Forever

                                   Forever

                                                                                           Sreela Basu

At the General Body meeting held on Saturday o Specially Abled children. Members of our NGO were to suggest and propose at the next meeting a month later where we could visit . In March we would be celebrating Charter Day so that would be a good time to visit a school and contribute to the needs of these children . Sangeeta who was the HOD.. (Head of the Department } and a Special Educator in one of the well known schools in the city was given the responsibility to keep us informed as well all the others.

At the next meeting Sangeeta’s proposal for a visit to a school for children with special needs was accepted. This particular school was run by an ex teacher where she had worked. For more than a decade. Sangeeta would get in touch with her and let us know . Time was short. But she would organize it Sangeeta promised. She would not be free to join us since it would be a working day for her. We had decided to be there around noon just before the morning shift would give over . Just about four of us. We were requested not to visit in a big number since that would disturb the children. Only biscuits would be allowed. Most of these children had Autism They were forty in all. Two to five year old’s. We decided to make a donation of Rs. Ten Thousand which was our budget for the project. The President of our International organization and three more offered to join in. Amongst the three was a retired English teacher who had taught in the same school as Sangeeta many many years ago. They would all assemble at the school premises . The President Shipra Bannerjee would pick up Debolina the retired teacher on her way to the destination.

On the appointed day they called each other to confirm that they would meet at the time set. But everyone was very apprehensive if they would be able to make it since it had begun to rain heavily and Kolkata when it rained was sure to have water logging in parts of the city as well as massive traffic jam. They were also worried if they would be able to reach their destination since the locality was well known for its water logging. With fingers crossed they left home and managed to arrive in good time at the school named ALOKDHARA which when translated from Bengali to English meant Ray of Light. At the entrance to the gate there were two teachers waiting with garden umbrellas to receive them. As they walked in they were requested to take off their shoes and wear the slippers for visitors since the kids often sat on the floor for their activities. It was a quaint little school very neat and well maintained buzzing with life. All four of them waited in the Principal’s tiny room for her to come since she was taking class. This was a different kind of set up that one generally comes across on a visit to a school. A teacher came running behind a little girl who was laughing loudly . She looked different. You could make out . Behind the teacher was a two year old boy who was following her and he was wailing. We looked at all of them . We were surprised to see that there was another young girl who we later came to know was also a teacher . She came and very tenderly held the little boy’s hand wiped his eyes took him up on her lap and carried him away. Then walked in a most graceful middle aged lady…. With a wide smile and apologized for having kept us waiting….. but said that she was taking a story telling class …..  She introduced herself as  Kamalika Roy. The minute she saw Debolina she ecstatically hugged her and exclaimed ,”How lovely to see you after how long ? a decade?” “Fifteen years to be exact” Debolina responded still holding Kamalika’s hand. “What a pleasant surprise!!!!” Each of them introduced themselves and handed over the bag of biscuits and a box of crayons for each child. Kamalika gave them an introduction which was a history of how her school came into being. She was as transparent as glass. Kamalika continued , “My school is not what you would expect , it is small , we have limited space and I have to pay a big sum as rent. I invested all my earnings in building this school . My husband and my daughter ,some kind relations and friends and well wishers like you help me to keep the school running. I am always in want. I have very dedicated teachers and this is the only Special school in this city where the ratio of teacher and student is one is to one. My little ones do not come from a wealthy background so I cannot charge them a big sum as fees. They all belong to very average homes. I want to raise the awareness in parents that they have to help their children to be educated not cornered by Societal rejection. They have to give their children a strong footing. The responsibility is on the parents and on us. My School is my life. Would you like to look around ?” she asked. As we went upstairs we found a door open Kamalika Roy took us in and said this is our Therapy Room . That is what was also written neatly on the board. It is a Sensory integration room or Feel Good Zone.Children receive receive sensory stimulation through various