Back with a Bang!

Chaotic control that’s the best way I can describe the last two months! It has been ages since I wrote but I do have a very good excuse! Since my last post in September we have had 2 melas, 3 small productions and 1 film meeting! Well so as you can see I have been busy! The melas were great fun! As I was saying chaotic control.... hmmm now how do I explain that to you? Okay so we started with a Janamashtami celebration and a big Independence Day celebration (all of this is there on our site http://www.latikaroy.org/). Both these celebrations were marked by performances by our children. A dance by our lovely Radha Krishna devotees and a play on the gallant Rani Laxmi Bai (for the uninitiated - she was the Rani of Jhansi, one of India's first female freedom fighters). One of the photographs in my last post (one with the green turban is from that day!). It was a last minute goof up. One of our actors Arjun decided to not come on the day that he had the play! So there was Neha Didi trying her best to control the children from panicking while deep in her heart she was the queen of paranoid panic!!!So at the last minute I decided to wear a turban and be a man!

Now as they say it’s only the beginning. Things never truly end when they are meant to 2 days after the chaos Merrow, our Volunteer from Cambridge University put up her production with the children at Latika Vihar. The play was one of my favourite fairytales Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and we had an extremely talented Snow White who didn’t deter to say other actors dialogues if they forgot to say them! (What presence of mind!) To cut it short it was a HUGE success. It was the first time many of our children spoke in English and they were astonishingly perfect!

Once the Latika Vihar events got done and over with (at least for a while) I got down to what I am being paid for! Work on the website and the Resource Centre!

Merrow and Ashleigh our volunteers had come up with a brilliant fundraising project called B.U.I.L.D.E.R. The project would involve students from across the city in our fundraising drive. In my personal opinion it’s a well thought out, creative and productive project. What it entails is that we approach schools speak to them about our work and our needs. We then let them decide how and if they want to support our cause. The project allows the children complete freedom to use their own creativity to fundraise through events like school marathons, yard sales, dance shows etc. All the ideas, planning and work is done by the children. The project helps them in understanding a company structure as it would require a proper work division and demarcated responsibilities. The aim is to train the children in a possible career in events and fundraising. The qualities that they need for this project and the qualities that this project would enhance will help them in the future for college applications, job interviews etc. the process also spreads awareness about the cause of disabilities. Great project huh Ek teer se teen nishane! Thanks Merrow and Ashliegh! We are still talking to schools on the same project and have my Alma Mater Welham Girls School on board!

Now we had Yvonne from Birmingham, England who started something called The Wall at Latika Vihar (yes Welhamites it’s exactly like the Wall in school!). Children think of a theme and write articles, do research, take interviews and put it up on the board.
But one of the most important thing that Yvonne did for me was plan, plan and plan some more! You see I love ideas and I’m ever ready to do things at the drop of a hat! My agenda in life would promote a shoe company very well, Just Do It! Yvonne on the other hand brought the control to the chaos!
We had two Melas, Dusshera and Diwali and did I have fun pulling her leg about her habit of putting everything down on paper! But thanks to those papers I never forgot anything!!!
The Dusshera mela was great fun we had dances, food and the burning of the Ravana!

But you know what the best thing was? The involvement of the children, you should have seen some of the older kids who stayed back to make the Ravana!

Those who practiced diligently for the dance and others who tried their best to make little decorative pieces for Latika Vihar!

We than celebrated Diwali in grand style (phew we really don’t leave any festival alone now do we?). Just a few pictures of the rangolis by the staff and children will show you the effort that went into this mela!

With the diyas burning bright the centre looked beautiful.

Now the movie! Well it’s a bit of a surprise so I should not spoil it. All I can say is we are in the process of making a small film which I hope will be appreciated by all those who care about the cause and want to learn more about it. The movie is being made by a group called Xebec Film Team who had done an amazing job with our previous film. Here is the link to that film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC2ncbi_U4w

Phew! To be honest this is still not the end.... there was much more and will always be more....
Here's looking ahead to November.

PS: that was just the work front!!

Photos Courtesy: Yvonne, Merrow & ME!

This is what I Do.....

