At Brilliant Read Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. This week we invited Mrs Meera Chetan Bhatia for an interview with us. She is an Award-Winning Social Entrepreneur, Leader, Change Enabler and Founder & CEO of Sai Swayam Society.
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Mrs Meera Chetan Bhatia identifies Sign Language as her “mother tongue” and has thereby donned the role of a Sign Language Interpreter throughout her life. She was one of the first anchors to present the daily news bulletin in Sign Language at DD News, a role she played for the next 27 years.
At 35 years of age, she decided to quit a sincerely built career as a Computer Science teacher in Modern Barakhamba School to forward the cause of Deaf Empowerment in India.
With her NGO Sai Swayam Society (SSS), she entered the then uncharted territory of skill training and job placements for Persons with Disabilities. Through innovative approaches, meaningful collaborations and a dedicated team, SSS has placed over 7200 Deaf individuals in gainful employment all across India.
With many accolades including the prestigious National Award, she lives with the motto of “Service Before Self” and believes in the power of social transformation.
She shares with us an insight into her journey and some valuable inputs for those seeking inspiration.
Here are the excerpts:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey in the development sector, specifically as a female social entrepreneur, please;
My first form of communication in the world was through sign language, something I picked up while being raised by my Deaf parents. It was later that I was introduced to the spoken language by relatives and then later at school.
Being close to my loving parents made me want to play a part in uplifting their community.”
However, as a young graduate with responsibilities, I chose to work as a Computer Science Teacher in Modern Barakhamba School. Sign Language interpretations and volunteer work with the national organisation were always a part of my life but in the background.
I even started to anchor the weekly news bulletin for DD News in Sign Language in 1992. In the meantime, my mother received a National Award as a Role Model Person with Disability and my father captained a successful Deaf cricket team of India. Their efforts were a constant reminder of how I wanted to do much more with my life than just work for sustenance.”
At a much later stage, I quit my job in search of a more meaningful existence. Armed with the support of my young children I started teaching Deaf students at home, with a focus on their Board exams. A few years into this pro bono initiative, I recognised the lack of employment opportunities for any of my students. That is when I founded Sai Swayam Society – Empowering the Speech and Hearing Impaired.
It has been a roller coaster journey in the past 14 years, where we dabbled with education, sensitisation, accessibility initiatives, skill training, employment, parent counselling, school empowerment and policy advocacy. While the end goal of our work is purely social service, I like to call it social entrepreneurship because our focus here is on independent, sustainable social change through a robust organisation and a passionate team.”
As a woman in this field, I feel that efforts and results are not gendered but sometimes the obstacles that society throws at women are harder. Regardless, with a firm resolve, one can follow their calling and excel.
What attracts you towards social entrepreneurship instead of a relatively more conventional career?
Uncharted territory holds the most potential. When I started out in 2006, the term “ social entrepreneurship” did not even exist and most people thought that I spend my day doing “ charity work”. It took a while for attitudes to change and for awareness to spread.”
However, that did not matter to me. My sheer passion to bring about some form of social change and make a difference was enough for me to leave my conventional and comfortable job to start SSS. What seemed crazy to others, seemed like the right thing to do for me.
Also, I believed that I wanted to create a better place for the upcoming Deaf generations, having experienced many hardships first hand along with my parents. I was looking for a life of impact and was therefore attracted to this field.
‘Sai Swayam Society’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving?
There is a simple story behind the name. I was contemplating starting an organisation which would focus on Deaf empowerment through education, skill training and employment generation. Back then, the situation was quite grim and not much progress was being made in mainstreaming Deaf individuals.
In a leap of faith, I founded SSS and keeping this very faith in mind I named the organisation “ Sai Swayam Society “ which loosely translates to an organisation where God himself will be there. The intent was that no matter how hard the challenges for the Deaf community maybe, God would guide us in resolving them. Regardless of religion, or even if one is an atheist, the name of SSS stands as a symbol of finding belief in oneself and standing up to changing the society, one act at a time.”
We train Deaf individuals in hospitality, retail, IT, beauty and wellness fields and then place them in jobs across the country. Skill training is in compliance with NSDC norms. Our students work in over 90 different companies such as Shoppers Stop, Lemon Tree Hotels, Concentrics, Vishal Mega Mart, Cafe Coffee Day. We provide hand holding to the employer and the employee indefinitely.
Further, we work on remedial training for school students, especially in Deaf Government Schools. Also, we have been focusing on sign language awareness and sensitisation for hearing individuals for over a decade now and have even conducted sessions in Delhi Courts and with the Delhi Police.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
We shifted to a robust online classroom without losing out a single day. To deal with the challenges on e-learning, we designed engaging videos and focused on one-on-one sessions. The employment sector was hit during the lockdown but a new door was opened for us. E-platform service delivery and packaging jobs saw a surge and so even during a lockdown induced economic recession, we could ensure that all our trained students were placed.
With regard to administration, our team continued to operate online through daily video calls. We opened up our institute in August 2020 with all precautions in place and gradually even the physical classrooms resumed. While the disruption in the ways of working was massive, the work never suffered because of passion and technology.
How do you manage yourself and keep on going despite the challenges? What drives you?
Firstly, I seek inspiration from the lives of my parents and what they have achieved as Deaf individuals despite the many challenges in post-independence India for their community. It is also a reminder of how I want to make things better than what they were for them.
Moreover, it is a passion that keeps me going. Almost three decades of working for the Deaf community, both formally and informally, is because of my commitment to social service. Lastly, it is the support of my family and their belief in my abilities that helps me steer through any storm.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
Being able to effectively communicate the vision of the organisation to the team and ensuring that they work at their best by understanding their needs and abilities are important leadership traits. Organisations are nothing but it’s people and it’s vision. So the leader must bring the two together and create an enabling environment for the employees to thrive and the vision to be achieved.
What are the three most important lessons you have learned about building your organisation?
This journey has been full of challenges and hence lessons. I would say that one must build their life on self-belief most importantly no matter how strange your goals seem to others or how negative the criticism gets. Secondly, the only ways ahead are one where we keep pressing forward and searching for solutions. Lastly, ensuring a healthy work-life balance will help you perform better at the workplace so never ignore that.
In your opinion, what is more necessary: An Idea or a good team for a successful organisation?
An idea is the starting point, a good team is the backbone of the process and the final impact is the end. All are equally important. Without a purpose or an idea, one cannot begin. Without a good team, one cannot continue. Without a final impact, one cannot sustain.
What are the mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
Trying to turn every challenge into an opportunity and a never give up attitude were my only resort in any situation. If you keep persisting with purpose, you will prosper, today or tomorrow!
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
The smiling faces of my students, the pride of their parents on seeing them empowered and the changing mindsets in the society on disability – all help me stay positive and motivated in the long run.
However, on an everyday basis, it is the support of my family, the contagious passion of my team and the desire to make a difference that act as the fuel.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring women social entrepreneur?
a) Start with the right intent and let the journey shape you and your organisation.
b) Don’t seek perfection for it does not exist.
c) Seek progress and align it with your purpose.
d) Focus on small steps and little goals, the path will be well-paved eventually.
e) Also, accept constructive criticism with humility to grow but ignore gender-based opinions to sustain.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
