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Kunal Mehta | Otter.ai

Kunal Mehta

Sana Ali24min

George Abraham

00:02

I we Nika.

Speaker 1

00:08

This podcast is brought to you by score Foundation.

George Abraham

00:28

We Hi, my name is George Abraham and welcome to IV conversations. My guest today is Kunal Mehta, who is a master's student at the University of Washington. Let me begin by asking you, you've done a MBA from IIM, Bangalore. So how did you actually prepare for your MBA entrance? And what was the process you went through, because though a number of blind people have done MBAs now, but it still seems to be a kind of elusive space. So your experience would inspire a lot of people.

Speaker 2

01:14

In terms of my experience, preparing for MBA, I would say, it wasn't easy. It required a lot of planning and support. So I typically did not have, you know, access to math, especially math content that is required per cat, the level of math that is required, or the understanding of concepts that is required, I had to have a nuanced approach, very focused approach. So I spent almost a year at least eight or nine months, in the end, I prepared rigorously. I, you know, started from basics, I had to pick up class, a class nine class and books and, you know, do some basic math before I got to Cat problems, or cat, you know, the kinds of questions that were asked in the cat exam, English was slightly easier. I mean, it was easier in the sense, it was more mainstream, apart from the, you know, planning, I obviously needed a lot of support from volunteers. Because Matt, content as such, you know, even if you if you had the study material, it wasn't very accessible. So, you know, people reaching out to me and even teaching me because, conceptually, I wouldn't get so many things if I read them on my own. So, so that that required a lot of preparation, planning and support. And, you know, I was really happy when I made it to I am Bangalore,

George Abraham

02:55

it's one thing to get into an MBA program and the MBA MBA program is pretty tough, competitive, and I don't think mathematics really leaves you even during the course, how did Bangalore, I am Bangalore kind of rise to the occasion to make you feel at home and be part of the class? Yeah, I

Speaker 2

03:18

think they were really supportive. The fact that they had some blind students before me, ensured that there was there was certain infrastructure certain material already set up, both and I would say they were extremely supportive, both in terms of culture and the academic support that was required. You know, for instance, the main orientation that was done for all students in the first week that also had a session on disability awareness, and that I think, was very important, you know, I hadn't seen that in places when, you know, places that I had been to before, before I am Bangalore, so definitely, you know, they had the right policies in place. And, obviously, you know, the ground level support was really good as well, wherein material was provided to me in advance, you know, submissions in terms of assignments, submission, in alternate formats, was accepted. Again, you know, an MBA experience is as much about academics as it is about, you know, your peers, and I think even the batch mates were quite amazing. I mean, I learned so much from them and sure did learn something from me as well, but, you know, culture, the conversations, it was it was a very wholesome experience. It was also first time for me out of my house, I mean, living outside my house. So, you know, a lot nostril experience. So as I said it was very wholesome and a supportive experience there.

Speaker 1

05:10

If you know of anyone with vision impairment, who needs guidance on living life with blindness, please share the EIV national toll free helpline number 1-800-532-0469 The number is 1-800-532-0469.

George Abraham

05:39

So where did you land your first job? And what was your role

Speaker 2

05:43

from campus, I landed at the Adani group as a part of the leadership program. And I was pleased with Adani electricity, which which is in Mumbai, typically provides electricity or utility to about 30 lakh households. So in that sense, it was it was a very impactful role. It was a CEOs office role, where I looked at customer initiatives. So yeah, and it was super impactful, as I mentioned, the work that some of the work that I got to do, the people I got to interact with, you know, in terms of getting to know, the top leadership, you know, used to almost meet the CEO of that particular company on a daily basis. And I think that, that to start off. That to start off was was great in terms of exposure.

George Abraham

06:45

So from the dawn is you moved to museum of art and photography, it's an interesting ship, I came

Speaker 2

06:52

across this opening for an inclusion and accessibility lead at this museum. And, you know, I, and then it said Museum, and it's an art museum, and they wanted to make the space accessible and inclusive, I as I as a child, or I as an individual did not have much access to museums that were accessible, you know, I would probably go go to a museum with family, but you know, just walk through the museum and go home or just, you know, you know, hang around outside the space. And I thought, this was an opportunity for me to create impact. And at the same time, work at an work in an environment that was like a startup, you know, I knew I could definitely make impact.

George Abraham

07:45

So in your readings with the museum, are there any memorable initiatives that you kind of contributed to?

