21-year old Anjali Sharma is a resident of East Sikkim. During her 10th standard CBSE Board exams, she came down with high fever and was treated for common cold, not knowing the magnitude of its impact. Persistent fever and deteriorating eyesight led her parents to consult various doctors and she was diagnosed with brain tumour.
Her parents referred to AIIMS in Delhi, where she was successfully treated for brain tumour but her vision couldn’t be restored. The doctor tried to instil confidence in young Anjali by suggesting ways for her empowerment. This played an integral role in her going back to school and pursuing her education. Unlike majority of blind children, Anjali was fortunate to get help from her parents, teachers and friends to continue her studies. She completed her 10th and 12thclasses from Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) with the help of her parents, who read out and recorded the academic content for her whenever required. Teachers knew of her disability and gave her appropriate guidance to study which helped her in scoring 95% in her 12th. She was lauded by the then Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) Minister, Smriti Irani, for her achievement. She graduated in 2018 by scoring 75% in English Honours adding another laurel to her academic achievements.
Knowing her keen interest in studies, one of her friends suggested her to use screen reader enabled laptop, which led her to seek help from Eyeway. The counselor at Eyeway guided her to download and install NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access), a screen reading software for easily accessing computer. However the counsellor realised that Anjali was not able to use NVDA and further suggested her to get enrolled in a 4-month Basic Computer Training course at the National Association for the Blind (NAB), Delhi.
Since Anjali was interested to work in the Government sector, Eyeway further suggested her to join Advance Computer Training from All India Confederation for the Blind (AICB), where apart from the computer training, she could also get coaching and prepare for the competitive exams for government sector jobs. Her father wanted Anjali to pursue Quality Training in Delhi, so Eyeway suggested Delhi some based organizations which could prove helpful. Anjali is an awe-inspiring example for many blind people, who sincerely used all the help and guidance to carve out a bright future.