The Hindu Business Line : No barriers for visually challenged Nafisa

SHE rubs shoulders with the best in foreign exchange trading, bill discounting and corporate dealings. On a regular day, she transacts forex to the tune of $4 million.

Meet Ms Nafisa Buhariwala, a visually challenged banker - a manager with the corporate finance branch of Central Bank of India in Mumbai.

Ms Buhariwala was born with retinatis pigemetosa, a degenerative ailment of retinal cells. It is a progressive disease, which leads to blindness over a period of time.

As a child she had 40 per cent normal vision, which deteriorated drastically by the time she reached college. And today, in spite of her near total blindness, Ms Buhariwala is probably one of the few visually impaired forex dealers in the world.

"I do not enter the forex market, but take quotes from the market and liaison with my exporter/importer clients for the transactions. I also buy and sell foreign currency in the ready and forward markets. I have a gift of numbers and take assistance of my two junior colleagues to keep up with the paper work," says Ms Buhariwala.

But it has been a tough grind for her ever since she graduated in Economics in 1977 from St Xavier College, Mumbai.

Ms Buhariwala's ambitions of studying MBA and working in the corporate sector came to nought, as she had to settle for a job as a telephone operator with the Central Bank of India. She continued as a telephone operator for nine years.

A small window of opportunity opened in 1986 when she appeared for an internal examination. A promotion put her in the Assistant Manager grade.

"I never knew what a withdrawal slip looked like, yet started studying banking for my exams with the help of colleagues. They explained to me the practical side of banking and helped me with the preparation; long hours were spent in their company learning the minute details of banking. I owe my success to my friends," says Ms Buhariwala.

Now, she is confidence personified, having travelled more than six times to the US without any companion to meet her relatives.

Ms Buhariwala believes every disabled person should be given a chance to achieve their goals. "Why should there be any doubt about the abilities of a handicapped person? Such attitude must change," she says.

Ms Buhariwala, who was conferred the President's award for being the most efficient disabled employee in 1999, is also an avid Ham radio operator and holds a grade one licence.

Clearly, her skills go beyond mere numbers and dealing in forex as Ms Buhariwala helped the Indian Army with her radio operation abilities during a sailing expedition to Singapore in 1999 when it went incommunicado.

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No barriers for visually challenged Nafisa