“Why those dark shades?” Jeevan Mitra Pandit faced this question whenever he appeared for different job interviews.
Pandit, now 44, was born physically sound but lost his eyesight in an accident two decades ago. Since then, proving himself as a capable person has been an ardent task.[break]
After completing his school, Pandit, a native of Pokhara, moved to Mumbai, India. Under his father Babu Krishna Prasad’s guardianship, who worked in the Standard Chartered Bank, Mumbai Branch, Pandit started his higher education. And while studying management, young Pandit was offered a job by his father’s bank.
As he got the opportunity to work with an international bank without much effort, Pandit’s dedication earned him a promotion to an assistant’s level within a year. After two years, he was appointed to senior assistant. Along with his work, Pandit also completed his Bachelor’s in Management and Master’s in Political Science.
But his smooth life was interrupted during one of his travels in and around Mumbai. Pandit had a bike accident, and unfortunately, at the age of 24, he lost his left eye.
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The incident changed his life.
The word “disability” started surfacing in his life and frustrated him. And gradually, it became the reason for detachment from his family and relatives. On top of that, his physical disability also jeopardized the possibilities of his promotion at work.
“Even after the accident, I performed my works like I used to before. But time and again, I was refused promotions due to my physical condition,” says Pandit.
Thus, it was natural to lose interest in his job. Coincidentally, at the same time, the bank also introduced its “voluntary retirement” scheme. This prompted him to fill in the retirement form, which he did without consulting anyone. After 11 years of service at the bank, Pandit retired.
The 44-year-old decided to return to Nepal.
“Here, I invested my money, which I received from my voluntary retirement, in a small cereals shop,” he informed. As someone who had worked for a long time in a bank, he couldn’t stand strongly in the business.
So, with an insight of the banking sector, he tried to enter the field in Kathmandu after two years of ups and downs in his foodstuff business. Different “vacancy” advertisements in the newspapers tempted him to apply for the bank jobs, and he was even shortlisted in them.
But his “black glasses” became a common issue at all the interviews. And after learning about his eyesight, the interviewers sidelined the predetermined questions and showered him with doubts on the grounds of his physical condition, relating it with his professional abilities. He faced such problems not only in banks but big companies, too.
However, he did not give up easily, despite his physical disability and “dark glasses.” Pandit gradually realized that the society discriminated against physically handicapped people. But he opines, “A fit person can be handicapped due to some accidents, but this shouldn’t handicap one’s personality.”
The test of his temperance and patience, however, was over seven years ago. After a series of attempts, he was appointed a senior assistant at Nepal Development Bank, Pokhara branch. And two years back, the World Bank hired him as a senior officer. Pandit got an opportunity to prove his potential, which landed him a promotion to the organization’s manager.
Although he says he has the support of and compassion from his family and colleagues, he still fears that his dark glasses will pose as an obstruction.
However, the father of two concludes, “People perceive my condition as my weakness. But I’m determined to prove them wrong.”
And that is how things stand at present for Jeevan Mitra Pandit.
