Read why Prashant Ranjan Verma considers lack of vision a blessing in disguise

When Prashant Ranjan Verma lost 90% of his vision at the age of 19 due to a fungal infection, he thought his world had ended.

For six years, he stayed inside his home. His family was depressed by what happened to him. Verma even thought of committing suicide.

Today Verma, who is 42 years old, calls his disability a “blessing in disguise”. He says that he would not have done so well for himself or society at large if he had not lost his sight.

Verma went on to become a chartered accountant and is renowned as an accessibility specialist and disability rights activist.

Verma, who is based in Delhi, is a consultant with DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) Consortium based in Switzerland. He is also general secretary of the National Association for the Blind in New Delhi.

Verma is in India for a training workshop for blind students in Himachal Pradesh University. His wife, Veena Mehta Verma, is blind from birth.

Verma has trained thousands of visually impaired across the world to use technology to lead an independent life.

Both Verma and his wife have won national awards for their efforts to enable disabled people.

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