Category: Sminu Jindal

January 20, 2013 

Abhilasha Ojha |  New Delhi 

Recognised by the World Economic Forum as an under-40 leader, Sminu Jindal has not let her wheelchair limit her life, work or spirit, finds Abhilasha Ojha

When we meet Sminu Jindal at her plush residence in Delhi’s posh Anand Niketan, it’s almost like meeting a friend. Having met her almost a decade ago, when she was announcing the launch of her portal Svayam to take up the cause of the differently-abled, I realise it is time to renew our acquaintance.

Jindal, of course, has come a long way. At that time she was still single (“actually, I’d started seeing this guy who is now my husband,” she smiles), on a wheelchair but very spirited, very positive, very lively. “I had a surname which in itself was — still is — a brand but I continuously wondered how others, who were physically challenged like me, managed to survive in a country where people are largely insensitive to the needs of the differently abled,” she says, as we sip coffee together.

Much has changed for Jindal since the time I’d met her a decade ago. She’s a married woman now, with two lovely little kids (Arjan and Anav) and a husband on whom she dotes (“I call him my Sai ka prasad and thanks to him I have two amazing children,” she says). She’s also a working woman who was recently given the FICCI Woman Achiever award. Additionally, the World Economic Forum has also declared her one of the top 200 global achievers, under 40, in the world.

Even as I shift uncomfortably on her sleek couch, wondering how to speak to her about her life and trials as a physically-challenged person, Jindal smiles generously, waves her hand while sitting in a wheelchair, and announces, “Sure, go ahead, ask whatever you want.” That’s her spirit: not shying away from circumstances that left her wheelchair-bound for life, but instead, using it as a means to let others benefit from her experience.
That’s the reason why Svayam, she says, was revived. From being a mere portal, it started tremendous offline activities, sensitising the government to include facilities for not just the disabled but also for the elderly, women and those with other disabilities. The results are already showing. Jindal feels that the government is now far more sensitive about introducing disabled-friendly outfits in sectors that affect the day-to-day lives of people: “Most in the private sector need to learn a lot,” she adds.

Even as she starts narrating episodes to support her point of view, one wonders how she derives the strength to tackle every day, every minute of her life with so much ease and dignity? Her voice quivers for the first time as she adds softly, “Where is the dignity when you have to be manually lifted to reach your seat in the airplane?” She had a rough experience last year with a private airline which refused to provide an aisle chair for her and didn’t allow her to carry her own wheelchair, which could be easily folded as hand-baggage.

While we, as a society, owe a response to Jindal and people like her, the young woman, nattily dressed in black trousers, bright green top, smart black jacket and bright pink scarf, is busy sensitising government agencies and hopes that, one day, every corner of the country will be friendly “not just for the disabled but also for everyone who is coping with issues of reduced mobility — the elderly, expectant mothers, mothers with little children and others”.

Though Svayam has been invited by civic agencies, including the NDMC and the education ministry (“We’ll start by making some government schools accessible to differently-abled children,” says Jindal) to work on developing facilities for the disabled, the organisation, in its capacity as “access consultant” to the Archaeological Survey of India, is already executing work at different heritage sites, including in Delhi, Agra and Goa. “We’ve undertaken access audits for the Qutb Minar,” says Jindal. “We have also been invited by hospitality giants like the ITC and Hyatt to incorporate accessibility in making their built and social environments barrier-free and accessible to all,” says Jindal, adding that the first time she visited the Red Fort was when Svayam had made it accessible for the disabled.

In addition to working round-the-clock for Svayam, Jindal, who has been wheelchair-bound since she was 11 (“I met with a car accident in Jaipur,” she tells us), is managing director of Jindal SAW, a Rs 7,800-crore company, also one of the largest producers of SAW pipes — used widely in the energy sector for the transportation of oil and gas. She says that she manages to divide her time efficiently between work and home. There’s proof of that.

She’s made superb collages of her son’s paintings, even a quilt of sorts, sewn on to which are her children’s little booties, their first baby clothes and other items that, she says, “cannot be given away”. An artist herself, Jindal’s typical day includes one hour of yoga and cardio exercises, lots of work in office, digging information on crystal therapy (“I swear by it,” she says) and giving constant feedback to different organisations who approach her.

When we meet, she’s just back from a long day at work. Her children have returned from their Taekwondo class (“my husband’s explained to them that their mom walks on wheels,” she smiles) and she grins indulgently at them while our photographer clicks them. “I never thought I’d be married one day with kids,” she confesses, laughing when her babies interrupt our interview to plant firm kisses on her cheeks.
When we leave, I request her to come to our office some time. “Sure, is there a ramp for me to reach the office door?” she enquires. No, there isn’t, but we walk away confident that she’ll find a way to open those doors too.

