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ting their lives~

Prayatna, a 10-year-oldtraining centre, trainsmentally challenged

individuals from all walksof life in order to facilitate

an overall development.Founded by three dynamicwomen - Mridula Das, Naf-isa Khambata and RadiyaGohil, Prayatna has always

aimed towards makingthese individuals physically,personally, emotionally andsocially independent.

The journey of evolving

.

the centre has encounteredseveral speed breakers, butDas, Khambata and Gohilnever gave up. They.startedoff with seven childrenbut today have around 40students under their wing.Comprising 10 staff mem-bers assigned for variousactivities, the curriculuminvolves three teachersfor special education, twotrained teachers, two as-sistants and two domesticworkers. According toPrayatna, 2 per cent of In-dian population is mentallyretarded. Till some time ago,it was an accepted fact thatpeople with challenges couldnot be educated. However,inrecent times, it has been re-alised that with constructiveand meaningful teaching,special people can also betrained and hence integrat-ed within the community.Says Das, "It's not that theycan't do it; they definitelycan. They just need theright encouragement to helpdevelop and utilise theirassets to become completeindividuals."

The centre providesmulti.faceted education,which includes functionalacademics; self help skills,personality development;socio emotional skills aswell as vocational training.Gohil adds, "The activi-ties have been created in asimpler way. For instance,during lunch, we incor-porate the art of learningnumbers by teaching themto count the chapattis beforeeating; this repeated actionhelps familiarise them'withnumbers."

Prayatna, which is situ-

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ated on NIBMroad, consists ing, tie and dye, candle mak-of individuals up to 52 j,ngand paper bag making.years. They don't follow the The interesting part aboutpattern of otherschools that this centre is that there areteach special kids to make no uniforms. They functionjust agarbattisand the like; as a family and hence haveinstead, they teachthem ba- a very playful environment.sic requirements like writ- Das believes in always doinging their nameor signing a something different and socheque or tellingthe time. various functions are organ-

Creativity is what they ised in which the students,aim for and hence they've enthusiastically participat~.incorporated !raining pro- Recently, on the occasion ofgrammes'like prevocational its tenth anniversary, theycourses that involve func- had a cultural programmetional academics and self- and all the students gave ithelp skills, and vocational their best shot.coursesinvolvingcardmak- - AKSHATASHmY

..

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HnMeetthe real Taare ZameenPar~ are Zameen par,

the latest offeringby Bollywood star

Aamir Khan, is a must seefor people across all age

, groups. I get teary at moviesand this film was no excep-tion. Often dyslexia is eithersidelined or treated as ahandicap. 'Taare...' effec-tively captures the need forsensitivity towards childrensuffering from this ailment.There are a number ofmainstream schools todaythat have managed to suc-cessfully integrate dyslexicchildren into the schoolroutine. Some such Puneschools held an exhibitionto create awareness aboutdyslexia and I got slightlysensitised to the issue then.

'This movie actually mademe see things from a dy!?~

lexic's point of view: it washeart wrenchingty raw emo-tion. The movie also showsAamir Khan interactingwith severely handicappedchildren and at one pointin the movie; the childrenperform a concert for theirfamilies. The spontaneousperformances, the outPour-ing of parental love andthe festive atmospherereminded me of a concert Iattended in Pune.

Tears were running downmy cheek at that concerttoo. Prayatna, a school forthe differently abled wascelebrating 10 years ofexistence. Prayatna meansan effort, a trial and thisschool has managed to faceobstacles and survive. Whatmade this concert unusualis that the performers were

Performance by the prayatna students

physically challenged. Theschool managed to pulloff this concert after thestudents underwent threemonths of rigorous trainingby teachers and volunteers

of the Young Talent Asso-ciation.

The performers, mainlymature students, took uson River Ganga's journeyfrom its source at Gangotri

to the sea near Kolkata.With the aid of visuals,narratives and dancing, theaudience was given a briefbut comprehensive glimpseof life by the River Ga,nges.Despite the diversity ofIndia, people of all castes,colours, and creed veneratethis sacred river. Repre-senting different parts ofthe country, the Prayatnastudents celebrated thisdifference in a musical me-lange of song and dance. Ina way Prayatna is a micro-cosm of diversity too, withchildren of different abili-ties. There are children inwheelchairs, children whocan barely stand but noneof these physical, disabili-ties deterred the enthusi-asm. The performance wentfrom strength to strength.

