Helpers of the Handicapped- Naseema

DISABILITY is a state of mind and one can rise above physical impairment and lead a successful life with a sense of commitment and dedication is proved by

Naseema Mohammed Amin Hurzuk was born in September 1950 at Solapur, Maharashtra, India. She was a happy active teenager taking part in sports and cultural activities when she was struck with paraplegia at the tender age of 16 years. Her father who was her strongest support died soon after she became paraplegic. Naseema silently suffered the trauma and physical discomfort for several years. During this difficult period her family stood solidly behind her. Her father’s motivation in the form of a couplet always ringed in her ears. 

“Khudi Ko Kar Buland Itna Ki Har Taqdeer Se Pahle – Khuda Bande Se Khud Pooche Bata Teri Raza Kya Hai – Raise yourself to such a status that God himself would ask you your wish.

With inspiration and motivation from Shri Babu Kaka Diwan a paraplegic who ran his own industry, drove his own car and traveled by airplane Naseema overcame her personal grief and completed her graduation and got employment in Central Excise Department on her own merit where she rose to the position of Deputy Office Superintendent before resigning to take up ‘Helpers’ work full time. She participated in the “Stock Mandville Games” for the handicapped held in London in 1973.

While in London she met handicapped persons from all over the world. Seeing the facilities for the handicapped in London and confidence of handicapped from developed countries Naseema decided to work for the physically handicapped. She formed an organization with a few but soon realized that her idea of social work and rehabilitation of disabled was very different from her colleagues. She started anew and formed ‘Helpers of the Handicapped, Kolhapur’ in 1983 with her close friend Rajani Karkare Deshpande and others.

Naseema has received several awards and recognitions.   A few recognitions are as under:

• A portrait of her life and work was included in the book “Daughters of Maharashtra” a record of exceptional Maharashtrian women.
• She was appointed by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India on the Committee under the “National Commission for Women” as a “Member of Expert Committee on Disabled Women” as well as on the Committee under ‘National Trust’ for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation & Multiple Disabilities. This three member committee comprised of the District Collector, Indian Red Cross Authority and Naseema.
• She was invited as a Special Guest for the International Year of Women’s Empowerment 2001 celebration by Maharashtra Foundation in New Jersey, USA.
• She was appointed as a Member of the Advisory Committee of Stri Abhyas Kendra (Women’s Study Centre) of Shivaji University, Kolhapur.
• Naseema was honoured with the CavinKare Ability Award for Eminence for her contribution to the disabled community through her NGO `Helpers of The Handicapped'. 

Naseema has humbly received all awards as representative of ‘Helpers’. She acknowledges that she could not have done anything without whole hearted support of her colleagues, donors, and well wishers.

RUMA ROKA- Noida Deaf Society

It’s world where silence speaks and world flow through actions. But, it inhabitants draw their strength from a dream of being self-reliant and independent. With an aim to fulfill this vision, the Noida Deaf Society (NDS) was started two years ago by Ruma Roka. Today, the organisaton gives vocational training to those with hearing impairment in computers, conducts comprehensive Indian Sign Language classes, along with written English classes to facilitate communication.

Explains Roka, who set up NDS with the help hearing impaired volunteers, “The motive behind starting this was to let the hearing impaired specialize in training programme through computer lesions and basic English-speaking course to sustain them after their basic schooling as there are no proper higher educational avenues for the hearing impaired in India.

She got thinking on this when some hearing impaired friends volunteered to help her to do interpretation work in schools and hospitals. Today, the organization has 58 students pursuing different courses. The NDS presently has two certified hearing impaired teachers for the basic office application sign language course. Other than this, there is a specialized DTP course, which has been created by NIIT media staff and is being conducted twice a week on a voluntary basis by the NIIT media staff.

But the road to success was not easy. Roka faced opposition from the parents of the hearing impaired children. 

“Parents do not know whom to turn to when they realise that their child is born impaired of hearing. Their struggle begins right from the time the child is born and efforts taken to make him live like ‘normal” children are fraught with barriers. Since they feel that success is only possible if their child can talk, they are usually against sign language training and prefer speech therapy which is definitely not the way to provide education, since the child is born hearing impaired. We have to extensively counsel parents before they understand our strategy.” she says.

Other than providing education to the hearing impaired in Noida and NCR, NDS is also paving the way towards self-employment for the instructors. Says Himanshu Sharma, who works as an instructor for the MS office course,

 “I feel that I am able to make a difference to this small community of hearing impaired.”

Nisha Thomas, who was born hearing impaired and is presently pursuing her DTP course at NDS, says, 

“I am looking forward to working as a graphic designer. But, there was a time when I was practically losing communication with everyone around. I felt so isolated, but not any more. With my training, I now that I can stand on my feet and help others like me.”

