Mumbai, Maharashtra [India] : Meet India’s Brilliant Achieves who doesn’t have the backing of Instagram or the movie industry and these Shining Stars are changing the Indian Skies inspiring the new generation.
Ojas Barve – A serial Edtech intrapreneur who has mastered the art and science of content creation in the education industry, Young and dynamic Ojas has lead new product initiatives, enabled value chain innovation, expedited legacy processes and built behavioral and pedagogical models at scale identifies content lead innovation as his unique strength.
Currently building “BeyondSkool”, a unique education platform for upskilling children in the age group of 5-15 years of age. Ojas believes that the current Indian education system needs a complete overhaul and he is already laying the foundation at BeyondSkool – World’s 1st IQ + EQ + CQ multiple intelligence curriculum Live Online Upskilling Academy for Kids which focuses on providing kids with Subject-Knowledge and upskill them with higher-order thinking skills of Logical Reasoning, Critical Thinking, Articulation, Innovation, Decision-Making and Collaboration to create Problem Solvers, Innovators and Influencers.
Ojas says “I believe holistic education of millennial is the most fundamental way to solve our country’s problems and I am on this mission.”
BeyondSkool’s core strength lies in its content and Vice President Ojas is the brain behind end to end content creation and management. He has honed his skills over the years working with LIDO Learning and heading the curriculum design and content development for its live online tutoring platform and has been a recipient of the Ace Award for exceptional performance within four months of his joining. He led the content development for the products at Toppr.com and has spearheaded the learning content and SEO bridge project. He has also worked for Corporate Relations at International Institute of Sports Management and has taught courses in Communication & Management to undergraduate and postgraduate students.
In January 2016, he founded ‘Excel Institute of Languages’ to train students in Foreign Languages. In his decade long stint in the education space, he has transformed the current learning dynamics through technology and content intelligence.
Against All Odds – How Vibhas Sen challenged his Physical challenges
This Brilliant Achiever is a Gold medalist in wheelchair fencing and silver medalist in Swimming. Meet Vibhas Sen a Tedx speaker and a paraolympian who has represented India internationally who was diagnosed with Polio as a child and his family never imagined that he will find his way into sports. With disability awareness lacking in Mumbai, India during his childhood, Vibhas usually stayed inside when his friends and classmates were outside playing. At the age of 12, he was denied the opportunity to swim at a local pool when coaches expressed concerns about being unable to teach a person with a disability.
Vibhas began a successful career in digital marketing after earning his B.S. in Information Technology from the University of Mumbai in 2008. But Vibhas had it in him to prove it to the world that he is not equal to his physically complete fellow humans but by sheer will power and determination he can be a better sportsman than them. And by his mid-20’s he was ready to pursue swimming again and convinced a coach to teach him how to swim. After six months of training, Vibhas was invited to participate in a state competition, where he surprised himself and won a silver medal. After that there was no looking back, he had developed the confidence that he can achieve the impossible.
“Since that moment I have been rewriting the sports history of my family,” Vibhas says.
After three years of intense swim training, Vibhas transitioned to wheelchair fencing, where he convinced a coach to train him. “I told my coach to take a chance on me—we could work together, watch a lot of YouTube videos, and do whatever I needed to prove myself,” Vibhas recalls. “After training for one year, there was a state championship and we won gold. Then we won gold again at nationals a month later.”
At the start of 2017, Vibhas was ranked 35th internationally in men’s sabre. He competes regularly at the international level with the aim of reaching the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. In addition to training, he works as the senior manager of digital marketing for PNB MetLife Insurance India and serves on the committees for the Maharashtra Paralympic Swimming Association, Mumbai Fencing Association, and Wheelchair Fencing Federation of India.
Throughout India, disability awareness and accessibility challenges present challenges preventing many of the country’s approximately 27 people with disabilities from accessing sports. Driven by this reality, Vibhas is active as a coach and speaker, visiting rehabilitation centers to speak with families and individuals who recently acquired disabilities.
“Before sports, people just knew me as the disabled guy in advertising—that was my standard bio” Vibhas says. “Now their entire perspective has taken a 180 degree turn. When I was young, I was blocked because of a lack of awareness and support. Now, I want to make sure no other para athlete goes through the hardships I went through.”
For his mentorship experience, Vibhas travelled to one of the foremost rehabilitation facilities in the United States. At Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, he was mentored by two leaders in the area of adaptive sports advocacy, research, and programs: Mary Patstone, director of adaptive sports and recreation, and Dr. Cheri Blauwet, attending physician at Spaulding, chairperson of the IPC Medical Committee, and seven-time Paralympic medalist in wheelchair racing. For years, Mary served as the director of development for a hospital in Cape Cod that later became a part of Spaulding, as well as in chief roles with the regional branch of the American Red Cross. She is very familiar with grassroots development and the important role played by partnerships in making adaptive sports sustainable. Similarly, Dr. Cheri is closely affiliated with the Paralympic movement and exposed Vibhas to key networks and relationships. These established leaders helped provide Vibhas with the tools he needs for achieving his dream of a nationwide movement of adaptive sports in India.
Today Vibhas is inspiring the New Generation that with Will Power, Sheer Grit and Perseverance all the challenges can be overcome and you can achieve the impossible.