Abhishek, Calton, Yuvraj,Aniket, Hakim, Priya andMufazzal showed skill intheir. dancing abilities.They gyrated, jiggled theirhips, swungtheir arms andthe audiencelappedit all upwith clapsandtears.Wheth-er it was the high energy'khaike paan Banaraswala'dance or the 'diya' dancewhere co-ordination skillswere successfully put to thetest or the solo items eachof them performed, thisgroup ,did it all with elan.For a minute it was easy toforget that they did not havenormal abilities. Equallycompetent were the youngerchildren who did a Marathilavni number.

From Gangotri to Hard-war, Allahabad to Varanasiwith a detour to Nashik

and finally ending intothe ocean, the childrenentertained a full house fora little over an hour anddeserved the spontaneousstanding ovation. The trioof Mridula, Radiya andNafisa showed that with alittle 'prayatna' it is pos-sible to overcome any chal.lenge. Taare zameen parmay be a celluloid creationbut it is based on reality. F~rthe children at Prayatnaand the millions of dif-ferenty abled, dyslexic andother challenged childrenthis is no movie but a dailyritual: one which needspatience, love and a greatdeal of sensitivity. There isno challenging the fact thatit takes the challenged toteach us about coping withchallenges.

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PAINTEDdupatlas and scarves, artfully decorated pots, cards

.. and candles were all on display at the exhibition held at thePune Cantonment Board Art Gallery last weekend.This was not your ordinary, everyday exhibition. What made itspecial was that all the items were made by children from

praya:na, a school for the mentally challenged run by NafisaKhambata, Radiya Gohil and Mridula Das.

The trio's single-mindedness and deep dedicationtowards the mentally challenged is taking the institutionforward as it steadily widens its size and range of activi-ties.

Unlike many other schools, Prayatna aims at makingits children independent and gainfully employed assoonaspo~sible.

,.";1,\trf,,,~¥ys;'Nafisa"i""Wehaveseveralplansfor t~e comin.9.0'" ;"',~~y~ar$'.We want to start an Employment Unit that will

~,,\::~~:\:,;)~'prOVideour children with purposeful and satisfyingwork opportunities and recognised allowances. Wealso want to start a Residential Unit along with aResearch and Training Unit."

A school like this surely can't run on the meagre fundsit has and Nafisa enlightens us. "We run our institution

from the funds' we receive from well-wishers "and friends.Being an NGO, we are always ~hort of funds. This exhibi-

tion is just an example of what our children are capable ofdoing. To expand the way we want to, we need more assis-tance from people."

Radiya ag,"ees, "Our plan is to increase our scale of activi-ties by taking orders from clients for these items. This w:1\ensure that our children are gainfully employed. But for thiswe need a lot of support. Even if people can contribute in theform of raw material required for these items, it would be ofgreat help."

The glow and sense of achievement that these childrenfeel is something else altogether. Life may have given thema raw deal but determination coupled with an indomitable

spirit makes winners out of them, as demonstrated at the exhibition.

- Sandhya Iyer

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36 special studen.ts rehearse for play

Anodyssey,fromsceneto sceneRANJANI RAGHAVANOCTOBER 13

.

IT'Snot just how it ends, the journeymatters: a lesson that the,teachers of the36 students of Prayatna, an NGOworkingwith special children, hope to teach theirwards this Sunday. For tWo months, thestudents have been practising for a musi-cal play in a cramped lO-ft-by-lO-ft class-room, learning in batches, one scene at atime, putting it all together only thisweek - to trace the path of the Ganges.Theseare slow learners- 'delayed intheir life's milestones' according to theirteachers - with cerebral palsy, downssyndrome, autism or fragile X syndrome.

"Irrespective of what happens onSunday, we can safely say that in the pasttWo months, each and every student herehas bloomed. They have responded tomusic in their own way," said MridulaDas,.".founderteacher at Prayatna. Dasand fellow founders Radia Gohil andNafeesa Khambata came together withsimilar thoughts to set up a school forchildren with)earning disabilities; theNGO marked a decade last Thursday.