Here is a little glimpse of what I do on a daily basis!

Giving a word of encouragement

Last minute change in plan...I get to act!!!!

I even get to conduct prayers, give prasad and put tikka on people!!
Anchoring for a show!

This is just a part of what I do. But there is more, a lot more!

The Perfect Child

Have you ever heard of the story of a man who tried to create the perfect human being but instead created a hideous monster who destroyed his creator’s family and life? Yes, Frankenstein did not want to create a monster, he wanted to create the ‘perfect human’, a dream that turned into a nightmare.

It seems we never learn from our mistakes, Hitler had an idea of the perfect human and in order to achieve that perfect world he destroyed everything that came his way, including his own life.

No, we never learn.

God could not have created something that was more pure and beautiful than a child. Their carefree laugh, innocent questions and zest for life have always amazed me. Children are a gift from God, a gift which we should accept graciously and with love. But we humans are incapable of even that. All our lives we have exploited and disregarded his gift with great callousness. Children across the world bear the burden of their parent’s expectations. Through our children we want to live our unfulfilled dreams.

We are obsessed with our children being perfect.

And why wait till they are born lets make him perfect even before they see the world. You want your child to have deep blue eyes or maybe jet black hair or would you rather have a child who is athletic or one which is smart? No problem we are working on that! This is still at a developing stage some people may say I am getting carried away because this is merely science fiction and not a fact.

Well then let me give a few facts, take a child with down syndrome in many countries down syndrome is considered a good ground to abort a child with this disability. In Germany alone 90% of all children that were prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome were reportedly aborted. True a child with Down syndrome is different, he may have a lower IQ than other children his age and other limitations but they can and do live a complete and wholesome life and who knows that better than us, an organization that works for people with disabilities whether its Sakshi or Sana our children have proved all those who believe against them wrong.

When Sarah Palin decided to not abort Trig, there was a huge outcry by people who considered her decision unethical. Trig was not ‘normal’, she knew he would suffer all his life due to his disability and therefore she should have had an abortion to save him from all the trouble. This would have been the right ethical choice.

In a somewhat similar case in India a girl with a mild case of mental retardation was raped and when the sate found out she was pregnant they on her behalf decided to get the child aborted. She wanted to keep her child, but the state decided she had no right to take the call, she was mentally retarded, she can not possibly think for herself and what if the child was mentally retarded as well? No, it only made sense to abort this child this was the right ethical choice. This decision was for the benefit of the child, the mother and the society at large.

Both the children did not deserve to be born, they were not normal nor would they ever be like the other children and therefore they had lost their right to live.
The question is not whether they will become ‘normal’ in life, the question really is do we have a right to take a life? Who are we to decide what is normal or perfect?

A child that is happy and loving, one whose laughter lifts up your spirits, a child who is gentle and kind hearted, that is my idea of a perfect child. What is yours?

The New EIC

Hello! We are back!

This is what our new home looks like..

It's pretty isn't it?

For a while we had to stop playing but we are back at what we do best!!!!

Come visit us anytime

55 B, E.C. Road, Near Dwarka Stores

+91-35-6458540

A VISIT TO THE EARLY INTERVENTION CENTER

I work as a website coordinator and drama teacher at the Latika Roy Foundation. It is a resource centre for people with special needs. We have several projects like the Early Intervention Centre, the Karuna Vihar School for children with special needs, the College of Vocational Training for young adults with special needs, The awareness campaign, the resource centre (where i work!), the training centre and finally Latika Vihar an after school activity centre where i teach theatre. The article below is what i had written for our website when i first visited the Early Intervention Centre which was in St. Joseph's Academy at St Joseph's Academy. It is no longer there as the new management thought it had 'better' use of the space we occupied. I was quite annoyed at the news initially because LRF had a long and good association with them but then all's well that ends well. We found a pretty little place and I will be visiting it soon. Will put up those photographs as well. The children are absolutely adorable and you should make a trip down to Dehradun and come visit them.

