'Turning Sympathy Into Empathy': Here's How An Edupreneur Suffering From 70% Disability Changed How Disabilities Are Viewed

Ajay Gupta is well-known as a serial entrepreneur behind multiple ventures in the fields of education, technology, and health care. The lesser-known story is of the journey toward building all these inclusive initiatives with a 70 per cent locomotive disability.

Having faced multiple challenges from a very young age, Gupta felt like he was deprived of opportunities that many others his age had access to. Growing up, he realised these challenges were opportunities placed before him to build a space that could transform the lives of many people like him. And that was just the beginning.

Is Education Really For All?

Gupta was left partially paralysed due to Polio when he was barely nine months old. Around that time, medicines and vaccinations were not as widely available as today. So for a long time, he was carried to the school nearby his house for education. It was only by the age of 13 that he started using calliper and crutches, and in his own words, "He was finally able to stand on his own feet".

He was completely invested in his education and found his leaning toward the studies of business. In high school, this interest was fuelled further by a teacher who helped him explore the concepts of entrepreneurship and torchlit his future path. Pursuing this interest actively, he approached multiple Universities in Delhi to expand his academic understanding. However, he was denied in most spaces as the institutions were not disable-friendly.

Not giving up faith, he graduated in B.Com via correspondence and received real-time lessons from within his home. Marking dynamics was something that came naturally to him as he came from a family with a long line of successful business people. His limitations are what moulded into business ideas, and at the age of 16, he started his entrepreneurial venture.

With not many business connections, bazaar exposure, or even formal structured education, he started off knowing that he wanted to create an impact through a business that resonated with him. The education sector was something he wished to see a reform in, and that's where he started it all with.

A Project Larger Than Life

"Many colleges are still not disable-friendly", Gupta commented while talking about the existing educational space in the country. Due to this same reason, one thing he ensured while establishing his institutions is that they all remain disable-friendly. The teachers have been sensitised accordingly, and they continue to be trained to deal with specially-abled students in order to respond to their specific needs. However, by no means do they segregate between the children while attending to them.

Bringing innovation and forward-thinking to the classrooms, Gupta has ensured to cover every aspect of a student's education, from playschool to PhD. He believes that this is one way he could introduce a change in the pattern where we have generations over generations who are unable to attend school for various reasons.

Becoming the very change he wished to see in the education sector, he founded and co-founded chains of institutions, such as the Bachpan playschools, Academic Heights Public Schools, and Rishihood University. Sooner after, he ventured into health care with Must & More Diagnostic Center, which is the largest of its kind in Delhi, and Prismart Productions, which advocates for introducing tech-friendly components in the realm of education. With over 1000's institutions established pan-India, he was also recognised and awarded the Global Choice Awards for Edupreneur of the Year in 2021.

Hum Hoge Kamyaab

The difficulties faced back the specially-abled are often not recognised or empathised with by those around them, and Gupta tried to bring a change to this narrative. An accident that occurred to him about six years back and left him bedridden for a while nudged him to do something more for the specially-abled community. This idea evolved into the NGO Hum Hoge Kamyaab, which attempted to turn sympathy into empathy and build a more sensitive environment around those who are specially abled. Working with the specially-abled, their families, and other organisations, the NGO has been able to break through the stereotypes attached to disabilities.

One of their most ambitious projects that Gupta holds close to his heart is the para-athlete training program. Through this initiative, he welcomes every specially challenged student from any part of the country to approach him and begin a career in para-athletics. Training under the guidance of recognised coaches from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, the program facilitates students to tap into their potential and see the many options available to them.

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