24 year old Chandra Prakash from Begusarai, Bihar out up an unrelenting attitude in the face of multiple rejections and this has helped him fulfill his desires. His desire was nothing unachievable but when the circumstances around him started being unsupportive, it was only natural to doubt. But he was not ready to go down that easily. His family felt hopeless about the future of their child but Chandra Prakash still sustained confidence and he kept trying.
It was the optic nerve weakness that led to his vision loss which he and his family identified when he was only in 5th standard. His parents took him to various doctors seeking a fix to his vision loss but all the efforts and hope didn’t help. They have to accept condition of a gradually losing vision for Chandra. Initially the news was devastating to Chandra’s family and the lack of awareness made them take all the wrong decisions for his life. Chandra never went back to school; he sat idle at home pondering his condition for the next few years. The rejections he faced from special schools in Patna and Banaras where he sought to pursue his education on various grounds like age, knowledge of Braille etc. led them all believe it to be the end of the road. His father opened for him a petty shop after few years in 2014 so that he will have some engagement during the day and later enhanced it in into a general store. Even after so many years he still retained a desire to study and complete his schooling. He got to know about National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) wherefrom he can pursue his education.
While trying to know more about NIOS, his friend coincidentally found out about Eyeway and the toll free number. On getting the number Chandra didn’t waste any time to contact the Eyeway counselor. After comprehending his issues counselor suggested to National Association for the Blind (NAB), Patna for pursuing education through open schooling and NAB Delhi for accessible study material. But it seemed the challenges were not yet over for Chandra. NAB Patna had stopped running the Open Schooling Special Centre, thus there was no support he could gain from there and it was the same case with NAB Delhi. Now the onus was on him take the challenge by its nape and steer it or give up. He decided to go for the former. He contacted Eyeway and informed the situation. Eyeway put him in communication with Satguru Rathi, a former Eyeway counselor and now who works with NIOS. This helped him a lot. He was made to understand that one can enroll for open schooling independently online and assisted him to do it. Eyeway counselor also put him in touch with the Eyeway counselor at NAB Delhi who helped Chandra gather all the accessible study material.
Though multiple rejections made the family hopeless, Chandra’s right attitude and efforts were large factors in him being able to get back to pursue his education. Chandra’s ambitions have come alive again and he is preparing to make the best out this second opportunity.