How was our Shark Tank pitch?
I can only be grateful to all Sharks for showing so much love & warmth for Atypical Advantage & wanted to say , “ I Love you all with my deepest reverence ”. I had gone to Shark Tank not to represent my company or represent that community which has been one of the most marginalised but only & only because this cause of livelihood requires that perspective ( nazariya ) which is greater than anybody of us. In fact my pitch clearly states that my vision is to make our company Atypical Advantage obsolete when we reach a stage when everybody gets equal opportunities. Let’s together work towards that Inclusive world. Anupam & Peyush – “ We could have worked out a All Sharks deal because for me this is not a company but a movement where we want to change the consciousness of this nation with respect to disability. Companies require capital to thrive but for movements to flourish , It requires people from all walks of life
Also I am receiving a lot of messages on using this term Disability or Disabled. Though I had explained my stance with absolute clarity in my pitch , Let me try one other time. Personally I prefer no labels but for the sake of representation I like Disability. I am blind & whatever word you associate with me will not alter the status quo. When you use the word specially abled or Divyang you don’t want me to be part of the same you but an individual who has extra abilities. This is baseless at the core & If we were so Divine , We could simply fly down over our inaccessible Infrastructure or memorise books without listening. Let’s not put Persons with disability on a pedestal with more human words like Divyang or less humans like word like Bechara. Treat me as you would treat anybody else. The Attitude of the society is a greater problem for Disabled’s versus the challenge of managing their lives
Now I can break down & cry the whole day because people who know me also know that I am a very emotional individual. I wanted to be extremely strong during my pitch because our news channels & Reality TV’s take the sympathetic lens instead of empathy & a tinge of emotions from a Disabled could be viewed as a sign of weakness. Sharks could have given me this deal on compassionate grounds & I did not want that. I could have convinced the Sharks through my head but here I wanted to convince a nation of 1 billion people & I used my head ( mind) , heart ( love ) & hand ( work) to do my very best to demonstrate what any human adversity can truly achieve
Thank you Sony TV & Shark Tank for treating my story with Grace so that we can take our Nation forward into an Inclusive world
Do remember that this world will not decide what a person with disability can or cannot do! Shark Tank India Atypical Advantage Anupam Mittal Aman Gupta Namita Thapar Peyush Bansal Vineeta Singh Anuj Saraiwala
I can only be grateful to all Sharks for showing so much love & warmth for Atypical Advantage & wanted to say , “ I Love you all with my deepest reverence ”. I had gone to Shark Tank not to represent my company or represent that community which has been one of the most marginalised but only & only because this cause of livelihood requires that perspective ( nazariya ) which is greater than anybody of us. In fact my pitch clearly states that my vision is to make our company Atypical Advantage obsolete when we reach a stage when everybody gets equal opportunities. Let’s together work towards that Inclusive world. Anupam & Peyush – “ We could have worked out a All Sharks deal because for me this is not a company but a movement where we want to change the consciousness of this nation with respect to disability. Companies require capital to thrive but for movements to flourish , It requires people from all walks of life
Also I am receiving a lot of messages on using this term Disability or Disabled. Though I had explained my stance with absolute clarity in my pitch , Let me try one other time. Personally I prefer no labels but for the sake of representation I like Disability. I am blind & whatever word you associate with me will not alter the status quo. When you use the word specially abled or Divyang you don’t want me to be part of the same you but an individual who has extra abilities. This is baseless at the core & If we were so Divine , We could simply fly down over our inaccessible Infrastructure or memorise books without listening. Let’s not put Persons with disability on a pedestal with more human words like Divyang or less humans like word like Bechara. Treat me as you would treat anybody else. The Attitude of the society is a greater problem for Disabled’s versus the challenge of managing their lives
Now I can break down & cry the whole day because people who know me also know that I am a very emotional individual. I wanted to be extremely strong during my pitch because our news channels & Reality TV’s take the sympathetic lens instead of empathy & a tinge of emotions from a Disabled could be viewed as a sign of weakness. Sharks could have given me this deal on compassionate grounds & I did not want that. I could have convinced the Sharks through my head but here I wanted to convince a nation of 1 billion people & I used my head ( mind) , heart ( love ) & hand ( work) to do my very best to demonstrate what any human adversity can truly achieve
Thank you Sony TV & Shark Tank for treating my story with Grace so that we can take our Nation forward into an Inclusive world
Do remember that this world will not decide what a person with disability can or cannot do! Shark Tank India Atypical Advantage Anupam Mittal Aman Gupta Namita Thapar Peyush Bansal Vineeta Singh Anuj Saraiwala