The last sequence of the performancehas the students grooving to Abbas' 'Ihave a dream.' "Tenyears ago, the threeof us had this dream that we would setup this school," said Khambata. '~d onSunday, for the first time, the studentswill take to stage at the Jawaharlal NehruMemorial to put up a musical."

Prayatna tied up with city-based YouthThlent Association and instructors TerenceJoseph and Tejal..'agad have been credit-ed with successfully teaching them dance.

~Before-the--rehearsal:on-Thursday,..,CaltonMontairo (19) clasped his arms aroundtrainer Joseph. "He's my best friend. He'salways joking, dancing, teasing, alwaysfull of masti."

Calton is among the Prayatna studentwho is able to communicate verbally;three-fourths of them communicate non-

.

.

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The special students of NGOPrayatnaready for a rehearsal

verbally. "Unlike other children, they donot face stage fright and they followinstructions well. We did have ourmoments of frustration, when we thoughtwe were not able to get through to them,but at the end of the day the studentshave been incredible. Hats off to them,"said Joseph.

When asked about her favouritesequence of the musical, normally shyand quiet, nine-year-old Pearl Elavia burstout loud in a voice that turned heads."Ghai ke paan bana raswala," she said.This sequence begins with 22-year-oldAbhishek Kapoor who crosses the stage,takes the banarasi paan from fellow stu-dent 'Moo,' takes one bite and beginsdancing.

The students follow Joseph and Jagadduring the performance, as they take theGanges flowing from Gomukh throughHaridwar, Allahabad, Banaras, with adetour into Maharashtra before fallinginto Ganga Sagar in Kolkata. .

With time, the NGO hopes to developinto a centre with production units likecatering, printing, or p'aperimg'lnaking;"Eventually, we want to be able to gener-ate some income we can give some backto the students, however little that maybe," she said.

The performance will begin at 6 pmon Sunday.

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Specialchildren(TIMES - 20//2. (2.0<0(;)

celebratea day outTIMES News NETWORK

Pune: Abhijeet Sengupta is 45years old, but bis mentalage is that of 'a child' of 10. On Sunday, Abhijeet's joyknew no bounds as hundreds of peoplecame to his 'shop'to buy things he had made with his own hands.

Some 40people like Abhijeet of Prayatna, ,a KDndhwa-based day-care centre for 'special children' in the, age:group of.5to 55,participated in an exhibition-cmn-sale ofproducts made by them at Poona Club on Sunday. Hun-dreds of people lined up to admire and buy the products.including pic!:les, candles, greeting cards and other as-sorted items, during a four.hour event.

Prayatna, established in 1997,is one of very few cen-tres that provides specialised education and care forthose with special needs.

A self.fmanced institution, it provides day-care likeany normal school for five days a week, including ses-

Members of Prayatna display their products at the Poona, Clubon Sunday

sions on personality development, support group assis-tance, development of social and emotional abilities andvocational training in 14fields,besides formal education.

The centre has a staff of four full.time trained teach.ers and three assistants and operates from a three-bed.room flat. The institution will soon have its own buildingnearby on a 9,000sqft plot of land donated by a well.wish.er. Abhijeet's aunt, Shrabani Sen of Boat Club road, wasfull of praise for the institute. "My nephew got enrolled'there two-and.a-half years ago. Since the:l, he has shownmarked improvement in his level of sdi confidence anddiscipline, besides getting a sense of identity," said thegrateful aunt.

According to Sen, special children seek love arid carein a' personalised mimne~ something possible only atsuch centres.

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I . ;iI'C~", greeted us were somecheerfulboys.J \is,. .. il~ I.. ; :",~~~. .. and gift-wrap-~.,':, ~~. and girls groupedaround a dining . ..~~,!.. : ping paper, tie-

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'~~ ":,:~~ bles. We wondered if we had come ~.. even preparing~,,,,. ,"Mjh' to the right place,but were immedi- light snacks. All:~ . w' .,~ ately reassured by the smiling , these items are~'it, ',:;" teachers that it was indeed the ,right sold on the OpeniI; . ..,. .: . place. Once the vegetables were Day which is". .",~ : " , ready, the scene moved to the held every yearJ-~ 10!'~ . adjoining kitchen, where working in on their premis-~:.";,~::~; i ;.. pairs, the children rustled up a deli- es. The idea is to

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'. . . the food.Theirconfidentandcheer- provide a chan-< 1: ..'~ ful looks belied the fact that they nel for their cre-