Ruma Roka says "I always wanted to do something for the less privileged in our society. In 2004 I learnt the Indian Sign Language. This got me in touch with the deaf community and I started researching about the deaf, their issues and the needs. The more time I spent with the deaf, the more I realized the need to do something. There was no looking back from that point. I realized that there were complex issues facing the deaf in the country including lack of education facilities, lack of resources especially designed keeping the needs of the deaf in mind, no avenues for holistic development and so on. Most importantly there is no access to quality training leading to sustainable livelihood.

I found that in India deaf education was in a bad condition. Deaf students are often forced to speak and use of sign language is discouraged. I also found that since schools are not really preparing the deaf for a responsible and independent life, the deaf end up in menial jobs and get deeply frustrated.

To address some of these issues and to bring about a positive change in this marginalized community, I started an organization called Noida Deaf Society (NDS) in 2005. I started from a small two bed room flat belonging to my husband. I just had five students and I was the only trainer. Through word of mouth the organization started growing. We started teaching English using sign language – since we believe that if the deaf picked up English, they could communicate in the workplace with the written word and hence be employable in multiple professions. Thereafter we started training in basics of IT and subsequently expanded trainings to include Life Skills, Grooming, Desktop publishing and graphics and work ethics. When I started, I was the only trainer but today we are a strong team of 15 which includes 12 deaf trainers and support staff.

Our goal is to enable the complete integration of the deaf into the mainstream through education and specialized vocational programs leading to gainful employment. At Noida Deaf Society we understand the constraints of the Deaf and focus on their abilities to bring out the best in them. We have used the visual medium of IT to enable learning. Training programs are conducted by Deaf trainers as we feel that they best understand the needs of the Deaf and also act as role models for the community. Training is conducted in Indian Sign Language using visual aids and multimedia based material. Our trainings have been developed based on market research and are job oriented in nature.

Training in Life Skills and Work Ethics is a key focus area towards preparing the youth for employment. Regular exposure to the industry is provided through guest lectures by professionals, industry visits and workshops. We are also actively engaging with the industry to build sensitivity and raise awareness about the Deaf through workshops, mentoring programs, collaborative industrial training, employee volunteering and sign language orientation. We have so far been able to employ over 170 youth in leading organizations in profiles such as Graphic Designing, Backend IT and Data Entry, Retail, Hospitality, Teaching, Export Houses, Production Units and so on.

Personal Disability- The Champion of Disabled

Give me an assignment and a deadline,” the young man would say. “If I don’t deliver, don’t give me the job.”
 Brave words from a 24-year-old who had just returned from the US armed with a 4-year journalism degree. In spite of high scores, his applications for jobs were rejected. Javed Abidi never tires of this story. Naturally, since he was the young man and the year was 1989. His applications to publishing houses would reach a dead end. All would go well till the interview. A look at Abidi’s wheelchair would determine the outcome of the interview. The wheelchair was part of his life due to a spinal problem. Six months of unemployment made him realise that “India is not disabled-friendly.”


Not one to take things lying down, Abidi resolved to change this mindset. India had long ignored its 70 million disabled population. The only legal provision that existed for long was a 1977 policy that provided 3% reservation in public sector jobs. Just for ‘C’ and ‘D’ grade jobs. “The disabled only got jobs as peons or clerks,” says Abidi. The few laws that covered them later were breached more than followed. For two decades, he has campaigned for the disabled.

Power and compassion - these two words can sum up the focus behind Javed Abidi’s mission. As an impassioned advocate for India’s disabled citizens, he has given voice to an ‘invisible minority‘ - one that has been denied to them by both political and social sectors for decades. It is a subject that he understands firsthand, having been confined to a wheelchair since he was 10 years old. Born with severe sclerosis of the spine, doctors informed his parents that their infant son would not likely survive. They named him Javed, meaning immortal, and it is name that will likely prove surprisingly prescient as his dedication to this population will influence - and improve - the lives of millions for generations to come.

As a child, Abidi traveled with his father to the U.S. to receive medical treatment and was inspired by the atmosphere of empathy and respect extended to disabled persons in this country. He began his crusade as an ‘ambassador for disability’ during high school and continued his efforts into college at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. While working towards a degree in journalism, Abidi remained actively involved in the school’s disability programs - a service that would later prove useful in his professional career as an advocate. Following graduation, Abidi would return home - only to find that most newspaper editors were unwilling to employ him as a political reporter due to his disability. Unlike the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 that prohibits the discrimination of any job candidate based on mental or physical disability, India’s government had yet to pass any similar legislation - effectively ignoring the needs of more than 60 million of the country’s citizens.

