JEEVESH GUPTA
It was only when Jeevesh switched on the light for Rajiv, did he realized that Rajiv did not need it for using the washroom. “Welcome to the world of visually impaired”, he said to himself. Till now he had written exams for them, made them crossed roads but little did he know that this was just the starting point. To know them more, he had to dive into their world which was not different but worked differently. From that point, Jeevesh has come a long way in his journey with visually impaired. A graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Jeevesh realized much early in his life that his heart and soul lay in social activism and change. To walk into this direction meant innumerable challenges especially when all his batch mates from MBA only spoke about 7-8 digit salary packages. He was standing alone on the other side knowing that he would not last very long in the corporate world.
After having worked with Reliance, Aircel and GMR, Jeevesh finally gave up corporate in 2010 and decided to venture into writing and social entrepreneurship. He wrote his first book in 2011-12 titled “White Skin Brown Mind” about the interplay between Indians and foreigners coming to India. Jeevesh then decided to venture into music to use it as a tool for social change. He along with other co-members started the Delhi Drum Circle and took the role of taking drums and music to various social organizations like national association for blind, missionaries of charity, various schools in Delhi to make children and adults celebrate their life and heal with music.
More he got to know about visually impaired, he realized that he wanted to learn more and learn from them. One day, he was invited by children of a blind school to celebrate the festival of Holi with them. He decided to go blindfolded and play with colors and water. His feet were trembling but he had now taken the plunge. He played for more than 2 hours and since then there has been no looking back. It’s been 5 years and He plays Holi with visually impaired every year sporting a blindfold around his eyes.
Having spent 10+ years of his life with visually impaired in India and abroad, Jeevesh started this organization called campaign for differently abled with the motto “LETS SEE WHAT THEY SEE AND SHOW THEM WHAT WE SEE”.