The yellow Rose

     The kids were escorted to the first floor ‘green room’ for make-up. Some of them were excited, some all lost. A boy fascinated by the lip color demanded the make-up didi to apply some for him; the girl went on hating her costume until she was convinced she looked pretty.  Yet another little girl, proudly took care of the boy (just a little littler than her) –  she wouldn’t leave his  hand. Some were waiting, all set & prepared to go to the Stage-Hall; one or two of them started dance inside the green room as soon as they were ready, lost in their own world!

…...

     The show was about to begin. One of the hosts gave a pre-start call and then the program kick-started.

     One by one, the participants were called out. The groups of kids / adults alike, not taking time, immediately took their places for performing, as & when they were called out. The kids happily danced to the tunes they recognized were theirs – a few mocking their teachers (who were dancing side-stage). Nevertheless, they danced and sang their hearts out. The anchors, in between performances, gave their thank-you’s and dose of audience-entertainment. And there were also performances by the show supporters, Mothers and the Staff. The atmosphere was a typical cheer, fun & talent filled with energy.

     A super-kid, who had recently won an International gold-medal in para Olympics was honored. Show-stealer as she was – she took everybody’s breath away with her dance performance (one could not forget)! Three hours of time floated fully alive; with passionate singers, dancers, speakers, photographers & organizers at work – all with just their hearts and a spirit to make a difference.

     The show ended with a final dosage of 'Thank-yous'; and then a happy note of declaring a school day off.

     Soon after the show ended, one of the show anchors prepared to wind up (she had a bag of mixed emotions to carry and contemplate). Just then, a little boy stood in front of her from no-where, showing her a yellow-rose. Surprised, she gestured the boy asking whether the flower was for her, and that she wanted it. The boy signaled it was not, and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared in front of her. Little importance did she give to it, when the little boy returned to her and patted on her back, with another rose in his hand – gesturing this one was for her. There was an innocent grin, a joy of selflessness, on his face...and the anchor..was 'awe-struck'! (....and so a friend who was watching all this!)

Yes. The child was Special – not in the sense the world calls him; but in a way that he had demonstrated what it meant to make someone 'feel special'...


                                                  Goodness does not need a state-of-mind. It just needs an open heart…

Courtesy: Annual Day Event at Sambhav Foundation – a center for rehabilitation of mentally challenged, disabled children and slow learners…

                                                  

A-Z in Dots and Signs :)

...gone are the days when 'I wanna grow up once again' was just a song lyric...

     Ever since I happened to randomly watch a group of students communicating in Sign language at a bus stop ( a couple of years back) - a strange chord had struck me! Inspite of being a people watcher - strangely enough - I was not able to comprehend a single action of theirs. Wouldn't mind missing a bus or two, just to sit and watch them (yes! have done that :P!) and try to understand their communication - but all that I could grasp was - just their state of mind (by their body language). nothing else. A clear message out of this was - I need to learn sign language!

     The 'Fun World' experience (October, 2013) added my interest in learning a New language - Braille.

     Come Jan 11, 2014 : When a long-awaited dream witnessed a start! Quickly enrolled the Batch 2 of  'GiftAbled's Mini Braille and Sign Language Workshop' class [an initiative organized by Gift-abled - http://www.giftabled.com/; further details shared at the end of the post]. A perfect package!


All about the Session: Role-plays, Fun-n-Learn, Signs and Braille:D

     'Aao school chalen hum' – the song kept running in my mind, while travelling all the way to the i-volunteer venue. [of course, we were gonna learn just 'A-Z' - all in a new and different way :P]. After the registration formalities, the Session started with the series of events - all in an order:

Role-play: 

     Soon after the introduction session, we had a quick role-play wherein the participants were paired into groups of 2 - one was blindfolded acting as a visual impaired beneficiary; and the partner was a  helper. We had to do an exercise of 'road crossing' with our respective pairs [Did u ever know that there are certain 'techniques' to follow to help a visually challenged person? - I didnot until I did this exercise]. The 15-minute session was just enough to make us understand what kind of challenges might be faced by the Visually impaired in their daily lives, and how diligently we can assist them. The role-play eventually turned into an ice-breaker among the participants - who were now little familiar with each other. We moved onto the next session - Sign language.

Fun-n-learn: Sign language:

     The session started with our ' Prarthana teacher' demonstrating and teaching 'A-Z' in signs; and then the students practising the same. It was a totally 'school-like' atmosphere, and learning felt amazing! The session was followed by a test [and I was one of the toppers -yay!! :D]; and then we had a short exercise, wherein we had to communicate with our partners in Signs! [ain't as easy as it sounds! if you lose your track you might well end up wondering, what the hell are u doing with your fingers and fist - and then, erase everything u wrote in the air - and then start afresh :P!] The sign-language session was truly knowledgeable, and fun too! (we were literally acting like kids playing dumb-charades)

The Braille-session:

    The sign language session was followed by Braille-training. It was wonderful to learn every aspect of the Braille basics. Each alphabet consists of a specific punching pattern within 6 dots (6 dots - is where the braille basics starts from) [some additions with marking 'upper case' letters - u need to join the basics sessions for more details ;)]. Again, as a simple assignment, we were asked to punch our favorite quotes in braille [which was quite a challenge too, nevertheless fun!]. Our art of copy-from-others-notes literally went for a toss, as we had to put our independent imagination into it (after 2 failed attempts I managed to punch my quotes correctly in the 3rd!) :P. 

     Along with the fun we had during the entire session, we also got to learn new techniques - some do's and dont's while giving a helping hand  - and more importantly - gave us an awareness in terms of volunteering with the HI's and VI's. 

The session was truly an enriching session - an attempt to bridge the gap between the differently abled and abled. Serving the society had been a thought since childhood, and few additional gyan that our 'Prarthana teacher' used as fillers, helped in putting some of my own thoughts in place:) 

A big Thanks to Prarthana, Gift-abled, and all those who were involved directly / indirectly in this initiative. Hats off! The session was truly a start of one of my dreams-coming-true :)

P.S: Loved attracting public attention, when Shilu & I were trying to communicate in Sign language while walking towards a restaurant for lunch (after the session got over :P). The 'new learning' just ended up making us feel like a child :)

Gift-abled Store links:

Official website: http://www.giftabled.com/

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/464549333613878/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GiftabledAnInclusiveGiftstore?ref=br_tf

Cheers!

Swatz