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Visiting the Early Intervention Center for the first time, I did not know what to expect. I knew that the Early Intervention Center is for young children with multiple disabilities and that the children and their parents come here to be trained by therapists, physicians and educators to help the children achieve their full potential. I had read all about it, but, the actual power of this place was something I wasn’t really prepared for.
Speaking just of the building itself, there is nothing intrusive or grand about it yet something makes you sit up and take notice. The moment you enter the gates, you feel a certain energy that is prevalent all around and of course the one thing you can not afford to miss is the amazing artwork that is all over the wall. A personal suggestion, stop and have a look, trust me it’s worth it!
After you admire the artwork and swing a little, its time to meet our resident doctor and a core member of the foundation, Dr Sebastian. The first thing you will notice about him is the ready smile and his calm demeanor, and then of course his Hindi! He can give a complex to any one of his with his fluent Hindi; in fact sometimes he is so particular about using the correct word that you may need a dictionary to understand him! The most important thing of course is his connection with the children; he is an absolute marvel with them. Leaving him to his work I decided to stroll a bit.
On the other end of the building is what I call the “Happy Room”, the moment you enter you smile. The huge rainbow with a colourful board under it makes you feel like you are in Wonderland. The energy here was difficult to ignore, there were special therapists and educators working with some children while others were running around playing. The children were having so much fun that for a moment I forgot what I was there for; I was just a little girl ready to play. But I was on a mission, I really thought it would be difficult to photograph this energetic bunch of kids, but was I in for a surprise! The instant the camera came out I had the world’s best models ready with their poses! Of course the one thing that I had to look for here was the box of balls that Jo had mentioned in her blog. This young lady here showed me the true magic of the box! All I can say is that, it is, as much fun as it seems.
Yes, I knew what the Early Intervention Center is, but what it truly is, and what it truly does was something that I experienced then and I still carry that with me, today. It is not just a center where experienced therapists, physicians and educators come together to help children in a mechanical way to achieve their full potential, it is a place where you see the true joy of learning, of having fun, of being a child with dreams no different from another, that is what the EIC really is; A place that embraces you for who you are and lets you grow, the way you want.

Birthday Wishes

Its Kanchan's Birthday!

Kanchan at Turkey - fat fat chubby chubby!!!

Like all siblings there are a lot of memories (good & bad) that we have shared over the years. There is one memory that has stayed and I can still see it clearly.

Kanchan and I went to the same school (Welham Girls' School, Dehradun), she was 4 years my senior in school.

Us at our school's 50th Founders

We used to walk it to school often since we lived in Welham Boys' which is just across the street (better known as the School across the LOC).

The memory is of one of those days.

We were running late and she was walking in front while I was strolling at my own pace behind her. She kept telling me to hurry up, she was really annoyed. She told me if you don't hurry up ill leave you and go to school, you can keep walking in the park.

I could not catch up with her, she was much faster. I was scared that she would leave me and go.

There is a curve just before we hit the Welham Girls' boundary and I lost her there.

I remember thinking "She has left me" and how I would tell mom that my sister deserted me (I was always a drama queen!).

And then I heard her shouting, "Neha will you hurry up ya, cant you see we are late". She was standing at the gate, She had not deserted me.

She never has.
Thanks for always being around you fat bum! Whether as a big bully (don't deny it, you beat me up as a child) or as my confidant (all the broken hearts and bitching sessions) you have always been around.

I love You, You Bum!!!

Us on my birthday party(H'IC'APPY)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KACHU!

Feeling Lost

I am feeling a little lost today.

I dont know what it is that is bothering me but something seems amiss. There seems to be a certain emptyness that is crying out to me to do something. I wish I knew how to tackle that or what the emptyness is about.

On the surface everything in my life seems complete, but something deep down is not right.

Maybe I want to know what is the purpose of my life. Or maybe its something as simple as whether my purpose to shift to dun is being fulfilled or not. I had come to dun with a set agenda, but somewhere that aganda has taken a back seat. I had left my life in delhi for a reason and I was happy to shift. But since the reason seems unfulfilled so am I.

I need to do something to get back to that agenda, that reason for my shifting to dun, I need to be honest and get down to what I came here for.

I need to get cracking, NOW.