'" . ';,)'t%, . ' .were studentsof a specialschool. ative talents.,t.~,I11;:;';~, . In October 1997, three dedicated At home, theI '...;..., '\ .', women. Nafisa Khambata, Radiya " parents are

t!i.. :t..~f"~~ Gohil and Mridula Das - decided to open a encouraged to involve the children in day-to-I~if' 'oif!!~,jJ very specialschoolfor specialchildren.Called day odd jobs. "Make them feel useful,"~ '~~ ;~:~" Prayatna,it providestraining,educationanda emphasises Radiya. "Send them out to the

. .' ~,,,., caring environmentto individualswith devel- nearby shop to buy small items. Help themopmentaldisabilities."We want to show that by giving them a small calculator. Let themthosewithmentalretardationcanbe educated lay the table, serve the food, help to clear-upand trained. These individualsare able to after meals.Tl1eycan fold clothes and stackdefine, develop and utilise their own assets them neatly.They can also knead dough, orandbecomecompletehumanbeings,"say the. make some easy snacks like sandwiches.enthusiastictrio. Don't give up on them if they are slow. GiveI

,' The school is situate~ at Ghorpadi. The them enough time to do a job. If you need

informal layout cre- ' vegetables cut for the mbrn-

ates a comfortable ~ ing meal, ask them to do itat m 0 s p.here, .' - the prior night. EncouragebecausePrayatna's' . them to look after the needs'aim is to integrate of others too. Ask him aboutthe individuals in a " how his day has gone. Don'thome situation, think 'after all, what greatteaching them basic thing will a mentally retardedacademic skills' child have done today'. Takealongwithfunctional :' an interest in his affairs, heskills to enable them will be sure to reciprocatetl;> minglesocially. and take greater interest in

Four rooms cater .,. , your work," she says.to the four different -, "Don't consider the child alevels of training and " burden and feel ashamed tothere is a kitchen to take him/her out. If you do this,

, practice culinary., the feeling will automaticallyskills. Prayatna rub off on the sibling and hebegan with six chil- / will have the same attitude.dren,. aiming to Takeyour child out into socie- Iteachonlypre-voca- ty. You have to break the icetional skills to the somewhere," the trio adviseage groupof 14 and parents.upwards.Later the schoolexpandedto bring Onewonderfulexampleis Abhishek,whoseothers into their warm embrace. Now with Here they do' some basic academic work. oufgoing, friendly nature and smiling face

, almost 30 children they have ~ivided their pro- alphabets and numbers from 1-10 and then could well be because of his parents' attitude, gramme into four levels. The teaching meth- progress to learning their names; addresses of taking him out regularly for social events.

ods are extremely adaptable because as they and telephone numbers. Verbal leaming is Then there is Muffazal who also helps out withstate, "Each chilp is different and our aim is to considered sufficient. Those who are non-ver- ' his father's furniture business in the eveningsdevelop the capabilities of each person." bal are taught by the Bliss Symbols (on a by attending- to customers or doing simple

The first is the Special Unit. These are the board) or the Rhebus Board (pictorial) or by accounts. For Dinyar Aibra,. Sudha Singh andyounger children, between 3-10 years, who gestures. 38 other children, this school is not just a placewere initially not able to do anything. They had This group soon progresses to a higher level to pick up learning, but also to increase theirsevere behavioral problems, lack of speech pre-vocational which includes more .skills and social interaction. "Negative public attitudes to.co-ordination and were not even toilet-trained. daily survival cooking. They are first taught to disability are often the biggest handicap. LetUsed only to a soft die: of dal-rice, they had to recognise various vegetables, fruits and grains us join hands to overcome this," is the ferventbe Introduced to chapatti-bhaji and .!.iltl9ht to and then to wash and peel them. Depending appeal of the three ladies who are making anchew for the first time. Slowly they eve,i'1eamt upon their motorskills, they are taught to cut all-out effort to chans:lesocial altitudes, '.. ,ioPicKM'>

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iaces.of chapatti on th~irown. andchopv~getables, light a'gas;stoveand do ShulIld you wish Ie. get in touch withThel\61IIeveils The Pre-Vocational Group, some cooking. . prayatna, you can contact them on 6817':29.

PUNE TiMES Nov.lft.~ 2.000