Every child is special

HYDERABAD: “All that they need from the society is acceptance,” says Swaroopa Rani, mother of Rashmita, a 11-year-old special child adding, “My daughter loves making friends. But many normal kids are afraid of her, since she is a little different from them.” This is not the case only with Rashmita, but many more specially-abled children who are struggling to be a part of the mainstream system and get treated normally. To make them feel special and to make them feel a much more special part of the society, the Junior Chamber International (JCI) of Hyderabad organised Taare Zameen Par, a musical and cultural event for these special children under an year long project Lakshya. This was the ninth edition of JCI’s initiative for the mentally challenged children, which is organised with a different name and theme every year.More than 1,500 children from various special schools across the city including Sweekar Upkar, Shraddha, Swayamkrushi, Lekhadeep, Abhilasha, Manasa, Thakur Hari Prasad Institute, Manasa, Radha, National Institute of Mentally Handicapped (NIMH) participated in the event. Cultural programmes like dance competitions, singing competitions, drawing and painting competitions were held. Supporting them were Shiamak Davar dance troupe, who danced on various popular tunes and also taught the special children a few moves.Expressing her happiness over the programme, Swaroopa Rani says, “I have never seen my daughter so happy. She has been dancing and singing since morning, and she also made many friends. I hope there are more of such events which would immensely help to improve their condition.”Agreeing with her, is one of the project advisors of Lakshya, Aparna Mehta, who is also the mother of a special child. She says, “I completely believe that every child is special and more of such measures have to be taken up to help them get involved into the mainstream system. If one can take these small little initiatives, we are at least making a good start and progressing in the race of providing them a better future.” Adding to this, another project coordinator, Chetana Rajkumar says, “These platforms not only provide opportunities to these kids to showcase what they have learnt, but will also act as a medium to help them become more social and join the mainstream. These have to be organised to try and reduce the inferiority complex these kids go through.”“I love singing Hindi songs and today I had so much fun participating in the event,” says 26-year-old specially-abled Harshita. Balavelayutham, national president of JCI, India was the chief guest of the event. Shashi Bhusan Kumar, IAS and vice-chairman and managing director of SAAP and other zonal officers of JCI were also present.