Mirakle Couriers- A Courier Service That Is Providing Gainful Employment To The Deaf

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Founded in January 2009 by Dhruv Lakra, Mirakle Couriers was conceptualised as a for-profit social enterprise. The story of how this idea came in Dhruv’s mind is interesting.

As per their official website, once upon a time, Dhruv was sitting on a bus next to a young boy looking eagerly out the window. In fact, he was not just eager but actually being very restless. He was looking around anxiously, seeming slightly lost. Dhruv asked him where he was going but the boy did not respond. It took him a few seconds to realise that this boy was unable to hear or speak. He was deaf. Though the bus conductor regularly announced the stops this boy still did not know where he was. Dhruv took out a piece of paper and wrote to him in Hindi asking him where he was going. Through the back and forth pen and paper exchange, it suddenly dawned on Dhruv how difficult life was for the deaf. Something as straightforward as a bus became a struggle.

Dhruv realised that the deaf are in a uniquely unfortunate situation because theirs is a silent disability. A deaf person cannot be recognised unless someone interacts with him, and hence the problems of the deaf tend to get totally ignored. Also, there were no employment opportunities for the deaf because nobody wanted to try and learn sign language to help them.

Over the next few months, Dhruv spent time exploring the deaf culture and learning Indian Sign Language. He focused on a courier business because it requires a lot of visual skills but no verbal communication. The deaf are extremely good at map reading, remembering roads and buildings because they are so visually inclined.

Today, Mirakle Couriers has grown to a team of over 50 employees with only three people who aren’t deaf and handle over 600 deliveries per month, the focus on delivering value rather than volumes.