Proving his ability,one computer at a time

Two-and-a-half years ago,Mani,now 33,became the first differently-abled person to become a Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher (MAR),a computer refurbisher (a firm/person that fixes old computers) whom Microsoft has licensed to install its software on donated computers for use by NGOs. “I wasn’t the first disabled person to become an MAR in India. I was the first person to become so,before any fit or disabled person could,” he says.

After having lived a protected life,Mani faced his first competition from abled people when he enrolled in a general school after class 10. “My confidence wasn’t shaken but slightly disturbed. I got a decent score,” he says. He wanted to become a chartered accountant and studied for nearly a year for it but on the morning he had to give his exam,he was barred because he couldn’t write. That was when he realised that life ahead would be tough. “I anticipated a long list of rejections for each job I’d apply for,” he says. His fears came true.

After having done BCom from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College,Mani decided to do a professional course. He got through NIIT but because it was too far and he had limited mobility,he learnt computer software at home with help from a teacher in his neighbourhood. After a year and a half,he wrote his exam at the institute and got a certificate. “As the only son of ageing parents,I needed a job,” he says. But what followed was a four-year-long fruitless wait. “I went to 60 places and everywhere,I was rejected,” he says. At AIIMS,where he applied for the position of a computer operator,a doctor who was in the board of recruiters had said,“He is too handicapped for the job and would be too slow for a computer.” Then,at one of the world’s largest MNCs (name withheld on request),he was stopped by the security guard at the gate of its plush building in Gurgaon,“as wheelchairs weren’t allowed in”. “My father helped me walk inside. When I asked the receptionist why I can’t bring my wheelchair,she said it would spoil the marble floor. And then,I was told by the HR that I couldn’t be given the job,” he says.

Mani isn’t bitter though. “I don’t blame them. Employing a disabled person is a risk for them in terms of doubts over productivity,relations with other employees and physical resources such as space for movement,” he says.

So,the only option was entrepreneurship. He began Neutron,a computer repair and maintenance firm,on a floor in a building just opposite his home in 2000. He hired his first engineer rather easily; he was a student of his computer teacher. But it took him one full year to get his first client. “Since I couldn’t commute by bike or auto,I had to buy a Maruti Omni van. The engineer I hired also worked as my driver. Since I would spend Rs 200 on fuel every day on my trips to potential clients and had taken a loan,I would always skip lunch,” he says. On client visits,he would never say he was the owner. “I would always pose as an employee,” he says. He got his first client,Evangelical Fellowship of India,“as my friend’s mother worked there,” he says.

He stopped posing as an employee after he became an MAR,for which he was flown to Bangkok for a three-day training course. Today,he has 15 clients and five engineers working for him. But that’s not enough. “MAR has limited me to work only on donated computers. Besides,I also want to work for companies,not just NGOs. I am only half-way through,” he says. Looking at the computer in front of him,he says,“It is my best friend. It can understand me and obey my command without having any problems with my speech or my body,” he says.