"This is my visiting card," the young lady says, handing out a card that has practically everyone baffled. It’s unusual—just a set of dots. "It doesn’t make sense, right? Of course, I could have been a bit more sensitive and added some English text to make it possible for you to read it. Incidentally, you could do the same too—added your name in braille on your visiting card, show some basic sensitivity."
Nidhi Kaila, a graduate from IIM Calcutta, otherwise a management consultant, is leading a low-profile campaign to help the blind become self-sufficient through an organisation she has launched called Esha. "When the visually impaired children start out, they are determined to create an equal world. They believe it can be achieved through hard work. But a few years down the line, they realise they cannot get jobs like their peers," she says.
Nidhi has worked with the blind for 10 years now. It all began with the Naseeruddin Shah-filmSparsh—her first encounter with the world of the visually impaired. While in college, she continued to work with the visually impaired as part of the National Service Scheme. "I have been thinking of ways to make these special people economically more self-reliant. At Esha, what we’re trying to create is a money stream for these children; this does not mean charity."
So, courtesy Esha, you can hear an audio tape of your favourite book while driving to work. Or can even get the book of your choice recorded. And, of course, you can get braille done on your visiting cards. "Pay the child a rupee per card and you will have given him/her a source of financial independence. This can be a very satisfying and permanent source of income," saysNidhi.
Braille on visiting cards is innovative. "It is an international practice and it instantly changes the other person’s perception of you—makes a strong positive statement about you and the company you represent. Overall, it shows you are sensitive," says Nidhi. One of the first people to go in for braille cards was the branch manager, State Bank of Travancore, Gurgaon branch, Biju B. "There are many visually impaired people I meet in the course of business and in life. It helps to be able to give them a visiting card that makes sense to them," he says.
Unlike in many countries, there is no agency in India that will handle orders to get braille embossed on visiting cards. Esha helps you get in touch with the right people to ensure you don’t spend more than a rupee per card. Work routed through Esha means earnings for the visually impaired and a shot at their equal world.