ahmedabad swetabh suman 29 could be just another iim ahmedabad iima student with stars in his eyes and wind under his wings as he animatedly interacts with his faculties and students in the classroom with a small exception sumans mobile keypad remains active throughout the conversation as he takes notes to elaborate his ideas suman is the first hearing impaired student admitted in the iima in flagship pgp course and perhaps across iims with his story underscoring the indefatigable spirit of the international day of persons with disabilities celebrated annually on december 3a native of bihar swetabh also battles congenital kidney condition which requires him to undergo dialysis regularly when he narrates his dreams all his hardships seem to disappear no words can describe how i felt when i got news of getting selected at iima while undergoing dialysis i got calls from three other iims but iima was a natural choice says swetabh who lives on campus with his mother with special permission to take care of health needsswetabh acquired the disability much later in life in 2014 at the age of 21 years due to which he is fluent in spoken language technology is a boon as i can comprehend spoken words through speechtotext software on my phone i am lucky to get unflinching support from my faculty members and peers who make sure that i remain part of the class activities my only request to those conversing with me remains speak slowly so that the software can pick up words i had to leave engineering education due to my condition and also had to let go of a bank job after competitive exams but it just made my resolve stronger says swetabh who wishes to pursue a career in consulting after his graduationprof abhiman das dean of pgp programme said that at iima inclusion is critically important this goes beyond merely appreciating diversity towards leveraging and integrating diversity into life he saidtarun kumar vashisth 41 a native of uttarakhand is another trailblazer at iima hes the first phd candidate with visual impairment at the bschool whose study explores organization and positive identities in context of disability among other issuesthankfully i was never made to realize that i was different as a child i went to regular school and even studied mathematics something that those with visual impairment dont generally pursue he said there is a difference between disability and impairment impairment is a condition which we cannot change i dont have vision which is an impairment but my disability can be addressed if i have access to texttospeech software or an accessible environment