We tend to always look at a disability in a person rather than the ability. That's why I wanted a magazine that talks especially to the disabled. They are people first. They need to know their rights.

Determinedly overcoming the hurdles that a physical handicap caused her, Chennai-based Jayshree Raveendran launched the Ability Foundation to make India a better place to live in for the disabled, even as her magazine, Success And Ability, informs, inspires and integrates challenged individuals into mainstream society. VAANI ANAND chats with the gutsy lady who, with an inborn optimism and dedication, disdains any kind of sympathy or special treatment.

Jayshree Raveendran is indeed a rare woman, an individual from that breed, who looks at a glass of water and sees that it is half full, instead of half empty - the kind of person, who will concentrate on how things can be done, rather than why they cannot. After one and a half hours of 'chatting' with her, what amazed me the most was not her work, not her drive and enthusiasm that made her the founder of the Ability Foundation in Chennai. All that is truly commendable…but what took me completely by surprise after talking to her for almost 90 minutes, was the realisation that she is herself hearing impaired!

She was so completely at ease with the flow of the conversation that it was impossible for me, to detect her physical disability. Raveendran is an expert lip reader and a fabulous communicator; her accent and diction are impeccable.. She has not only determinedly overcome the hurdles her disability must have thrown up, but she is also propelled by her commitment to share information with the disabled, awakening them to the full scope of their true, untapped potential.

After a blazing career as a lecturer at the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, a lecturer at the IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University), a few years as a creative chief of Clarion Advertising, Bangalore and a corporate communications executive for a computer education firm, Raveendran decided to give it all up to launch a magazine for the disabled. "It was an idea that refused to leave me," she says.

Raveendran had specific reasons for starting the magazine for the physically challenged. "We tend to always look at a disability in a person rather than the ability. That's why I wanted a magazine that talks especially to the disabled. They are people first. They need to know their rights. In India, 95 per cent of the disabled are discouraged," says Raveendran, with melancholy in her voice. In a country with about between 80-90 million disabled people, Raveendran found that there was no significant interaction or exchange of information between them. There are magazines on every subject imaginable but none for the disabled. In December 1995, Raveendran succumbed to her long cherished desire to publish a magazine and called it Success And Ability.

"I did not want Success And Ability to be seen as a service to the disabled, but a magazine that would expose dimensions of disabled people," she says. For three years, she published it from home. Her mom being her "mobile telephone"! Meeting the 'abled' achievers and those with a huge, but different, potential was a beautiful and wonderful experience for Raveendran.

Today, Raveendran resents the stereotyped image of disability in India. She blames it on a mindset that has been fuelled unknowingly. "You see this even in advertising, Prior to Diwali, you have advertisements advising people to handle fireworks with care lest they become blind. Polio ads depict pathetic looking children. They don't look at the feelings of the child being depicted," she cringes.

Who better than Raveendran as a role model for the differently abled? Her parents encouraged her to study in school and later study English Literature at Chennai's premium Ethiaraj College for Women. Raveendran loves to play the veena even though she is unable to appreciate its twang; she feels the vibrations penetrate her being. Her husband and 16-year-old daughter, as also her parents and brother, have played a very important role in her life.

Discrimination is the biggest demon Raveendran is helping the 'abled' fight. Her magazine began by giving the 'abled' information about their rights. For instance, it imparted valuable details about the identity cards they can possess (issued by the government) that entitle them to various benefits. The response was 'unbelievable'. The subscriber-based, free magazine began its humble origins in an effort to reach a message to people. Like everything else with the right potential, it has grown today.

The magazine opened up opportunities for Raveendran and brought her into contact with a variety of people. She decided to set up the Ability Foundation, an NGO, initially offering specialised training to the deaf in operating computers. "No one has the patience to teach the deaf. But it is important for them as otherwise communication is completely missing," says Raveendran from experience. Then was initiated lip reading as a six-month course, training in self esteem, confidence and, most importantly, an ability to put such 'abled' people into the mainstream. The Ability Foundation began personality training, computer training and language training. Every person who trains with the Foundation is placed in a job on the basis of their skills.

Even more challenging was Raveendran's decision to train the blind to operate computers using speech software. Her trainees are placed on par with other employees in software companies! The Foundation has a full-fledged placement cell that works with the future employer and the qualified, 'abled' person.

She has now tied up with IGNOU to offer college courses to the 'abled' who normally turn to vocational training after school for lack of any opportunities. She has the best lecturers from city colleges come and teach her students. A legal assistance cell at the Ability Foundation, helps people fight the discrimination against disability, even as a 15-minute slot on AIR, Chennai imparts information to the disabled. Raveendran's focus is on generating optimism, advocacy and information.

Her list of supporters reads like Chennai's Who's Who - film directors, Revathy Menon and Mani Ratnam, dancer, Gopika Varma, business baron, C.K. Ranganathan, The New Indian Express' Manoj Sonthalia…among many others. The Ability Foundation has had several successful dance and integrated art shows - Sangamam, Samara and Samhita (all three meaning rendezvous in Sanskrit) - which are held on World Human Rights Day, December 10, every year. "These shows are not fund raisers," emphasises Raveendran. "They are held in order to sensitise people to disability". Along with the 'abled', other performers like dancers, Revathy and Raveendran herself (who is an accomplished Bharat Natyam dancer and a student of Guru Adayar K.Lakshmanan) and artists of the stature of Jatin Das, Thotta Tharini and Yusuf Arakkal, singer, Usha Uthup, and top catwalkers walking the ramp, enhanced the entertainment with a message.

Unfortunately, the Ability Foundation is struggling for funds and is, hence, sometimes unable to implement its ideas. But Raveendran and her dedicated team render the 'disabled' employable in today's context. Raveendran's spirit infuses the entire organisation. As co-worker, and deputy director, the Ability Foundation, Janaki Pillai, put it succinctly, "Jayshree's enthusiasm keeps us going…." With a meagre staff, the Ability Foundation strives to make India a better place to live in for the disabled, definitely a force to reckon with. Raveendran emphasises, "Don't expect sympathy, feel good about yourself and be on par with just about anyone". And surely, she knows best!