Story of Sucharita Sarkar

Early Life 

Sucharita is 27-years old and was born in a village called Shyamnagar, deep inside Kolkata. She could not speak or hear since birth. Her father owns a small business and her mother runs a tailoring shop. Money 1s pretty hard to come by, and even on a good month when business is great, the family makes about INR 6000. She also has a younger brother and the household’s income is not really enough to cover the family’s expenses. Ever since she passed high school she has wanted to work and support her family in whatever way she can. 

Sucharita enjoyed painting and dancing since the time she was a child and was quite proficient. So strong was her grit to help her family that she started painting and dance lessons for other kids near her house. She used to earn some money from these lessons and would give it all up to her father for the household expenses. After completing all the lessons, she would help her mother with her tailoring.

Disability and its Challenges 

Sucharita and her parents were constantly mocked for her disability, as though it was their fault. How grown-ups can be so thoughtless is something that still baffles us. 

It took a long time for Sucharita to understand that she was not like other children. While the other children spoke and played, she couldn’t comprehend that she was different. This caused her a lot of heartache as she felt lonely and neglected, unable to express her feelings. 

Sucharita dropped out after high school. As she didn’t go to a special school, she found it extremely difficult to interact with the other kids in her class. She constantly felt like the other kids neglected her. She really wanted to pursue her education but that dream was brutally cut short due to lack of proper finances. Financial difficulties aside, another reason that she dropped out was due to the challenges she faced after studying at a non-inclusive school. 

As the years passed, realisation dawned that she will have to live with her disability. Sucharita decided not to be dictated by her fate but instead decided to live life on her own terms. 

Sucharita had appeared for quite a few interviews and even got placed a few times before she joined training. Unfortunately, all of these job offers were located far away and most of her money and energy were spent travelling to and from the location. This didn’t give her a lot of scope for saving her hard earned money.

Journey with Youth4Jobs 

Sucharita came to know about Y4J after she got a text about admissions at the training centre in Kolkata. She contacted our team who gave her all the information she needed about the online training program. Though she was on the verge of getting placed, she chose to complete the training first, as she knew that it would give her an edge. Sucharita was trained in various fields like Retail, English, Life Skills and Soft Skills. She was very regular and attended the training sessions with a lot of enthusiasm. She was an active participant during the sessions. 

She always felt like a burden on her family and felt very helpless as she couldn’t contribute substantially in any way. Not finding a job that she liked only added to that stress. The success stories of other candidates at the training centre gave her a lot of confidence.

Placement 

Sucharita’s confidence and faith in herself did not disappoint her. She is now an employee at Spencers Supermarket and earns a decent package. We hope Sucharita never loses hope and the confidence she has in herself. The entire team at Y4J would like to wish her the best!

Source: As published in ‘50 Stories- Jobs for Disabled in COVID Times’ book by Youth4Jobs Foundation