Speaker 2

07:53

Yeah, I think I helped make or design the accessibility part for many of the digital exhibitions. They, they were digital first museum, because, you know, it was a pandemic, and the actual museum hadn't opened. That bit. The other bit, you know, slightly more on the HR friend that I'm proud of, is the internship program that we started for people with disabilities. So, you know, typically, this would be a six month internship for someone with a disability who wants to explore a career within the art space. And this, I think, was super impactful. And I think my contribution to the physical space, you know, when we had we got certain tactile artworks done for for certain, you know, exhibitions and for for certain artworks that, that were already there. And, and, you know, it was unfortunate that I couldn't stay there till the museum opened. So the museum just opened beginning of this year, and I had to leave, like, a few months before. But yeah, really happy with some of the things we accomplished. And I think, you know, the other important bit is, I helped them establish a culture of inclusion and

George Abraham

09:19

accessibility. So you were kind of getting in and getting absorbed with the role at the museum. What made you take the decision to do a master's and that too, in the United States,

Speaker 2

09:32

right, so I, you know, I would do on a day to day basis work with developers, web developers, you know, to, to help them understand an accessibility to you know, convince them as to why it's important. And, you know, also work on overall user experience for for different, different kinds of visitors. And then I thought, you know, there are probably We'll start I'll add as well, that that I can work on. And, and the idea of human computer interaction and human centered design. I know in the US, or, you know, this was about two years back when I thought about this was already big. And I really wanted to do something in the technology space, that was probably on a team, you know, on people side, people side of things, but within technology space, if, if, if I'm making sense, so, you like, typically don't do much coding, but then I want to design experiences that, that, that people think are easy to use, and that people find delightful to use. And, you know, then I applied to certain schools in the US and, and I got to the University of Washington in Seattle. So

George Abraham

10:54

human centered design, this sounds simple, at the same time, a little complicated for the common man's understanding, would you like to unpack the idea of human centered design,

Speaker 2

11:07

typically, you keep the user at the center of anything you do, you not only involve user at the end when they have to use the product, but right from the beginning, right from you know, when you plan something, plan, a product or an offering, or an experience you, you have a user involved, you think of the user, you co design with them, and not just have them test something for you. I think this is the essence. And we typically learn the entire process of how how you keep user and or people who are using your product is at the center of everything you do. And then when we talk about people and users, you know, it's not just the quote unquote, average user, you know, who is, you know, a white male, or then, you know, able bodied, and, and, you know, it's probably easier to, you know, design experiences for for such a population, but then when we, when we say human beings, we, we mean different human beings, you know, the individual might have a disability, they might have cultural contexts that are not, not the same, they might have experiences, you know, that that might not be at par with somebody else? And how do we ensure that what we are designing is, is equally usable and equally, are equally delightful for people with different experiences to use. So, and, you know, hence, accessibility is a huge part of, of the course that I'm doing. And, you know, it's just so heartening to see how seriously, people take accessibility within the program as well.

George Abraham

13:03

So I presume that you are not only involved with this course, as a concept, or as an idea of human centered design, but you also muddy your hands and actually creating human centered design, or is it more of a theory of HCD?

Speaker 2

13:25

No, that's mostly practical. We, we do projects, we do work on creating experiences. You know, every course that I've taken so far, in the last one year has had major projects, that, that kind of uses this process to create experiences. And along the way, teach other students, you know, the important nuances of following the process, you know, so as a part of the program again, you know, just to highlight the practical bit, I'm currently interning with the Tasker Center for Accessible Technology, which is an organization that focuses on transportation solutions for people with disabilities and they, they want to ensure that, you know, the transportation data that is gathered is also representative of people with disabilities, because traditionally, you know, people with disabilities have been very, that have been extremely underrepresented while collecting transportation data. So yeah, and I'm currently working on designing a navigation solution for people who are blind and visually impaired. So So yeah, definite practical angle to it.

George Abraham

14:46

So can you build visually impaired since childhood or this is something that you picked up along the way?

Speaker 2

14:56

I've been blind mostly since birth. Although I could make out colors and certain objects when I was when I was extremely young, let's say even till till the age of six or seven,

George Abraham

15:08

how did your parents deal with your education and so on? Did they send you to a blind school or a regular school or computer do? What was the strategy they adopted?

Speaker 2

15:20

I think initially, it wasn't easy for them. Because there was not much information available. You know, in late 1990s, I would say, and, as I mentioned, it wasn't easy for them. But you know, we found ways and they sent me to a blind school to start with. So I went to a blind school till class seven, and post, which I moved to a regular school. closer to my place, and, and then, you know, I started going to institutions that were more mainstream, and that were more that were well known. I would say, so. So yeah, I started with nine schools. But, you know, then slowly, I was able to, I guess, integrate into the society.

