Dr. Charudatta Jadhav, Head TCS Accessibility, R&I; Tata Consultancy Services LTD
Dr. Charudatta Jadhav is a visually impaired chess player, chess promoter, and senior professional from Tata Consultancy Ltd.
Podcast
Overview
Meet Dr. Charudatta Jadhav, a visually impaired chess player, chess promoter, and a senior professional from Tata Consultancy. Dr. Charudatta became blind at the age of 18 but this didn’t stop him from achieving success in his life, from becoming a web developer to getting nominated for a Padmashree, he has done it all. Tune in to listen to his inspiring journey!
In the interview, Dr. Charudatta starts off by telling us the pivotal moments in his life. Losing his sight never became a hurdle for him as his ambition to live life to the fullest never wore down. Dr. Charudatta started playing chess when he started losing his sight partially, he is now the first Indian chess player to win a tournament in Ireland in October 1988. He shares his experience of being a blind chess player and how things are different for visually impaired chess players. He tells us the ways in which they are at a disadvantage when it comes to chess.Â
He is a self-motivated person who was ambitious enough to change careers and choose the path less traveled by. After working as a telecom operator for a while, he decided that he did not want that from life and chose to do his diploma in software engineering, and then a master’s in computer applications achieved great success in that too. He has received global recognition for his research work and he now works at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. as the Head of Accessibility.Â
He shares the challenges of able-bodied people in joining the tech sector at that time and tells us how things have changed in that sector. He shares his initiatives for the blind chess players, like games and books for the blind who will teach them how to play chess.Â
Dr. Charudatta’s story is an inspiration for thousands of people, tune in!
Profile
“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.”– Jesse Owens
Dr. Charudatta Jadhav proceeded to exemplify the above quote in his own life and to expound them to the public in a way that speedily effected a complete revolution in the field of chess, and marked an era in accessibility technology progress. Despite coming from a humble background and facing the daunting challenge of visual disability, Dr. Jadhav did not allow the circumstances to crush his indomitable spirit. He set an example for all Indians that no challenge is big enough if one has self-belief and relishes challenging the adversities. In India, we may have many examples where people have succeeded in their lives with grit and determination, but what is unique about Dr. Jadhav is the manner in which he straddled and excelled with aplomb diverse fields like technology, sports, academics, and management. Innovation was the common thread traversing these diverse fields. Secondly, he was not content with the laurels, glory, and medals that came his way, but he had his sight set at a greater social and national cause of providing accessibility and empowerment to the disabled. We have many NGOs of able-bodied persons who work for the disabled, but Dr. Jadhav is an institution in himself who has bootstrapped and uplifted not only himself but millions of visually challenged people by providing accessibility to the game.
