Disabled -- that's a word he loathes, Siddharth tells anyone who cares to listen. Few do, he says. But ABN Amro did. The bank's interview board ignored the fact that he shook all over and was unable to speak in well-modulated words that he had to strain to speak.
"They listened to me," says Siddharth. Other interview boards had not got beyond looking at him, but ABN Amro asked him to join work.
He started as an officer in credit finance, but soon enough his bank had sent his name for the tough examination of Certified Documentary Credit Specialist conducted by the Institute of Financial Service UK, and endorsed by International Chamber of Commerce. Just 54 per cent of the examinees globally passed the test, Siddharth among them.
"I became India's first certified documentary credit specialist with cerebral palsy," he says, beaming while speaking about it during a recent visit to Delhi at the release of a Sage book on management of cerebral palsy.
The book is based on the approach of Chennai's Vidyasagar school which trains parents to deal with multiple disorders. Siddharth is one of its alumni.
"I can't play, I can't make friends, I can't go to school -- I can't, I can't! These can'ts were the only words in my dictionary from the time I was born till I was 8-9 years old."
Siddharth, initially dismissed as a mental retard, joined Vidyasagar school for spastics in Chennai and finished classes six to eight in just a year-and-a-half, doing "my exams (except maths and Hindi) on the typewriter", and was sent to regular school in class nine.
In his board exams, he got 80 per cent in the 10th and 90 per cent in the 12th, with 200 on 200 in computer science, 197 on 200 in business math, and 189 on 200 in English.
"It was a great feeling to see my principal in front of the house with a bouquet and a card," says Siddharth.
He's now completed a year at ABN Amro, examining import and export documents for compliance with international standards of documentation.
"I am enjoying every moment of it. It makes me feel responsible, trusted and proud. I know that it is still the beginning. I have beaten my own thoughts by converting the can'ts into cans."
Future plans? "I want to inspire others like me, and move society into changing its attitude towards people with cerebral palsy," he says. And on a parting note warns: "Stop calling us disabled. I hate that word. Everyone has some disability. Think about what we can do instead."
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