What do you do when you find out one day that you’re going to lose your eye’s vision? How do you cope with visual impairment at the age of 14?
I know Milan since school. We were not the closest of friends, but we acknowledged each other well. My mother, who had taught him in the 1st and 2nd grade, always mentioned him with great fondness.
As a batch mate, I knew he was a bright student and someone who loved playing football and cricket.
When we were in the 10th grade, I noticed that there was something wrong with his vision. I was not in his section, so I assumed that it was something temporary.
Milan, however, had slowly moved out of sports and from what I had heard, he was barely able to manage his scores too.
It was only after I left school, that someone informed me of Milan losing his eyesight slowly.
I was disheartened, knowing that while we were ambitiously deciding our future in 10th, he was fighting his fears. While we were busy with our Boards, he was coping with a permanent medical condition!
So, when I spoke to him last year, I was amazed at how incredibly he had put his life together! Recently married, he sounded very happy and sorted.
On a mission to motivate others like him and sensitize the common man about visual impairment, he happily complied when I asked for an interview. (Yay!)
Meet Milan Mittal – the boy who rose above his challenges and has been an inspiration to many!
Me: Please tell us a little about yourself.
Milan: Hi! I am Milan Mittal from New Delhi, India. I’m 31 years of age. I’m a lawyer and presently work at a reputed law firm called IndusLaw that practices in the field of corporate and commercial law.
My life has proven to be a journey of unexpected challenges. I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at the age of 14, which gradually decreased my eye sight, to just a light perception, within a decade.
Looking at my outer appearance, no one can guess that I live with adversities and what I deal with 24X7. However, through my journey of hope and faith, I discovered who I could be in spite of my medical circumstances.
My insecurities did not change overnight, but I learned to be a survivor. It is a blessing indeed to have this life I achieved!
Me: How and when did you exactly find out about your medical condition?
Milan: I am not a visually impaired person by birth, rather by time. I was 13 when I first realized that I wasn’t able to identify far-off objects correctly, especially in the sun light.
Initially, I thought this was because of an increase in the power of my spectacles. I hesitated to discuss this with my parents, so that I could continue playing my video games.
Sometime after one year though, my deteriorating health with symptoms such as headache, strained eyes, low energy level, and difficulty in identifying things especially in the sunlight, pushed my parents to take me to an eye specialist for a check-up.
That was the time, when I was diagnosed with a retinal disorder that gradually reduces the eye sight of a person to light perception, over a period of time.
That is to say, I didn’t lose my eye sight at one go, rather it kept on decreasing slowly with time.
Me: At that age, how did you cope with the news of possible blindness? How did this condition affect your childhood?
Milan: The doctor and my parents didn’t inform me about this medical condition immediately, thinking that I may not be prepared to handle it or that the news may affect my state of mind. However, they missed to understand that I was already going through this difficulty.
My parents put in their best possible efforts to support me emotionally and morally all the time. However, due to a lack of awareness about this condition, they were unable to provide the right resources for a child like me.
A failure to fetch any support from my school as well broke them mentally and emotionally.
With a slow declining eye sight and that too in teenage, I was unable to understand what I was going through and how to handle the situation. I had to depend on my limited vision to study.
So within a short period, I turned from an above-average student to a below-average one. Absolutely dependent on my environment, my self-confidence changed to timidity.
With just a few friends in class, I was daily taking a step towards the world of depression.
I had to stop playing outdoor games such as cricket and football because of the ball turning invisible to my eyes. Then I had to stop playing video games because it strained my eyes.
However, I was still left with the pressure of studies and exams because my school failed to understand my health condition, in spite of informing them.
I still remember the day I was scolded by a teacher in high school. I had attempted only half the question paper for an internal assessment. Instead of understanding my situation, she advised me to visit an eye doctor, to get my spectacles checked.
My classmates laughed whenever I was made to stand and read textbooks in class, a regular practice in schools. I became a mode of entertainment for my batch mates and it pinched me each time they did that.
I have a number of events, to recall this way. But I also knew I could not be annoyed by them for the simple reason that they were not mature enough to understand my situation.
Somehow, I managed to pass 12th grade in 2005. To be able to read and write anything, I had to keep my books and copies extremely close to the eyes.
Post 12 th, my education came to a halt, as we were not aware of the available support and infrastructure for students like myself, at the University level.
In short, there was no one in my circle, to understand my situation and guide me about the available resources.
Disappointment and bitterness took hold of me and I started hiding myself from the society, to avoid facing people and their insensitive questions.
Me: Why did you decide to pursue law?
Milan: During school, I was extremely good with numbers and scored well in mathematics and accountancy. My ambition in life had always been of becoming a Chartered Accountant.
Even though I knew that the path to accomplish CA won’t be easy owing to my declining health, I wanted to give it a try. So, with the use of assistive technology, I joined the course, at the age of twenty.
I faced a lot of challenges while pursuing CA, due to lack of structured support for the visually impaired, specifically in finding digital books, resources, and readers or writers/ scribes.
Somehow I managed to pursue PCC (Professional Competence Course), though lack of resources and awareness, made me to fall at many occasions.