Although he would build a successful career as a freelance political journalist, he was approached in 1993 by Sonia Gandhi to head the disabilities unit of the newly established Rajeev Gandhi Foundation, named for her deceased husband, the former Indian Prime Minister. Having little experience in the development of such an entity, he nonetheless built the department from the ground up to give aide and support to disabled persons through legislative lobbying efforts and partnerships with some of the country’s largest corporations. Believing that a united voice could not be ignored, Abidi traveled throughout the country speaking with various disabled groups and creating programs to teach professional skills to the disabled, the majority of whom had never had the opportunity to attend college.

His efforts and determination would result in his crucial role in the passing of India’s Disability Act of 1995, giving legal protection and support to the disabled. Prior to the Act, disabled citizens - a population Abidi has referred to as India’s ‘invisible minority’ - had no legal recourse to demand significant, lasting changes from both the public and private sectors. Among other social protections, the Act provides economic incentives for businesses that hire disabled employees, and allows funding for improved accessibility to public buildings and institutions.

Abidi has since established the National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, which has been instrumental in the creation of a country-wide database to unite employers with disabled workers. And he continues his efforts to inspire those with mental or physical disabilities to act as their own advocates in their struggle to gain the rights that most citizens take for granted. The right to work, to travel, to visit a movie theater or a public pool. It is a struggle that is not yet completed, but for the fierce determination of one man, it is one that is well begun.

Vegetable Vendor to Humanity Hospital

A Dreamer with a Vision

Sometimes a healing touch can perform a miracle that even the most effective medicines can't. No one knows it better than the patients at The Humanity Hospital at Hanspukur near Kolkata because here they have found both - all thanks to the grit and determination of one woman, 80-year-old Subhasini Mistry.

Twenty-five-years-ago, tragedy struck Subhasini's life when she lost her husband to a stomach condition. In her grief Subhasini found her life's calling.

"My husband died due to the lack of proper treatment, so I decided to make a small hospital so that others don't suffer like me," says she.

With no money and four young children to take care of, Subhasini had no time to grieve. She washed dishes, polished shoes, worked as a construction labourer and for 20 years she sold vegetables at Kolkata's Park Circus, never spending a single penny on life's luxuries - all this because she had not given up on her dream of building a hospital.

"I used to earn about five paisa. Two paisa was for rent, two paisa was for eating and I used to save one paisa," she recalls.

The only silver lining in Submarine’s life was her eldest son Ajoy. He was a good student but she couldn't afford his schooling. So she sent him to an orphanage. Ajoy became a doctor.

Today Ajoy and his three siblings are Subhasini's pillars of strength. He attends to the patients in the hospital, his wife feeds them and his sister is a nurse there.

In 1993, the hospital was started from a thatched shed on a one acre land bought by Subhasini from her life long savings. Nearby doctors agreed to volunteer. On the very first day, 250 patients were treated.

Ten years later, Subhasini's dream had become a reality. The Humanity Hospital was constructed in 2002 with donations and help from local politicians.

With eleven departments and doctors providing voluntary service, the hospital's OPD treats 50 patients a day. In more serious cases the patients are admitted and surgeries are performed at nominal fees.

With Ajoy at the helm of affairs Subhasini now spends most of her time tending to the sick or looking after her grandchildren, but she's quick to point out that her mission is not over yet. 

She is nominated for Harmony India silver awards for the year 2007.

Rags to Riches. (Small slum in Chennai Suburb to "FOOD KING"

"I am much interested in writing about the story of this man... i would rather prefer to call him a boy, since he is just 29 years old, coz I live in this same locality".

His story is an inspiration for millions. A self-made entrepreneur, his mission is to help the poor through job creation. E Sarathbabu hit the headlines after he rejected several high profile job offers from various MNCs after he passed out of IIM, Ahmadabad two years ago.

He instead started a catering business of his own, inspired by his mother who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai, worked as an ayah in an Anganvadi to educate him and his siblings. As a child, he also sold idlis in the slum where he lived. 

"We talk about India shining and India growing, but we should ensure that people do not die of hunger. We can be a developed country but we should not leave the poor people behind. I am worried for them because I know what hunger is and I still remember the days I was hungry," says Sarathbabu.

In August 2006, Sarathbabu's entrepreneurial dream came true with Foodking. He had no personal ambition but wanted to buy a house and a car for his mother. He has bought a car but is yet to buy a house for his mother. The "foodking" still lives in the same hut in Madipakkam in Chennai. Today, Foodking has six units and 200 employees, and the turnover of the company is Rs.32 lakh a month. But it has not been a bed of roses for Sarathbabu. After struggling and making losses in the first year, he managed a turnaround in 2007.

