Recently I attended a workshop organised by Natyashala on their silver jubilee year. About a hundred physically and mentally challenged children attended the camp near Lonavala and learnt drama, dancing, singing, art, crafts and other useful things.
What impressed me most was the cheerfulness and the acceptance of their physical abnormality. None had any self pity or sadness that they were not at par with the rest of the world. They were, in fact, in a world of their own.
They talked, joked, exchanged information and behaved just like normal children of their ages.
Their blank eyes or their world of silence or their limps were not criticised, questioned or looked upon with pity. The organisers, teachers, visitors and parents all treated them as special kids and spoke to them like that. If they couldnt hear, they were gently nudged, if they couldnt see they were helped as a matter of fact.
More so because some of the teachers were one of them. One of them was blind and could only differentiate between darkness and light. Another had a dear family member who was physically challenged and hence she knew the trauma and the tension which these children were undergoing.
The young ones who were hearing disabled had to be shown with hands how to say ooh and aah and how to express themselves since they lived in a world of total silence. The blind children would turn towards sounds of the musical instruments.
I came away humbled and conscious. I would grumble about a headache or a small wound. Here were children who had such big problems and their whole life was stretching before them.
Yet they were cheerful and happy. No grumbling, no complaints. The world was their oyster.
-Veena Adige