devices.In this SI room. Inside the room was a young man sitting holding a little boy whose legs looked wobbly . The little one was lying atop a huge ball generally known as a Gym Ball and the man a Therapist was holding him helping him to roll. As we stood watching he smiled. Kamalika explained that this therapy helps the child with his sensory stimulation.When he rolls on the ball the counter pressure from the ball helps to ignite his sensory nerves. We thought we would be disturbing the little one so we pulled the door and left . Walking across the room we found big wooden blocks all neatly laid out on one side specially designed for children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder which affects communication and behaviour) and helps the child for body organisation ,social and communicative skills . Kamalika said “Since we do not have enough space we lay these out only on Fridays and have this activity on Fridays. This is known as the MILLER METHOD. Walking along she introduced us to the teachers young men and women.” Each of them are special educators and hold a teaching degree to teach specially abled children. It’s a very difficult task you know handling special children. Their brains are differently wired. And we cannot be impatient with them. “ “But “Kamalika , Debolina said, “I remember in Akshara these special children were very talented . I remember you coming looking for Dipanjan . You were relieved to find him in the library. He was drawing something on the wall with his fingers and singing beautifully. “ “You remember him? Dipanjan could play the piano so well. His parents sent him to England . He still plays the piano and is matured. “ She put her palms together and raised both her hands to her forehead in prayer. We climbed up to a very well lit room where squatting on the floor was Dona , she was a German who had come to India on a holiday and met with Kamalika. On a visit to this school she decided to stay back longer. She returned home to come back and join Alokdhara as a story teller. Dona was single and very involved. She had about ten kids sitting on the mat on the floor and one on  her lap hugging her. One of them had a play stethoscope around his neck. He was very quiet. “Oh he is our Doctor for today. … All morning he has been sitting on that chair with his Doctor’s set. I am telling them a story and they are listening and playing. Sanjay” she said to one little boy do you want to go to the bathroom? Tumi bathroom e jabey? “ Even before she could finish Sanjay had dewatered himself on the floor. She affectionately picked him up excused herself and was soon back after giving him a change. One of the caregivers came and cleaned the floor immediately. We sat down to listen to her story. It was so different from the classes we attended in a regular school. We couldn’t help having them sit on our laps. This was their Stort Telling room. So there were posters with Tigers , fairies , rivers , Jack and Jill. It was a very colourfull room. The children could sit on small chairs or stools or even on the mats on the floor. It was spick and span. We climbed up to the next floor. There were four teachers conducting four different classes. One was helping with drawing , there was a male teacher, he was teaching numerical[SB1]  .. Though there was an exercise book but he also had different kinds of blocks and the numbers 1 to 10 cut out from coloured card board .It certainly was a very hard task for the teacher. But all four children seemed to be very involved. Debolina held Kamalika’s palm in a tight grasp. “You’re so dedicated to your profession Kamalika. I have an offer . I am also Specially Abled physically, I’ve had a massive spinal surgery for Kyphosis Scoliosis at The Manipal Hospital in Bangalore which restricts my movement. I am willing to come in to take class in English twice a month to begin with. I have a small request you will have to arrange for me to be dropped back home.” Kamalika gave her a wide smile and once again held Debolina’s hand. “That really would be very helpful. I’d like you to teach my teacher’s Spoken English to begin with. Not all of them are quite adept at it. Let’s meet another day and we can work out a routine for the next term. But I can’t….”Debolina stopped her …”I did not ask for any remuneration Kamalika. I offered my services. “ We climbed down and were offered cookies and coffee. That over over a cheque to Kamalika for the school. The President Gitashree announced, “Today is our Charter Day which is a very special occasion for our NGO. Every year we pay a visit to an organization and donate to them. This year once again we are ever so happy to have been able to spend time with your little ones. This is a small drop from all of us. May you be successful and continue to run this school and  benefit these special children She requested Debolina who was the senior most to hand over the cheque to handed Kamalika the cheque she Kamalika. AS Debolina once again held her hand in a tight grasp. Their relationship lasted a life time well into their eighties……. And still keep in touch share their joys …..sometimes sorrows.

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