His employers banked on his abilities and they came in handy

Being labelled “mentally retarded” and underestimated every step of the way had become a way of life for this individual affected by Cerebral Palsy right from birth.

But none of this posed a hindrance for Siddharth Jayakumar (32), who not only outshined his peers academically and bagged a job at a reputable bank, but also went onto receive the National Award by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment as the ‘Best Employee with Cerebral Palsy’ in 2008.

“For most part of my academic life, I just wanted to give up and sit at home. But the support from my family and teachers kept me going, no matter how hard it got,” said Jayakumar, presently working as an associate manager at IndusInd Bank.

Jayakumar kept the audience engaged through his 15-minute presentation ‘Love yourself and your life,’ during the first India Inclusion Summit, organised jointly by Autism Society of India, Spastics Society of Karnataka, SAP Labs India and others to mark World Disability Day.

His narrative, speckled with wit and humour, gave the audience an insight into the life of a person seen struggling with a severe disability, yet making great strides in his professional and personal lives.

Jayakumar started his formal education only at the age of nine. As his intellectual abilities ranked far superior to his fellow students, it was not surprising that his teachers vouched for his enrolment in a regular school.

“I was scared and emotionally insecure when I started regular school. The pressure was intense. But joining a regular school meant ‘inclusion’, which changed the course of my life.”

Despite excelling academically, Jayakumar had to face a series of rejections from companies that were too “hesitant” to hire him. “But the breakthrough came when the HR of the RBS Bank heard me out for 40 minutes. I told them very clearly that I didn’t want a data entry job – I wanted to make my mind work more than my body.

I was entrusted with the responsibility of analysing data, a job which comes with high stakes attached to it. The bank stood the risk of losing a lot of money,” recalled Jayakumar.
The Summit had a motley set of speakers, including top cop Kiran Bedi and cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle.

SAP Labs has raised Rs 14 lakh, and the proceeds will go to set up a music school for the disabled.

Speaking at the summit, Sebi Chacko, convenor of the diversity forum of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), called upon Indian companies to “reasonably accommodate” people with disabilities in their workforce as employment was becoming a right.

He said the latest CII handbook on the subject would help companies find ways to accommodate disabled people.

SAP Labs Managing Director VR Ferose revealed how employing an autistic person at his company paved the way for SAP’s global level diversity employment policy.

“They certainly help improve productivity and there is a good business case to employ persons with disabilities,” he said.

Some 90 per cent of Vindya e-Infomedia’s staff is composed of disabled individuals. Representatives from the company spoke of how these disabled individuals occupied positions at every level.