Published on March 29, 2021
AHMEDABAD: In the ledger of life, Vadodara resident Darpan Inani, 27, had his blindness in the debit column, but by balancing that fact with his vision of future, he has become one of the few CAs of Gujarat having complete or partial blindness. Tools such as screen readers played a part in his success but it was his undimmed sight of his goal that made him navigate his way through the challenges.
Inani cracked the exam in his sixth attempt. He has a clear-eyed view on his ordeal. “It’s a highly visual field — one must look at debit and credit sides of the balance sheet,” he said. “One must make entries and pore over multiple documents.”
Inani went on to say: “But I along with my father had conceptualized a technique with which I used to visualize entire balance sheets.” That involved creating an intricate mental blueprint of transactions comprising categories and sub-categories of his own making.
If for instance Rs 27 lakh was being spent by a company on, say, a new machine, Inani could instantly slot it in the right sub-category. He could also work out the implication of the expenditure on the overall balance sheet.
Inani’s father Satish Inani said: “Darpan competed with his sighted friends throughout his school days and that expanded his limits.” Satish added: “My wife and I would read out to him or help him with his studies. Technology was a major boon as he would go through his CA textbooks with a screen reader.”
In the last year of the chartered accountancy course, Inani had to buy a few video lectures to get clarity on some concepts. “He has not received any tuitions,” Satish said.
Indeed, Inani has never sought any extra consideration. He lost his vision at the age of three due to a reaction to an injection. His parents chose not to send him to a special school and encouraged him to assimilate in a ‘normal’ school.
The only child of a jeweller and a homemaker, Inani studied at home till he was eight. A school accepted him with the condition that there would be no concessions for him. With the support of his parents, he aced the exams.
CA Aniket Talati, a central council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), said that Inani could well be one of the rare blind CAs from Gujarat. “While the institute doesn’t have a separate category for persons with disabilities, senior members recall two with visual impairments,” Talati said.
In the last year of the chartered accountancy course, Inani had to buy a few video lectures to get clarity on some concepts. “He has not received any tuitions,” Satish said.
Indeed, Inani has never sought any extra consideration. He lost his vision at the age of three due to a reaction to an injection. His parents chose not to send him to a special school and encouraged him to assimilate in a ‘normal’ school.
The only child of a jeweller and a homemaker, Inani studied at home till he was eight. A school accepted him with the condition that there would be no concessions for him. With the support of his parents, he aced the exams.
CA Aniket Talati, a central council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), said that Inani could well be the first blind CA from Gujarat. “While the institute doesn’t have a separate category for persons with disabilities, senior members recall two with visual impairments,” Talati said.
Experts point at Ashish Mankad, a Junagadh-based practicing chartered accountant, as the first blind CA from Gujarat. Mankad, who cracked the highly competitive exam in 1992, said that he can relate to the struggle and elation of Inani. “I wish his case inspires more people with disabilities to join the profession,” Mankad told TOI.
Inani said that in 2016, he cracked the CAT and got a call letter from IIM-Lucknow among other B-schools. “But being a CA was the pinnacle of achievement for me,” he said. “Of course, I take twice the time a normal person would to go through documents. But if it’s technology-compatible, I can deal with any text.”
Based on his articleship experience, Inani is not keen on a job, but wants to set up his own firm. “I don’t want to venture into auditing which requires vision,” he said. “But today the profession has created other career trajectories such as arbitration and litigation where I can rely on my oratory skills and knowledge.”
Inani’s mantra is that one must take criticism and scepticism on the chin. “Let your work speak for you,” said Inani, who incidentally has won 30 chess titles. Inani said that in 2016, he cracked the CAT and got a call letter from IIM-Lucknow among other B-schools. “But being a CA was the pinnacle of achievement for me,” he said. “Of course, I take twice the time a normal person would to go through documents. But if it’s technology-compatible, I can deal with any text.”
Based on his articleship experience, Inani is not keen on a job, but wants to set up his own firm. “I don’t want to venture into auditing which requires vision,” he said. “But today the profession has created other career trajectories such as arbitration and litigation where I can rely on my oratory skills and knowledge.”
Inani’s mantra is that one must take criticism and skepticism on the chin. “Let your work speak for you,” said Inani, who incidentally has won 30 chess titles.
Parth Shastri Archive 