[blindLaw] An empowering encounter

[Rahul Bajaj]

Thanks, Maura. Point well taken. I agree with you. In fact, when I had
clerked for a different judge in 2020, who is now the Chief Justice of
India, one of the first things he had said to me is that you should have
the same option to choose the files that you want to work on as your
able-bodied counterparts. Practically, however, that proved quite difficult.

This encounter particularly was meaningful for me as I have increasingly
begun thinking as to how far I will be able to go in my legal career,
beyond just disability rights work. That work gives me a lot of meaning and
satisfaction and is something that I will carry on for the rest of my life.
but I do want to contribte to, and be known in, other areas of the law
also. And it is quite difficult.

Rahul

On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 at 15:34, Maura Kutnyak via BlindLaw <
blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hi Rahul:
>
> Thank you for sharing your empowering encounter. One of my few regrets
> from law school was not having seized every opportunity to connect with
> attorney-mentors, and shying away from mainstreem legal work. These
> aversions likely were a product of internalized low expectations, and fear.
> Thus, it is always a pleasure to hear about your highflying legal
> experiences.
>
> Now, I do feel the need to push back a bit against one idea you shared.
> You referenced the need to personally modulate fighting for access, and the
> need to not place and “undue burden” on the system. I should be directly
> quoting, but typing on my phone, before prepping my kids for school, has me
> choosing haste. In my very green position as a public defender, there are
> bountiful opportunities to pause, and worry whether I am a resource to the
> agency, or whether I am a “burden”, . There is little external feedback to
> prompt my concern. The many managers through whom accommodations are
> vetted, are all open to creative solutions, and quite affirmative about
> their perception of my worth. Still, that internal admonition to, “ not ask
> for too much”, reverberates. But to myself, and to all of us I say, we must
> expect, and we are entitled to, FULL ACCESS!
>
> The long and short is, I want to think less about avoiding, placing an
> undue burden on the system. Because, I know that we are all resources, and
> our clients will benefit from our advocacy. I think it is dangerous to the
> blind lawyer’s drive and purpose to affirm those internal admonitions.
>
> Thanks for inspiring me to wax theoretical.  Have a great week.
>
> Warmly,
>
> Maura Kutnyak
> 716-563-9882
>
> > On Oct 23, 2023, at 2:26 AM, Rahul Bajaj via BlindLaw <
> blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >
> >  an empowering encounter
> >
> > Last Wednesday, I had the honour of being invited for an event organised
> in honour of Justice Ravindra Bhat, judge, Supreme Court of India, to
> celebrate his judicial career. At the event, I ran into former Chief
> Justice of India UU Lalit, for whom I had interned in January 2017. On
> seeing me, he recalled how he had first gotten introduced to me when I had
> asked an incisive question in a lecture he had come to deliver in my
> college, how I had then gone to  intern for him. Until that time, the
> Supreme Court had not had a blind intern and all files were only available
> in hard copy form, as a general rule. Justice Lalit recounted how he had
> then spoken with then Chief Justice of India JS Khehar about my situation
> and the format I needed to access files in. Justice Khehar had stated that,
> while it won’t be possible to make all files accessible at that time, the
> court registry could be directed to make five new files available in
> accessible formats each day which the court registry had then done.
> >
> > I took away three things from this chance encounter with Chief Justice
> Lalit. First, the importance of grabbing every opportunity that comes your
> way, howsoever small. Second, how one needs to negotiate access
> arrangements that help you get the job done without imposing an undue
> burden on the system. While, of course, trying to gradually change the
> system itself, so such needs can be normalized. And, third, the importance
> of having leaders who understand the importance of going the extra mile to
> provide additional support to those who need it.
> >
> > Rahul
> >
> >
> > Sent from Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
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-- 
--
Rahul Bajaj
Attorney, Ira Law
Senior Associate Fellow, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
Rhodes Scholar (India and Linacre 2018), University of Oxford
Co-Founder, Mission Accessibility
Special Correspondent on the rights of persons with disabilities, Oxford
Human Rights Hub
Coordinator of the working group on accessibility, e-Committee, Supreme
Court of India