Odiogo, Odiogo....

....how do you do this?

Few years ago I had an opportunity to visit the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH), Dehradun, India. They have a huge collection of cassettes in their audio library. One elderly lady and a gentleman lend their voice to the literature available as text. Any one who is visually challenged can get a free access to the library. What one needs is a certificate of disability. Consequently, the cassettes are sent across & collected free of postal charges by the Department of Post. The NIVH does send a list of cassettes to listeners. The scheme is impressive, but the question is, how many are aware of it. Like most government run benevolent schemes, there is no publicity of the facilities offered.

The second issue is the kind of knowledge that can be audio-transcribed. Can it cater to the needs of visually challenged students? Or is it mostly meant to entertain the elderly ones who would otherwise read the religious texts? I don’t have an answer to that.

If someone does, let me know. The address of NIVH for those who are not aware of this facility and knows someone who can benefit is:

National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH)

(Under Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment)

116, Rajpur Road,

Dehradun 248001

India

Another potential way to enhance the access to knowledge could be an internet browser, which could convert the written text to voice. I am not aware if this exists or not.

Lastly, I wish to thank the odiogo.com for lending their voice to my blog. I hope someday, this could help some one with a piece of relevant information!

Odiogo, how do you do it? Is it a manual process or you use a word synthesizer like the one designed for Dr. Stephen Hawking? I wish some one undertakes such a task in India!

I would be interested to know!

Thanks odiogo!

Manish

IAS aspirant gets a cochlear implant

A guy clears the prelims of the Indian Administrative Services - the IAS. Not once, thrice, gets rejected twice and gets a costly cochlear implant to attain the minimum "auditory criterion" to qualify.

Result: Imminent rejection. The screening centre doesn't have an audiometry facility. The onus presumably on the candidate to prove he qualifies!

Few years ago a Calcutta girl was detained in her class tenth examination for poor attendance. She skipped classes to avail chemotherapy for a blood malignancy. The Principal was a woman, a stubborn one.

I am sure if this cochlear implant guy gets an opportunity to be a "public servant" as they are called, he would be better to give a patient ear to the masses.

Would the government understand this?

Lots of reservations for people in this country. Even for physically challenged ones. But why should they be "accommodated" in a category of special people? Why not have a truly equal opportunity scenario?

With that, he would qualify any way.

Don't you think we need to change?


Manish

Can you accomplish this?

He happened to consult me for some eye problem.

He did not have any in his normal eye.

The abnormal eye had drifted downwards due to a damaged floor of the orbit, the upper eye lid is perpetually closed, the eye ball partly in what anatomists and doctors call "maxilla" - upper front part of the cheek, adjacent to the nose.

After seeing him, I asked him what did he do?

"I have a bicycle repairing shop, where I fix punctures etc", was his brief response.

"Do you do these yourself or you have some one else with you".

I do have another boy, but I do all that he does...."

This is where the feat becomes remarkable. He can bring out a tube out of a bicycle tyre, fix it and put in place. And then fix the tyre back into the cycle!

What is the big deal? So can many of us?

The big deal is, his physical limitation is not restricted to his right eye alone. His right arm got dis-inserted from its root in the shoulder joint by the same accident that claimed his right eye!

Think again, can you do what he does?

Patch one of your eye, that would affect your ability to have a quality stereoptic vision.

Now ask some one to bandage and anchor your right arm over your chest so that it is completely immobile.

Pick up a screwdriver or any other tool. You are allowed to use your legs or knees to have a grip on the bicycle or its tyre. Remove the tube.

Can you?

I can't.

But my hero can!

So if you happen to live a restricted life due to disability, remember, someone somewhere is carrying on despite a problem more severe than yours!

Everyone would find a worse sufferer and a better conqueror than him.

So why have self pity that I termed a kind of masochistic feeling?

Carry on.

Be your own role model!

All the best, and excuse me for I can't unscrew even simpler gadgets!

Manish

Health insurance for senior citizens

A

Going through the details of any insurance policy can be a daunting and boring task for many. Scrutinizing a health insurance policy can be even more difficult since an average person is not expected to know the medical jargon. The issue is further complicated since the insurance companies add several “ifs and buts” to their policies.

Some of the clauses used by these companies include, “pre existing illnesses, critical illnesses, extra loading on the premium etc”. A complication arising from a pre existing illness may be treated entirely differently. Thus while the Oriental insurance company may claim that it would pay up to 50 percent of the sum assured in “chronic renal failure” which is a serious disorder of the kidney, at the time of actual reimbursement of the sum, the company may easily hide its head under the “exclusion criterion” if the renal disease is secondary to diabetes, which the company would like to push under a carpet termed as the “diabetic nephropathy”!

Most of the conditions that typically affect the old “geriatric” group of patients tend to be either excluded (examples include joint replacement due to degenerative disease, benign enlargement of prostate), excluded for initial specified period (e.g. cataract) or included at extra premium or with only a fraction of the sum assured payable!

This leads to an obvious dilemma: Should a senior citizen actually go for a health insurance? …. With the restrictions imposed? …At the premium suggested?

I think a senior citizen and even any citizen opting for health insurance needs to go for a medical consultation with a physician who would have detailed information about the personal and family history of a prospective insurance client. This is justified since even the insurance company gets assistance from medical fraternity in understanding the general “prognosis” and the likelihood of a complication before approving a policy.

Some general tips before taking the plunge:
Compare the age at entry, age up top which the policy can be extended, conditions excluded, critical illnesses included. These apply to everyone.

Then one can seek a case specific consultation: Reveal all the information to your physician guide, who can then assess if you are at increased risk for a complication or not. And if so, is it worth opting for a policy?

There are at least four five insurance companies in India that deal with senior citizen health insurance.

Best wishes,

Manish

Can be reached at xs2i@hotmail.com