World Sight Day: Man with no sight but excellent vision

Noman Ahmed is a motivational trainer with more than one talent.

KARACHI: A few months back, a friend of mine working for a large corporate entity shared a unique experience with me over tea. He had attended a training session revolving around motivation and using one's abilities to their full potential. At the end of the session, the trainer had addressed the audience and said to them that if he could spend the whole day telling them how to tackle problems in the corporate world, they could definitely do much more - with their eyes! The trainer was blind and though a few in the audience had sensed there was something different about him, they had not fully realised that he was without sight.

I was curious so I met the trainer, Noman Ahmed, shortly afterwards. He is composed, confident and does not carry a white cane. Had there been more people present at our rendezvous point outside a café, perhaps I would not have guessed which one was him.

Noman comes from a middle-class family and as a child, lived in their single-room apartment in Karachi's Karimabad neighbourhood. He was isolated by his peers in the area and as a reaction, his family became over-protective and pampered him within their limited means. In pure corporate-trainer style, he went on to quote the example of the baby elephant that is tied to a small weight that he can't pull and gives up trying even when he grows strong enough to do it.

He was enrolled at a madrassah where he was exposed to intelligent and witty students from all walks of life and who would often target him with their jokes. He started to defend himself and soon found himself at the delivering end, rather than the receiving end of such jibes. As a result, the madrassah toughened him up and gave him the much-needed boost of confidence.

He continued his education at the Ida Rieu School, where he learnt new techniques and the Braille system. His confidence kept improving, so much so that at one point he took up a job with a business as a salesman for water filtration systems. He was doing well but after a while realised that perhaps his clientele were buying the systems out of pity.



This did not go down too well with the self-respecting Noman and he resigned. His boss urged him, however, to continue in this line of work as his sales figures had been good. But Noman thought that he would rather earn from his talents and not from his physical handicap.

With a taste for professional work, he eyed I. I. Chundrigar Road and claims that there is not a single office in the financial district where he did not apply for a job and was not refused. At last, a major insurer offered him the work of selling insurance policies on a freelance basis. With his impeccable communication, quickly acquired command over the technicalities of insurance and a passion to help others rather than skin them, his sales were soon enviable.

In between his adventures in the corporate jungle, Noman was persuaded by a close associate to appear for an interview at a government office for a job on a quota reserved for the blind. But the headstrong Noman did not disclose which stream he was applying for and ended up securing the job not on the reserved seat but on open merit. The interviewer who failed to detect his lack of sight must have had an interesting time trying to prove his own! But having met Noman myself, I don't blame the interviewer.

Given his own journey, it is a small wonder that Noman developed a passion for helping others find their own strengths and live up to their potential. He started giving talks and lectures at educational institutions and gatherings free of charge. News of his effective words and methods reached the corporate sector and today he relishes his work as a corporate speaker.

Eventually, he resigned from his government job and flew to the United States. There he founded Maestro Life and Relationship Management to help families and couples lead a happy, healthy and productive life. He even started a special programme exclusively for visually impaired people. Using his own example as a motivational force, he helps them break through their limitations. Now he isn't just limited to serving the Pakistani community, but works on an international stage.

I met Noman after he had completed his PhD in English in 2012 and asked him why he doesn't take up a corporate job now. "At first I used to look for a job and people used to deny me a chance," he replied. "Now that I've developed and proven my skills, corporates offer me jobs - jobs that I see will only limit my possibilities, rather than let me utilise my resources!"

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2013.