Yash Sonakia, a 25-year-old engineering graduate from Madhya Pradesh, has created a record by getting selected for Microsoft with a pay package of Rs 47 lakhs per annum. This is especially so given that Sonakia has been a visually impaired person, having lost his sight to glaucoma at the age of eight years.
Sonakia completed his B. Tech in 2021 at Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS) in Indore. His path to employment started after he mastered coding and used screen-reader to help him in his learning and job applications. He passed through an online examination and interview, and he was offered a job as a software engineer at Microsoft’s Bengaluru office, and he will be working from home at the beginning.
His father Yashpal who owns a local canteen was very proud of his son’s achievements. He narrated the hardship of the family, especially the mother, who insisted on taking care of Yash’s dream of being a software engineer despite his disability. Yashpal said, “We did not relent as he wanted to become a software engineer,” this shows the family’s dedication to education and hard work.
Yash’s education experience was having attended a special needs school and then joining a normal school where his siblings helped him in academics, especially in mathematics and science. His success story therefore highlights the need for equal opportunities in learning and employment, especially in the growing tech market that is beginning to embrace the importance of the diverse talent.
Stories like that of Yash Sonakia are inspiring; they show that with determination and support from progressive organisations such as Microsoft, significant barriers can be overcome.