Source: Business Standard

December 24, 2011

You might be excused if you gape at Sminu Jindal. She is quite used to it. Busy shuffling around in her wheelchair as she goes about her office work, it takes a while to realise that she is paralyzed waist downwards. She makes multitasking on a wheelchair look so simple. As the managing director of Jindal Saw, one of the flagship companies of USD 12 million of OP Jindal Group, Sminu has been instrumental in the diversification for pipe manufacturer to one with interest in infrastructure, transportation, logistics and fabrication.. .Sminu Jindal is the first lady entrant in the country to do her gender proud by breaking the glass ceiling in the steel, oil and gas sector in India. She is a woman of steely resolve. Sminu Jindal broke the stereotypical Marwari family mould and stormed the corporate boardroom that too in a wheelchair.

In spite of being confined to the wheelchair due to an accident at the age of 11, she has not allowed her spirit to be chained. On the contrary, it has added wheels to her determination to take life head on.

After completing her elementary schooling in Delhi, Sminu had joined the boarding at the prestigious Maharani Gayatri Devi School in Jaipur with a view to acquire holistic quality education. It was on one of those drives back home from Jaipur to Delhi that she met with a near fatal accident.

It was while she was returning to Delhi from her school, Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ School in Jaipur, that her car met with a terrible accident in which she lost movement of her lower body. “It took me a long time to realise what had happened to me, but my parents stood rock solid in helping me cope with the repercussions of the accident.

She was fortunate to survive but sustained a severe spinal cord injury and brain hemorrhage. The spinal injury left the lower half of her body paralysed. The next few years were very difficult and traumatic for her. She was just a young child of eleven in class six. As she woke up to the reality facing her, she shuddered at the thought that it would no longer remain the playful carefree life she had known. What hurt her most was the realization that she would no longer be able to dance. She was a talented Kathak dancer and a distinction holder at Bhartiya Kala Kendra at the age of nine.

Sminu does not flinch a bit while talking to me about this agonizing phase of her life and recalls with serene equanimity that it was indeed a period of complete personal mess. It was her family that became a deep source of emotional and psychological support for her in those moments. Her parents, especially her mother Arti, instilled the confidence in her that she would be able to go to a normal school and continue the day-to-day activities. They would encourage her to do the small routine things on her own without seeking anyone’s sympathy or support. She would carry her bag to school, go for tuitions outside home like her sisters did and later joined a regular co-ed college after studying in a convent. Thus she ‘was cared for but was not pampered’. This significant training at home toughened her mind and made her self-reliant so that she could face the life ahead with courage.

View her inspiring video by clicking this link.
watch?v=A2uxRVLHhio&feature=related

They never treated me differently from my sisters. My two younger sisters were also very sweet. When we would fight, I would call out to them to come and get thrashed by me and they would come! So it was a very normal upbringing for me where I was never given any special consideration, be it organizing my cupboard or getting stuff from the kitchen. What is great is that once my parents accepted my condition, they educated themselves about it and found out the best possible treatments that would help me grow up the normal way.

They got me a machine that would make me stand up for a few hours everyday, so that I would be able to grow proportionately. I was at a growing age when the accident happened, and being confined to a wheelchair could have hampered the normal growth of my legs.”

And all this does not come out of quivering lips. Sminu is jovial and jests all along. She talks about her condition in the most matter-of-fact way. There is no hesitation or reluctance. She has no problem in accepting her condition, and neither has her husband, Indresh Batra, found it an issue.

They met at a friend’s party where the two got along over “nonsensical banter”. After which one thing led to another and they got married. They have two sons aged six and three. Incidentally, Sminu had a natural conception, after which she went to the US where experts tracked her pregnancy.

“We have a normal family life. Just like my parents, my husband too doesn’t give me any special treatment. We fight like every other husband and wife and indulge our children like other parents.”

Her message is simple: “What makes a person special is her work, her compassion and not her condition.”. It is easy to get impressed by her, since Sminu Jindal is an exceptional and exemplary woman of substance who does not shy away from challenges in all walks of life.

Her organisation ‘Svayam’ (an initiative of S J Charitable Trust) has been working closely with NDMC, ASI, DTC and the Education Ministry of Delhi to make public conveniences units, historical monuments like the Qutub Minar and Jalianwala Bagh, bus queue shelters and government schools accessible to all those with reduced mobility. Next on her agenda is to sensitize tourism in India – to help people with reduced mobility enjoy the splendour of our country.

Source: Magnamags