Eyeway Conversations

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, George Abraham speaks with Siddharth Sharma, Asia's first visually impaired Public Relations professional. Siddharth lost his eye sight in a motorbike accident in his early twenties but he didn't give up on life. Once he rediscovered himself and his interest in communications and public relations, he set up his own boutique firm, Foundations PR in 2002.

He first started off with a job at the PR agency, Connections. Once he gained adequate experience and confidence, he decided to become an entrepreneur. Through the years, Siddharth has managed to create a niche for his agency in the lifestyle and luxury domain, working with both iconic national and international brands. 

Apart from work, Siddharth enjoys his daily fitness regime and jazz music. Tune in to listen to a rather inspiring journey and how Siddharth plans to pull through this pandemic which has hit his business hard.

To access the podcast transcript, click on link: https://otter.ai/u/GyYnll1r0rQb8aORsisI5ytnhEk

This podcast is supported by BarrierBreak Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, hear George Abraham and Shilpi Kapoor speak with Debra Ruh, an entrepreneur and a Global Inclusion Strategist. A valued leader and a best-selling author, Debra is the Founder of Ruh Global IMPACT, Human Potential at Work (HPAW), AXSChat and Billion Strong. 

She is North America Consultant for UN ILO Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN) and Global Speaker for the US State Dept. Legislative and Technical Experience. She has expertise with Standards and Legislation including the United Nations Convention of Rights for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), ADA, W3C, WCAG and ISO (Accessibility). She has provided global leadership to governments, corporations, NGOs and DPOs (Disability Persons Organizations) all over the world supporting research, outreach, marketing strategies, policy and standards initiatives with public and private sector. Debra is passionate about Social Media and a Thought Leader and Blogger on ICT Accessibility and Disability Inclusion on various channels with over 130,000 followers.

Tune in to hear her journey as a mother, a caretaker and a dynamic businesswoman. She strongly believes in the need for people and organizations across the globe to work towards supporting each other in advocating the rights of persons with disabilities. Her initiative Billion Strong is designed to bring the billions of voices of persons with disabilities together and celebrate allies and accomplices.

To access the podcast transcript, click on link: https://otter.ai/u/gVt-7JdFc6i0WA-oxygvqh3GeyM

This podcast is supported by BarrierBreak Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, George Abraham speaks with Madhubala Sharma, who works as a Deputy General Manager, Learning and Development with Concentrix, a technology-enabled global business services company.

Madhubala was born with vision impairment but that did not deter her from living an independent life. She went to a mainstream school and college and then went on to achieve great success in her professional career. With over 17 years of work experience, she has spent 15 years in training, learning and development. Besides being a working professional, Madhu loves to spend time with her family, travelling within and outside the country and taking on challenges in her day to day life. She believes that putting yourself first over the disability is the key to the holistic development of an individual.

Tune in to learn more about Madhu'slife and gain insight into her mantras of living a happy life.

To access the podcast transcript, click on link: https://otter.ai/u/zNyU2njTpkl0K4Ts4ad0pZrWdTY

This podcast is supported by BarrierBreak Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, George Abraham speaks with Ajay Minocha,  a Credit Officer with a reputed Deutsche Bank. Born with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition, Ajay was rejected by many mainstream schools before being accepted by a Hindi medium school. With sheer grit and determination, Ajay went on to be selected by IIM Indore, where he completed his MBA. He is also one of the four visually impaired persons to have successfully completed the Chartered Financial Analyst exam in India.

Tune in to hear his interesting story and how he beat the odds to emerge successful in his field.

To access the podcast transcript, click on link: https://otter.ai/u/CXWYQ4bOywfhVHXCkzVY8DdWaHk

This podcast is supported by BarrierBreak Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, hear George Abraham and Shilpi Kapoor speak with Sheri Byrne-Haber, a global Accessibility Leader and W3C volunteer, a prominent voice in the field of disability and accessibility programmes.

Sheri believes in integrating accessibility into systems of organizations such that equality is achieved at a holistic level for customers and employees with disability. She has designed and led accessibility programmes for various well-known companies, propagating cross-disability inclusion. Listen to the podcast to learn about digital accessibility, effective strategies that should be undertaken to facilitate inclusion and more. Hear Sheri talk about the need to generate sensitivity at all levels in an organization to be able to create disabled-friendly resources, technology, processes and an accessible environment.

To access podcast transcript, click on link: https://otter.ai/u/hYzy5QRA1i3FkmzaOP3jdZq22hY

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, George Abraham speaks with Anuj Dayal, Executive Director, Corporate Communications, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. 

Anuj Dayal has been associated with the Delhi Metro since its inception and has won many awards and accolades as a leader and corporate communicator. The conversation touches upon the expansion of the metro, accessibility features, services for People with Disabilities (PwDs) and more. Listen to the podcast to learn about facilities a blind, hearing impaired or physically disabled traveller can expect while using the metro. The mother of metro expansion in India, DMRC strives to explore newer ideas and feedback from PwD users for building more disabled-friendly systems.

For podcast transcript, please click the link- https://otter.ai/u/2ao2Lasx-Bhs_lAskbf7uVD24FM

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, George Abraham speaks with UK Chevening scholar Ekinath Khedekar, who is an adventurer at heart. A nature lover and a sports enthusiast involved with lawn tennis for the blind, Ekinath finds happiness in outdoor activities like tandem cycling,  half marathons and swimming. Despite making a start several yards behind the starting line, due to his vision impairment, weak economic background and lack of support in many ways, Ekinath is a corporate professional with successful stints at companies like Reliance and Wipro. He made the most of his education at a special school as well as mainstream premier institutions in Mumbai. His passion for learning took him to London where he pursued his interests in Law and Sustainability. Listen to this account of a visually impaired person who isn't shy of accepting his disability, working hard and setting higher goals at every juncture in his life. 

For podcast transcript, please click on the link- https://otter.ai/u/E-FHC_9eymj1SkZwPHPhH_CFZQc

Short trailer of our sixth episode of Eyeway Conversations, where George Abraham speaks with Pranavl Lal who is a technology enthusiast, avid photographer and a traveler. All this despite his visio impairment since birth!

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, George Abraham speaks with Pranav Lal, a specialist in cyber security. Pranav lost his eyesight due to Retinopathy of Prematurity, a condition that inflicts infants born prematurely. He started off his education in the Gulf using braille, and gradually moved on to digital mediums. With an academic background in Commerce and Business Administration, he shifted gears to IT when he discovered he could solve problems by writing programs. Pranav taught himself to write code when he was in Class 9. He is also an avid traveler and a photographer, things one doesn't normally associate with a visually impaired person. Listen to the podcast to learn all about this technology enthusiast!

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, George Abraham speaks with Moses Chowdhari who is a person with low vision, working with Enable India in Bangalore. Moses was born to a farmer family in a village in Andhra Pradesh and his visual impairment was detected when he was three months old. Growing up, his family wasn't sure what life had in store for him, assuming that blind people generally end up singers or musicians. But his hard work, took him to a college in Hyderabad, where Moses relied on his friends to help him study. Frustrated with such dependence, he turned up for a computer training at Enable India. From this point on, his life took a completely new turn, one which he didn't imagine. Moses is well verse with technology and wishes to see a world where the next generation of blind people can independently read and write. A staunch advocate of digital literacy, his work involves skilling and placing persons with disabilities in the corporate sector. Listen to the podcast for how he turned his life around!