However, with time, I realized that completing CA is not dependent on my efforts alone. I accepted my situation and dropped out of the course.
It was an emotional and tough call to opt out of CA, as you can imagine. But, like I always say, one must keep trying hard and leave the rest to destiny. I still didn’t put down my hope to succeed in life.
I started searching for new opportunities, which landed me to an enrollment in LL.B (Bachelor of Law).
Although I was not aware about most of the course content, my focus was to complete this theoretical course which would enable me to specialize in corporate law and tax law advisory.
To make my CV more interesting, I also completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Corporate Law and Management simultaneously.
Me: Wow! So things eventually turned around. When and how did you empower yourself?
Milan: I still remember that day of March 2007, when my mother informed me about a newspaper advertisement regarding a demonstration of a text to speech software for people with visual impairment. Initially I was unwilling to hear anything about it. However, my mother’s constant push and motivation, for a consistent 10 days, made me to visit the exhibition.
That’s it! This incident acted as a ray of hope for me in the darkness I was living in.
This is when I realized that my depression was more about the lack of opportunities I had and not about my inability to perform.
I gradually recognized the kind of options that could open up for me in different areas, be it studies, or job or any aspect, using assistive technologies such as screen reading software for computers and mobiles and OCR (Optical character recognition) products.
I knew that it won’t be easy to adapt to such technologies at the age of 19. Having reached a state of more than 80% visual disability by then it was difficult, but my will power made me to take up all the challenges.
Me: Do you still find your routine challenging? How do you manage?
Milan: There was a time when putting the toothpaste on my toothbrush was also a challenge. Imagine my fear of stepping out of home alone! In short, I was absolutely dependent on my surroundings, even for my daily activities.
However, with time, such challenges shrunk in size and are no more a cause of concern for me in comparison to the external challenges that I face these days.
Today I can say that my visual impairment cannot obstruct my way to achieve what I want. With the help of assistive technology, I can smoothly function on programs such as MS-Office and Internet Explorer.
I can find my route through Google Maps, book radio cabs for my daily rides, search anything on Google, socialize on Facebook and LinkedIn, and make payments and transfer money through internet banking.
I also can hold a video conference on Skype, click a selfie, watch videos on You Tube, book flights and hotels on travel portals, order my food online and many more things.
It is very hard for a common man to believe this but it’s true.
Me: What are the external challenges you mentioned previously? What keeps you going?
Milan: These days my biggest challenge is to sensitize the society that disability is no more a barrier until or unless the society makes the disabled person to feel so.
I have experienced the world with and without eye sight. It has made me to believe that disability is everywhere in the society, in one way or the other- be it physical disability or mental disability, economic disability or financial disability, emotional disability or psychological disability.
It is just a matter of how you address it- do you want to pull others down or push yourself up, be self-centered or help another, value what you have or disregard your resources.
I have always maintained the fact that what might be useless for you can be useful for others.
I have never tried to secure myself on the grounds of disability. Rather, my focus has always been to overcome all sorts of challenges that come my way and to set new standards for myself.
I believe in self-reliance so when I fail, I only blame myself. This is the approach that keeps me going every time.
Like I said- Keep trying hard and leave the rest to destiny.
I must mention though, that this very attitude has become a cause of concern for my current health issues and annoyances.
You see, I could have opted for a government job and lived my life with ease, but the hunger to beat all hurdles and prove myself as a success, drives me to work in a competitive and demanding field like legal.
I am highly obliged and thankful to my current organization IndusLaw for granting me an opportunity, thereby establishing that a person with visual impairment can also perform tasks in a workplace such as law firms.
Me: Do you think India is inclusive enough for the visually impaired?
Milan: We cannot run away from the fact that India is a developing country. There’s still a long way to go in terms of addressing these issues.
However, some organizations have done a remarkable job in the recent past to promote this cause and encourage the talent of people with special needs. Yet they are restricted to tier 1 and tier 2 cities only.
I was born in the capital of our country and yet I had to experience rationalism and discrimination. Lack of awareness about available resources made me hopeless.
These days special education cells and equal opportunity cells are set up at various educational institutes. Yet, I still dread to think about all the people, living in places other than metropolitan cities, where help is not even accessible!
Me: How can a visually impaired person find support here? Are there organizations or communities that help?
Milan: Yes, there are organizations that help, which are specifically established or developed for providing aids and counselling to persons with special needs and their families. Yet it is required that we approach them first.
So the question is “if a person’s environment fails to understand his/her circumstances, then how and who will approach such organizations?”
Secondly, there are two kinds of disabilities, one is disability by birth and second is disability after the age of 10 when most of our body is developed.
Children who are disabled by birth, grow along with the understanding of their disability, in their childhood itself.
On the other hand, children who form a disability during childhood have to make a lot of effort in adapting to their special needs.
Over and above, if the disability keeps on increasing with time, it becomes really hard to cope. This interview, is relatively directed towards the second type of disability.
In such a situation your surroundings play a crucial part. A few years after I left school, I came to know that C.B.S.E. provides ample support to children with special needs, at the school level. The school, however, needs to contact them once.