Speaker 1

16:12

To support our work with the blind and visually impaired, you can visit the donate page on our website, w w, w, dot, score, foundation, dot O, R, g.in. Please note, w w, w, dot score Foundation, dot O R G dot i n.

George Abraham

16:38

Yeah, I guess, getting jaws and a computer is only the beginning or the tip of the iceberg, I think the challenge is to get content that is accessible. And in your case, how did you handle the content that you had to do in class.

Speaker 2

16:57

Um, so through my undergrad where I did a bachelor's in business management, it was I think there was a lot of trial and error, where I was also learning about myself, what works for me what doesn't work, you know, try using braille in class, try using Excel for accounting when you're trying to, you know, do some do some accounting problems, for example, take help from professors, teachers, you know, and also also take help from family members. So I know, you know, my sisters were married by then, but, you know, they would read out things to me on the phone, when I had exams, and, you know, I didn't have access to certain material, you know, while while being in undergrad, so, so yeah, I guess, you know, you keep, you keep looking for different solutions, and you, you just go with whatever works at that moment, you know, if there's an exam tomorrow, if, if somebody needs to read something for you, and there's no other option, I guess, you, you try and do that, you know, if you're at the beginning of the semester, you try and, you know, scan books and see how, how accessible they are. And, you know, how much usable there are, you also try and get slides or presentations from from professors and get some content from there. So, you know, yeah, I guess, I tried different things. And maybe I became smart at figuring out, you know, what, what is it that I need? What, what is it that I need for the exam, you know, for an assignment and get those things right, you know, so yeah, I guess a lot of trial and error,

George Abraham

18:51

I would say. So now that you doing this master's degree in Human Centered Design. If you do come back to India, what is the kind of professional opportunities that await you?

Speaker 2

19:03

Ah, you're either in India or in the US, I'm looking at roles within the UX research space user experience research. I think there's been I mean, I have this feeling that, you know, users or users of products, too often are left with the feeling that they are not good enough when they're trying to use something. And this could be I bought technology and non technology products. And I think there's, there are great insights to be unearthed in terms of what people want, what users need, what users like, you know, you know, there are subconscious ideas of how products should be so so I think, UX research, it's slightly more mature in the US. Slide. key lesson here, but, but I'm sure it's picking up. And I think it's, it's something that I really like, because I think I get to understand people and, and you know, their motivation behind you know why they're able to perform certain tasks use certain products and my not so and I really liked that part when I, you know, you know, gain get their insights in terms of what works and what doesn't. So, yeah, and then I get to have a voice, you know, for the user, within the organization, wherever I might work. So, yeah, that is something that I'm kind of looking forward to.

George Abraham

20:45

Now, you know, in the last eight, nine years in India, there has been huge strides made in the area of digitization and digital platforms. How far do you think this digital movement in India has kind of helped people with disability?

Speaker 2

21:07

I mean, I think it's, it's helped immensely. I am benefactor, beneficiary of it myself, I mean, you know, I wouldn't have thought of booking a cab on my own and going or paying people using banking, you name it, or putting food, you know, you name it, and, and it's dead shopping. But I also think that the, you know, it's happening at a great pace, but at the same time, we also need to think about its impact on people with disabilities. Because if, you know, if, if we move ahead and do not consider this space, or this population, you know, people with disabilities will, again have a lot of catching up to do which which would, which would be unfortunate. But, but I think that's the stage that we are at, you know, there's so much happening and if we can implement things at this stage, I see no reason why, you know, people with disabilities or people with disabilities can benefit and and not just people with people with disabilities benefiting but also brands benefiting from from the spending power that they would bring in.

George Abraham

22:26

So Connor, we've spoken a lot about your academic and your professional work. What does canal do for leisure?

Speaker 2

22:36

I like reading I love following sport. Huge cricket and tennis fan. I, IV, mostly nonfiction. Of late I've been reading fiction as well. memoirs, self help books, some spirituality stuff. And I love conversations, you know, on different things. I really like to talk to people understand that perspective. Yeah. And you know, I'm a huge foodie as well. So I love food. Yeah.

George Abraham

23:12

It has been a pleasure talking to you canal and wish you the very best as you complete your master's and let's hope that you find something which is challenging and gives you the opportunity to make life more exciting for people like you.

Unknown Speaker

23:27

Thank you so much. We got

Speaker 1

23:37

this podcast was brought to you by score Foundation.

George Abraham

23:57

We good Russia, Nika.

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