Seeing through darkness

By Rosanne Koelmeyer Anderson

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It is said that vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world! But for Ravi and others like Ravi it has been a totally different approach: being optimistic in life, come what may, may be the only answer to success in their world and life in general for victims of circumstances.

“But believe in yourself for in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. The world can only be grasped by action not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye”.

The hand is the cutting edge of the mind”, says Ravi Suppiah, a Senior Executive of Virtusa Corporation Sri Lanka whose exemplary life and motivation which took him up the corporate ladder is yet another inspirational success story extraordinaire that “life is after all worth the living and while we make a living by what we get we also make a life by what we give’.

‘Excuses only lead to failure. Being visually handicapped is the least disability of all disabilities.’

For young Ravi a swimmer and active lad in his heyday just turned forty; the exigency to move on in life has been incessant since a medical mishap that left him visually handicapped for life shortly after sitting for the Advanced Level examination at Royal College, Colombo and completing a course in computer applications.

Resolute about progression in life, Ravi has moved on without lamenting over the past and today his fortitude has established that ‘victory belongs to the most persevering.’

“To accomplish a feat in the use of IT technology and attend to the administration of a company being visually handicapped is no easy task.

It was a learning process from scratch. Yet, this was made possible because someone was receptive and simply went that extra mile to extend an opportunity to make life meaningful, elevate my self esteem and make me an equal partner in the national development process.

This made a difference in my life. Sensitizing society and broadening the horizons of their thinking are prerequisites of bridging the gap of differentiation between the ‘abled’ and the ‘not so abled’ by making their inclusion into the mainstream of society a possibility.

Personal investment, courage and support are imperative components if people placed in such circumstances are to succeed”, Ravi says smiling.

“Disability is not an obstacle for improvement, you simply need the opportunity and support to make life worth living. In my case, technology has helped me a great deal with my work. Being incorporated into an IT company has been an added advantage.

If the screen reader software was not got down for me it would not have been possible for me to access the PC and use almost ninety per cent of the applications a normal user would make use of without difficulty.

The availability of the Text Reader software too has helped make it possible to access and read printed documents after having scanned documents and saving texts for reading. When people waste opportunities I feel very sad,” Ravi went on to say.

Many people in similar situations like Ravi may not know that: Article 12 Chapter 3 (1) of The Constitution of Sri Lanka states “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law while Article 12 Chapter 3 (2) states “No citizen should be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any such grounds entitles them equal opportunity to seek employment.

Presently, Ravi is the first point of contact at the corporation coordinating skills in a large working environment, answering and coordinating inbound and out bound calls, updating the dealers telephone index and directory, follow up procedures to ensure all administration action items are attended to for VIP clientele and customer visits, maintaining follow ups with the Sri Lanka Admin Help Desk and tracking feedback, attending to monthly training of Office Assistants to operate and manage the telephone exchange, monitoring duties of Office Assistants and machine movements, preparation of Admin team monthly reports and many more which proves that there is no doubt much scope with the use of technology for the progress of the blind.

Ravi’s span of almost twelve years at Virtusa Corporation Sri Lanka began in 1997 when he was recommended by one of the current senior vice presidents and chief telecommunications officer’s of the corporation.

Having commenced work as a Front Office Coordinator Ravi has progressed thus far. Prior to that soon after the irreversible medical mishap, Ravi started learning Braille and using a white cane he worked as a translator/interpreter and worked in a buying office before he joined this corporation during which time the white cane stick helped his mobility very much.

A white cane is used by many people who are blind or visually impaired as a mobility tool and through out history, the cane, staff, and stick have existed as travelling aids for the blind and visually impaired.

Dating back to biblical times, records even show that a shepherd’s staff was used as a tool for solitary travel.

The blind used such tools to alert them to obstacles in their path. With proper training, people using the white cane can enjoy greater mobility and safety by determining the location of curbs, steps, uneven pavement, and other physical obstacles in their path.

The white cane has given them the freedom to travel independently to their schools and workplaces and to participate more fully in the life of their communities while reminds us that the only barriers against people with disabilities are discriminatory attitudes and practices that our society has too often placed in their way.

Ravi a proud father of a four year old daughter says he intends completing a Degree in Management sooner or later.

Being the youngest of four brothers and one sister, Ravi says his family has been very supportive that helped him accomplish his feat and make the best of life in an irreversible situation when life seems not worth the living.