How has his experience as a 'Foodking' been in the last two years? Sarathbabu shares the trial and tribulations of an exciting and challenging job.

HE TELLS IN HIS OWN WORDS:-

A tough beginning
As I am a first generation entrepreneur, the first year was very challenging. I had a loan of Rs 20 lakh by the end of first year. I had no experience in handling people in business, and it was difficult to identify the right people. Though I made losses in the first year, not even once did I regret my decision of not accepting the offers from MNCs and starting an enterprise of my own. I looked at my losses as a learning experience. I was confident that I would be successful one day.


Sleeping on the railway platform

My first unit was at IIM, Ahmadabad . When we started our second unit in October 2006, I thought now I would start making money. But I made losses of around Rs 2000 a day. A first generation entrepreneur cannot afford such a loss. But I worked really hard, working till 3 a.m. in the morning. What reduced my losses were the birthday party offers.

I started the third unit again in Ahmadabad but it also made losses. All my units were cafeteria and I understood then that the small cafeterias do not work; I needed huge volumes to work. My friends who were extremely supportive in the first year when things were difficult for me. I had taken loans from my IIM-A friends. They were earning very well.

In December 2006, an IIM Ahmadabad alumni event took place in Mumbai and I decided to go there mainly to get a contract. I was hopeful of getting it. I also knew that if I got the huge contract, I would come out of all the losses I had been incurring.

I booked my train ticket from Ahmadabad to Mumbai for Rs 300 and I had Rs 200 in my hand. As the meet went on till late at night, I could reach the station only at midnight. I missed the train. I decided to sit on the platform till the morning and travel by the next train in the morning. I didn't have the money to check into a hotel. I didn't want to disturb any of my friends so late at night.

It was an unforgettable night as I was even shoved off by policemen from the platform. It was quite insulting and embarrassing. After two hours, people started moving in, I also went in.

A man who sat next to me on the platform gave me a newspaper so that I could sleep. I spread the newspaper and slept on the platform! I sleep well. I got my ticket refund in the morning and went back to Ahmadabad . And, luck did not favour me, I didn't get the contract.

In March 2007, I got an offer to start a unit at BITS, Pilani (Sarathbabu was an alumnus of BITS, Pilani). That was the first medium break for me. For the first time, I started making profits there though the other units continued to make losses. The reason for our success at BITS, Pilani was the volume; there were more students and there was a need for a unit like ours while in Ahmadabad , they have at least a hundred options.

If I made Rs 5000 a day at Ahmadabad in two shifts, here I made Rs 15,000 a day. BITS, Pilani unit gave me the confidence to move on. Unless you make money, you can't be confident in business.


What changed my fortune

When all my friends who worked for various MNCs made good money every month and I made losses with my venture. But I kept telling myself, I am moving in the right direction to reach my ambition and vision. My dream was to provide employment and I was doing just that. I continued to work till 3 a.m. but I never felt tired.

Through BITS, Pilani, I got the BITS, Goa contract and that was the biggest break for me. It was not a cafeteria like the earlier ones but the dining hall that we got. We had to feed 1300 students. We started our operations in July 2007. At Rs 50, for 1300 students, our sale was Rs 65,000 per day. We soon started making a profit of Rs 10 to 15,000 a day. Around 60 to 70 people work there. I gave the charge of the Ahmadabad operations to one of my managers and moved to Goa .

I was still in debt by Rs 15-20 lakhs but I knew BITS, Goa would keep my dream alive. Within six months of starting our operations in Goa , I repaid all my debt.

I was called to give a speech at the SRM Deemed University . After the speech, I asked the Chancellor, can you give me an opportunity to serve in your campus?? He said, "If not you, to whom will I give such an opportunity?" It's a food court but a big one, similar to the one at BITS, Pilani. There are around 17,000 students there.

Now, I have the BITS, Hyderabad contract, ready to start in July 2008. Other than the six units, I have approached a few more universities and corporate houses too. In the first year, I had made a loss of Rs 25 lakh. Right now, we have a turnover of Rs 32 lakh every month, which works out to 3.5 crore (Rs 35 million) a year.

 I have hired about 200 people. Indirectly, we touch the lives of around 1000 people. By this year end, we will have 500 people working for us. Only 10% of my workers are educated, the rest are uneducated. I want to make a change in their lives. If they have any problem, I will take care of it. We support the marriages and education of poor families. We are paying more to the employees as the company is doing well. Now that the foundation is strong, I plan to have ten units and a turnover of Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) turnover by next year.

The Proud Mother