16.05.2015, CHENNAI:
Every time a colleague approaches her to learn the language she communicates in, Deepika Sudarshan is overwhelmed.
"People want to open my world of silence," she writes on a notepad. As an afterthought, she scribbles, "The happiness I feel is like how I felt when I cleared the chartered accountancy exams." Deepika is hearing and speech impaired.
The story of the 26-year-old, who is south India's first hearing and speech impaired chartered accountant, is so unique that it moved Thenmozhi Memorial Trust, an NGO that provides emotional and monetary support to underprivileged cancer patients to make an exception this year. It awarded Deepika for "inspiring students who have overcome odds to achieve their dreams."
Why did she chose charted accountancy? "Everyone felt I was different because of my handicap, so I decided to do something different from what people like me usually do," she writes. After she finished her education from Little Flower Convent Higher Secondary School in Nungambakkam in 2007, Deepika began studying for CA, while completing a commerce degree at University of Madras through correspondence. It took three attempts before she cleared the CA exam.
Her mother Chitra S, who is also hearing and speech impaired, takes the notepad from her. "She has always been a fighter," she writes.
While Chitra is an office superintendent, Deepika's father Sudershan Kumar, who is hearing and speech impaired as well, is a gazetted officer in the Indian Air Force.
"We were in Delhi when she was born. Doctors, who diagnosed her impairment, advised us to transfer to Chennai as education would be best for her here," writes Chitra.
For close to a year, Deepika worked at an audit firm before she got a job at Cognizant. "I was nervous. It was the first time I stepped into a place where no one knew how to 'talk' to me. I felt alone," she writes. But she eased in once people tried communicating with her. "I replied by writing to them. Some of them said they wanted to 'talk' to me in my language. They are now experts in sign language," she gesticulates as her brother Dipesh, who does not have a disability, interprets. Deepika, part of the revenue team, says her impairment never came in the way of her work.
On weekends, Deepika learns Bharatanatyam and watches television series with subtitles.
Asked where she saw herself in the future, Deepika pauses, bites the end of her pen and then writes, "I want to start my own firm, but I'm hesitant because not too many people know sign language. I can be confident only if more people know how to 'talk' to me."
"People want to open my world of silence," she writes on a notepad. As an afterthought, she scribbles, "The happiness I feel is like how I felt when I cleared the chartered accountancy exams." Deepika is hearing and speech impaired.
The story of the 26-year-old, who is south India's first hearing and speech impaired chartered accountant, is so unique that it moved Thenmozhi Memorial Trust, an NGO that provides emotional and monetary support to underprivileged cancer patients to make an exception this year. It awarded Deepika for "inspiring students who have overcome odds to achieve their dreams."
Why did she chose charted accountancy? "Everyone felt I was different because of my handicap, so I decided to do something different from what people like me usually do," she writes. After she finished her education from Little Flower Convent Higher Secondary School in Nungambakkam in 2007, Deepika began studying for CA, while completing a commerce degree at University of Madras through correspondence. It took three attempts before she cleared the CA exam.
Her mother Chitra S, who is also hearing and speech impaired, takes the notepad from her. "She has always been a fighter," she writes.
While Chitra is an office superintendent, Deepika's father Sudershan Kumar, who is hearing and speech impaired as well, is a gazetted officer in the Indian Air Force.
"We were in Delhi when she was born. Doctors, who diagnosed her impairment, advised us to transfer to Chennai as education would be best for her here," writes Chitra.
For close to a year, Deepika worked at an audit firm before she got a job at Cognizant. "I was nervous. It was the first time I stepped into a place where no one knew how to 'talk' to me. I felt alone," she writes. But she eased in once people tried communicating with her. "I replied by writing to them. Some of them said they wanted to 'talk' to me in my language. They are now experts in sign language," she gesticulates as her brother Dipesh, who does not have a disability, interprets. Deepika, part of the revenue team, says her impairment never came in the way of her work.
On weekends, Deepika learns Bharatanatyam and watches television series with subtitles.
Asked where she saw herself in the future, Deepika pauses, bites the end of her pen and then writes, "I want to start my own firm, but I'm hesitant because not too many people know sign language. I can be confident only if more people know how to 'talk' to me."
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