Vibhas Sen was 3 months old when he was diagnosed with polio. Today he is Head (Search and Delivery) of a Digital Marketing agency. A resident of Thane, Vibhas is a Paralympics Swimmer and has won many accolades in various district, state, and national level competitions.
Corporate Journey:
Being differently able from 3 months old is really tricky, your brain is unaware of normal walking (without caliper & crutch) - my first step was using braces.
People around me used to act different, the ones who knew me (family, relatives, friends & anyone who knew me for a longer period) had a casual attitude, "They accepted me" being different. But the people whom I used to meet for the first few times acted strangely, with different emotions ranging from empathy to sympathy to pity. This never affected me back then, as long I was in college you are always surrounded by people who knew me - friends, family, etc.
During my final year of graduation, I was tense - just one year of college left & I enter the corporate phase of my life - meeting new people, clients, etc - with a hundred question running in my mind.
Will they accept me ? Will I be able to grow in my career? Do I have to settle down with desk job forever? & Many.......I just wanted the people around me be normal & accept me as one of them. Not empathy or pity. I wanted to get a promotion due to my performance & not because I stayed long enough. I wanted to lead a team & slowly move up in my career - will people around me accept to be their leader?
With dream & hope with me, I started my corporate journey - got selected in my first interview - I couldn't believe myself. I was shocked, wait what just happened - How can I get selected, when I thought I would get rejected 9 out of 10 interviews I get.
I was sure it was fluke, but this trend repeated almost every time over the last decade when I switched job - with almost 100% interview to selection rate. I realized it cannot be a fluke nor luck. From executive to Director in 10 years - I was convinced my interviewer had stopped looking at my disability by now and saw my journey from being disabled to able to capable in my resume.
Sports Journey:
In 2014, he started training in Wheelchair Fencing under the guidance of National Institute of Sports Certified Coach, Santosh Shejwal. He was quickly spotted by the National selectors of the Wheelchair Fencing Federation of India to represent India. He then went on to be selected for the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup from November 20 to 23 2014 in Hungary and the Grand Prix from December 19 to 27 2014 in Hong Kong. This is in a run-up to qualifying for the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil.
Vibhas was faced with the dire financial need for participating in the Paralympics at Rio in Brazil and has managed to crowd surf a sufficient amount to cover his entry fee, flight fee, equipment and training. The Maharashtra Wheelchair Fencing Team was also supported by The Rotary Club of Thane West, who came forward to bear the cost of wheelchairs for the team.
Wheelchair fencing is a version of fencing for athletes with a disability. The sport is governed by the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation which is a federation of the International Paralympic Committee.
In Vibhas’s own words “When someone says you can’t do it, you gotta secretly thank them. Let’s face it, proving them wrong is a huge motivator”. Now how’s that for some motivation?
A big thanks to everyone who gave me the opportunity, people who hired me & mentors who trained me along with colleagues who adored me & made all these milestones possible for me.
You accepted me !
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