New Delhi: He operated the keyboard with his tongue. He communicated with people with the help of a tongue-switch and gestures. A blink of an eye would mean ‘yes’ and a particular sound would indicate ‘no’.

“I used the software used by Professor Stephen Hawking. The software was built in the tongue switch. A computer and accessible keyboard helped me get literate,” recalls Sayomdeb Mukherjee.

He was born with a rare genetic disorder which rendered him speechless, literally. The scientific name of the disorder is Dopamine-Responsive Dystonia. He couldn’t speak for the first 25 years of his life. But this never stopped him from learning and making himself literate.

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While his father, a doctor by profession, taught him biology, physics, physiology, and anatomy, his uncle gave lessons on Greek mythology.

“My parents ensured I travel. They believed that without travelling, I wouldn’t know my country,” says Sayomdeb.

He also uses dictation software Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Microsoft’s built-in ‘read aloud’ and ‘immersive reader’ to communicate.

Sayomdeb Mukherjee using a tongue switch

He has authored two books – ‘Memoirs of Time’, a collection of 40 short stories and ‘52 Steps’, chronicling his journey as a radio jockey. He came to be known as RJ Den. He received the ‘Best Actor Award’ at the Cincinnati Film Festival for his role in ‘One Little Finger – Ability In Disability’.

He is working with Bengaluru-based EnAble India to promote the economic independence of people with disabilities. As Lead of International Projects, Den looks after assistive solutions for people with disabilities.

He says,

“To be able to work independently with technology and solutions and to talk about the disability ecosystem at international platforms is what makes me Samarth.”

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