A great article and an outstanding person. Nikita is a role model not only for blind girls but for all blind persons, especially those who let their disability overcome them. Nikita has accepted that her disability imposes certain limitations and has strived to overcome those limitations. She did not opt for the soft option of remaining a M.A. in music but chose to break into new areas.
A true trailblazer. Regards Sameer -- Suhas Karnik <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hello friends, > Please find below an article appeared in 'The Free > Press Journal' on 18th > August 2006. > > > Shining > Bright > > > Punit Karnik > > What a blind person needs is not a teacher but > another self, quotes Helen > Keller. Nikita Vaid, 21, did just that. Born blind, > Nikita, a Mulund > resident overcame her disability since childhood and > today she stands tall > with a degree of Bachelors in Management Studies > (BMS) from Mumbai > University. What special about the feat is that, > Nikita is the first of her > kind to be a BMS graduate, with a whopping score of > 82 %. She is currently > pursuing a diploma in Human Resource management > (HRM) from Welingkars. > > Nikita did her schooling like any other normal kid > from an mainstream school > and stood second with 79% in the merit list for the > disabled. . At the HSC > level, she secured first meritorious position in the > Arts faculty scoring > 77%. > > Life was never a bed of roses for Nikita. She had to > overcome several > bureaucratic glitches during her graduation days.. > Mumbai University had > refrained her from appearing for the entrance exam, > which is a prerequisite > for getting admitted into BMS. The Dean showed > apprehension with my case > for he insisted that there would be many project > work which would be > difficult for me to handle , says a now confident > and proud Nikita. There > were no concessions given for questions based on > Visual Reasoning during the > entrance exam but Nikita cleared he test with a > decent score and approached > the Mulund College of Commerce (MCC) for further > admission. > > Again, the management was disinterested in allowing > her to seek admission > but, the individual that Nikita is, she argued her > case with sheer > determination. She not only proved mettle by topping > the BMS stream but was > also in the top three rankings of her class > throughout the entire course. > She has also been Ms. MCC and the Best Student of > her college. > > The corporate world has always enchanted me. So I > am pursuing MBA in the > future. But I am skeptical for appearing for CAT as > it has questions based > on visual reasoning and if I get them wrong, there > are negative markings. > And there is no chance of getting any consideration > from the University. > Hence, I am opting for CET and hope that the > respective colleges would be > co-operative. It is a sad picture that students like > us do not get any > support from the planners of the education system > who are static and not > empathetic > > However, she was lucky enough to have tremendous > support in all forms > throughout her academic span. From her school > teachers and friends to the > teachers in National Association for the Blind, > India (NAR) who taught her > Braille at an early stage. She is grateful to NAB > who provided her with the > Braille and audio literature. > > Nikita simply is a multifaceted persona. Balancing > her studies, she keeps a > keen interest in music. She has done her M.A. in > Indian classical music from > Chandigarh University and is a Visharad. Currently, > she has a five years > contract with All India Radio, Mumbai. > > At the same time, she is also tech-savy. She learnt > computers five years > back and is now a master at it with the help of > software called Job > Accesible with Speech (JAWS). She is also proficient > at attending smses and > replying to them apart from attending calls. Thanks > to software called > Talx that speaks out the sms and other information > in the mobile, she is > fond of her new acquisition. She is also fond of > travelling and has enjoyed > her field trips to Goa and Hyderabad with her > college friends and to U.S> > and Canada with her family. > > Her motto in life is Be positive, just like her > blood group. Nikita > intends to fight for the rights of visually impaired > individuals especially > girls in the future. There are some girls who are > not as exposed to the > outside world as I am, but they might show an > inclination. However, the > inert education system might not be co-operative to > them and therefore, they > might give the hope of higher education. Such > individuals should fight till > the end without giving up. Nikita has already > started her mission by > setting an example for others to follow suit. > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _________________________________________________________________ > Discover. Explore. Connect-Windows Live Spaces. > Check out! > http://www.msnspecials.in/windowslive/livespaces.asp > > > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the > subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make > any other changes, please visit the list home page > at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