If at any time such a medical issue or a related one is reported at their desk, they are required to take immediate action, by contacting the respective educational and medical authorities for their intervention and suggestions.
It is important to understand that educational institutions are a second home for students and should therefore take the ownership of the overall security (emotional or physical) of each of their students, especially in such circumstances.
Not restricting to this, but I would suggest that the educational authorities should introduce at least one chapter or curriculum on disability, comprising of theoretical and practical contents, maybe in 6th or 7 th or 8 th standard.
In general, a lot more thought (from an individual level to a state or national level), needs to go, if we want to mainstream the differently abled. Every parent must sensitize their children and teach them how to treat people with special needs. This will be a huge favour for children with disability and for their families and will help them focus on addressing their concerns at the right places with confidence.
Me: So what do you do for entertainment Milan? Are you active on Social Media?
Milan: I am not a social media freak but yes, I am very much present on Whats App, Facebook and LinkedIn. I use them to the extent that they don’t hurt my ego, if you know what I mean.
My hobbies are listening to music and news, watching movies and chatting with friends. I also like travelling to new destinations and surfing random topics on the internet.
I play audio games on the internet whenever I get some free time. I love food, so I also keep trying out new restaurants.
I had some wonderful experiences in the year 2014 when I got myself into activities like river rafting, bungee jumping and paragliding. I also went on a trekking expedition for 10 days in Uttarakhand, the same year.
Me: That’s amazing! I’m also aware that you help children with special needs and give motivation lessons to people suffering from low self-esteem. What motivates you to do that?
Milan:The more challenges life threw at me, the more determined I became to help transform other lives, that were struggling to grow wings like mine.
I always have a feeling that there must be several people around the world, who are going through what I went through during my teenage.
That’s why I started doing motivational counselling, basically sharing my knowledge and experience with the differently abled, to boost their confidence and educating them and their family about the available resources.
It is not for money but for my own satisfaction. I want to give back to the community in whichever way I can. I always say: Zindagi (Life) becomes beautiful when you realize that it’s not all about you and your life, but that many more lives can be made beautiful if you make the effort.
Me: Is there anything that you would like to say to the visually impaired, in particular?
Milan: No one better than me can understand what a visually impaired goes through when he/she finds out about his/her condition. At this juncture, people lose hope to live.
Even I was one of them, at the time when I discontinued my studies for two years after schooling. However, with determination and will power I have reached to a level that people call me an achiever.
Though in my view, I still have a lot more to do in this life. Also, I cannot run away from the fact that no one else will come to feed my family. It’s your choice you see, whether to live life independently or dependently.
Nothing is impossible, but yes it’s not easy as well, until or unless you have lame excuses to defend your shortfall.
Know that, just because you have difficulties in life, doesn’t mean you can’t make it at all! “Live your life on purpose, with a purpose, for a purpose!”
This applies to everyone!
Last but not the least, there was no one to understand me or my condition when it started. Still whenever I was surrounded by negative vibes, my parents and my well-wishers supported and motivated me. That helped me to boldly block all negativity.
Our support especially our own family is usually caring and mostly over-protective. To give them the confidence that we are capable enough and that they should trust us is our duty!
They may fail to understand you in some situations but they won’t run away from you or leave you alone in any situation. So always respect them. Their presence is like a blessing in tough times.
Me: I’m sure your family must be extremely proud of you. So Milan, success is something that you have already achieved in many aspects. But do you think about your future? How do you think your life would be, 10 years from now?
Milan: It is impossible for me to answer this question as of now. Ten years before, I never thought I could become what I am right now. In fact, I never thought that I will be able to even earn a livelihood for myself. Most people don’t believe when I say that I never wished to be a lawyer.
I don’t target or plan things, rather things happen themselves for me. Most of the time, they are relatively unexpected ones. My effort has always been to just keep trying hard all the time.
However, one thing is for sure that I won’t stop shooting doses of confidence, to those who want to be achievers, but feel deprived of path and motivation.
That’s my friend Milan!
In the little time I communicated with him for this interview, which was mostly on chat, I honestly never once felt like I was dealing with a visually impaired. He was so prompt in his replies and even used emoticons to express himself!! Determined to get a valuable post out, he was constantly in touch despite his busy schedule.
This truly inspiring visual impairment story of my friend has made me realize that the vision of the eye is not as important as the vision we must carry, for leading a purposeful life.
Do you have that vision yet?
Additional resources:
Helpful apps for the visually impaired
Parent resource books for visually impaired children
Disability rights-based programs for the underprivileged
Indian organizations empowering the visually impaired
If you are looking for information regarding visual impairment, from Milan, please feel free to comment here or contact me on beingrubitah@gmail.com
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Hi! My name is Rubitah. I’m a Content Writer certified Life Coach, Counselor, Social Work professional and the Founder of Being Rubitah. Over the years through my professional and personal life, I have realized that prayers and love can do wonders to family life once you come to terms with yourself and surrender to God. Do you relate to me? Then you may like what I post here! Read more about me
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