Book Review: 'It Can Be Done' by Rahul Bajaj, Anusha Reddy and Madhavi Singh

Recently, when I applied to multiple leading law firms to get an internship, many of them rejected me outright because of my disability. They were of the view that because of my blindness, I would not be able to compete in the fast-paced environment of a law firm. This active discrimination disheartens and disappoints me. It was particularly jarring given that in the legal profession, we like to talk a great deal about equality.

I reached out to Rahul Bajaj, the co-author of It Can Be Done. He shared the book with me and asked me to read it whenever I had self-doubt and rejection.

The core premise of the book is that with the appropriate support, there is nothing that cannot be done by the disabled in the legal profession. The only requirements are awareness and well-being sensitization among the people. The book is very inspirational and easy to understand because of its simple language. When I read the first couple of pages, I was eager to get through the 206 pages and learn what these 21 lawyers and judges had to say in their interviews about their lives. After reading this book, I realised that every person with a disability has enough competitiveness to achieve goals at an extremely high level, and we can do whatever we wish to do.

The book does a really great job of depicting the life stories of judges, corporate lawyers, legal academics, and practicing lawyers with blindness. In the book, I read about a few talented lawyers and judges who accomplished their goals while using limited resources, proving society wrong. After reading the book, I was feeling grateful and thankful for my blindness. It really reinforces my belief that we can change the idea of our society in the future.

The main problem is that most people with disabilities come from rural areas in our country. Therefore, they suffer due to a lack of information and opportunity. We see many times that the parents of people with disabilities are not aware of the power and potential and capability of a disabled child. Due to lack of knowledge and awareness, they think they are alone in the world, and they think their disabled ward is not as capable as an able person. This thought process needs to be countered.

In a country where parents are not aware of the capability of their disabled children, this is a much-needed intervention. The interview series contained within this book could change the lives of thousands of disabled children in an underdeveloped country, where parents of disabled children are not aware of the needs and potential of their children. This book could serve as a breath of fresh air for them to reconsider any wrong decisions based on their ward's disability.

I believe that each and every person with a disability or parents of a person with a disability should treat this book as a bible of inspiration.

The book serves as a constructive roadmap to counter the discrimination that the disabled face in the legal profession in India and beyond.

I hope that the book is widely distributed among law firms, judges, legal academics, lawyers, and others in the profession. I also hope it is translated into Indian regional languages like Hindi and Bengali for maximum reach and impact.

Arjun Ghosh is an IDIA scholar in the fourth year at WBNUJS, Kolkata.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bar & Bench.