graduated with 90 percent in high school. After class 12th I felt returning back to my parents at Kolkata and help them. By the age of 16, I began losing my complete vision.”
“Observing my craze to study further, my 12th pass father helped me to tutor under one of his Commerce Professor of St Xavier’s College, Kolkata. The Professor Uncle too suggested me not to opt for commerce and rather pursue Arts as I was a blind. But, I was determined to take commerce and impressed the St Xavier’s College’s Vice Principal with my keen aspiring words when he requested me not to beg for mercy because of my disability if I am enrolled as a Xavierian,” explained Asif.
For Iqbal it was not easy to find a writer to read and write on his behalf at the Common Aptitude Test (CAT), Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) and Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) after the concerned exam authorities gave him the permission to write the exam with help of a writer.
Asif explained this entrance exam phase saying that, “I could not crack any of the management entrance exams and secured just two marks less than required in SNAP. Somehow, I approached the Symbiosis authorities and was allowed to undergo my MBA in Human Resource there after a special group discussion and personal interview by the senior most officials.” It was from 2003 to 2005 in MBA life period that gave Iqbal the environment to explore a normal human being such as trekking and freaking out with friends.
Narrating the added feathers to his career, Iqbal echoed, “I have worked in Unique Identification Authority Development of India (UIDAI) projects and was assigned to work in the special enrollment camp for physically challenged related to UIDAI 2010 at Ranchi. I have also framed the WB Police e-governance strategy.”
Today he is living a happy married life with a 2.5 year old daughter. The visually -impaired manager joyously sang ‘Hum honge kamyaab ekdin … (we shall overcome someday)’ and said ‘I firmly believe the lyrics of this song as it elaborates that if you have faith on yourself, you can fulfill your aspirations.”