Success is achieved not by merely dreaming about it, but by working and striving hard for it. This has been proved time and again by the achievers. One such achiever with a difference is Ms. Beno Zephine, who became the first 100 per cent visually impaired IFS officer of India, thereby creating history.
Her achievement assumes special significance because earlier even a partially blind person was not considered eligible for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service.
Indian Masterminds presents her success story today, an inspiring story of how courage and determination can help to overcome all hurdles on the way to reach one’s goal.
EARLY LIFE
Born in Chennai to Luke Anthony Charles, a railway employee, and Mary Padmaja, a homemaker, Ms. Zephine went to the Little Flower Convent Higher Secondary School in her hometown. She pursued her graduation in English literature from Stella Maris College, Chennai, and did her post-graduation from Loyola College, Chennai.
In an interview to media, Ms. Zephine had said, “My family never made me feel disabled. I had a very good school life, and all the teachers were really supportive at every turn.”
WHAT INSPIRED HER
She was working as a Probationary Officer with State Bank of India when she cleared the Civil Services Examination.
Mentioning the inspiration that added fuel to her dreams, Ms. Zephine said, “I had heard that a revenue officer who had lost one of his eyes in an accident was appointed.” This incident gave her hope that even the inability to see the world would not be a limitation to achieve her dream.
HOW SHE PREPARED FOR CSE
She started preparing for the Civil Services Examination dedicatedly with all her heart. While preparing to become a civil servant, her blindness was the biggest obstacle in her way.
Despite all the obstacles, she cleared the Civil Services Examination in the year 2013-14. It was in June 2014 that Ms. Zephine came to know that she’d not just cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination but also secured an all-India rank of 343.
While preparing for the Civil Services Examination, she attended at least nine different IAS coaching centres, and in all of them, she was the only student without sight.
She said, “They were all quite helpful and other students were curious. I used to read a lot of braille books and they all wanted to know how it works.”
She used a software called JAWS (Job Access with Speech), which reads out any text on the computer screen. Though the amount of reading needed for CSE was massive, her mother helped her with all the notes and texts in her preparation for the exam.
OVERCAME ALL OBSTACLES
She was 25 years old when she overcame the obstacles and became an IFS officer. Few of the parameters had to be modified before inducting her.
Ever since Ms. Zephine has been giving motivational speeches, addressing students across the country. Even before she became a bureaucrat, her friends and family had started calling her a ‘collector’ because of her ability to stand for what she believed in.
Visually impaired since birth, Ms. Zephine never let her disability come in the way of achieving her dreams. And her extremely supportive family, friends and teachers helped her reach the place where she is today.
