Resounding success: TN kids who got cochlear implant grow up to crack UPSC, NEET
It was sheer will power that helped Yash crack the prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS) exam, securing a national rank of 990. Probably the first person born with hearing impairment to clear the exam, he was a total stranger to the music of nature until 3.5 years when he underwent cochlear implant surgery at the Madras ENT Research Foundation in 2002.
Ask Yash, the 26-year-old would say the high-paying job at Microsoft didn't impress him much, and the UPSC dream peped into his mind after seeing his father Rajesh Kumar, an employee of Small Industries Development Bank of India, work for PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi scheme, launched by the union government in 2020 during Covid-19 to provide affordable loans to street vendors to start business.
'When working for Microsoft I decided to do something for the under-represented and people with disabilities, and I started preparing for the UPSC and got selected for IAS,' says Yash. For Yash, Dr Mohan Kameshwaran, managing director and chief surgeon at the Madras ENT Research Foundation who performed the cochlear implant surgery on him, is like a parent figure. 'Today I can speak like any other person. If I could do half the work of what Dr Kameshwaran did, I would be happy,' says Yash.
Akshaya, also born with hearing impairment, who bagged an MBBS seat at Government Madurai Medical College under persons with disability quota this year, is also a patient of Dr Mohan. 'I want to become an ENT specialist,' says Akshaya with a smile. Speaking to TNIE, Dr Mohan said though The Madras ENT Research Foundation started carrying out cochlear implant surgery in 1997, the patients had to spend around Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh from their pockets.
'It was in 2010 that the cochlear implant surgery was brought under 'Kalaignar Kaappitu Thittam',' he says.
He also thanked late CM M Karunanidhi for bringing the implants under the scheme. 'If hearing loss is detected early and treated, the patients can develop speech quickly,' he added.
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