Anjali brings colour to lives of Vidyasagar students

Yellow, pink, blue and all the other colours from a box of crayons were laid at Prasad’s feet as he took each after another and put them to paper. All set to create another masterpiece for the world, Prasad and his three friends came  from Chennai’s Vidyasagar School to the Anjali Children’s Festival.  They were accompanied with four teachers of their institute two of which were also mothers of these children. This was Prasad’s first time out of his hometown and into another state and his mother and himself thanked Anjali profusely for such an opportunity.

Laxmi Prabhakaran, mother of ten-year-old Dharmesh, says that each year from the last ten years, four or five students attend Anjali with their escorts. “They come back home with happy faces and great experiences from having met with so many people and participated in so many activities that each one of us gets in queue to take our children the next year,” she says. Her son nods in agreement from his wheelchair, monitoring his artist friends on the ground.

Prasad’s mother flaunts with pride his latest artwork titled Jungle mein Pongal and another one of his escorts, Bharti says that there are around 350 odd students associated with Vidasagar School but only a few five are bestowed this opportunity to be a participant in this festival. “It is very difficult to travel for such long hours in train with these children. We had to travel almost a day and a half, during which two of these fell ill,” she adds.

The staff is also a good 120 in number but even then managing these many students is already a 24/7 task.  “We don’t have anything to complain about because Anjali is the only place where these children can come out of their homes and visit a different place and people, Otherwise we have to make do with our in house activities,” says Bharti.

For Sruti Mohapatra, Chief Co-ordinator of Anjali Children’s Festival, the main objective is to get the disabled children out of their immediate surroundings and expose their talents to the world. This ambition seems to be realising with such examples as the story of Prasad and his friends from Chennai. 

Finding a friend in paper dolls

 The area smells like a furniture shop, from the heavy use of Dendrite. Foam cuttings are strewn all over the place and the children are busy making something with their dexterous hands and keen eyes. Anjali Children’s Festival was witness to several workshops on November 12, one of which was on ventriloquism, conducted by veteran artist Prabir Das of Kolkata. He attends to every confused child struggling with scissors, foam or glue.

This is Das’s second time at Anjali and says he’ll visit every year with the permission of health and time. “To meet these children is a great experience. I conduct such workshops throughout the year but the enthusiasm and the ambience at Anjali is unmatched,” he says.

For Das, the inspiration to approach ventriloquism as a career came when he was in Russia in 1968 where he watched the Russian Circus in its full flair. “When I came back, I realised that ventriloquism owes its origin to India” he says. He claims it is registered in the Vedas how sages and hermits who claimed to talk to gods were nothing but well practised ventriloquists who created illusions of conversations with God.

When asked how such a workshop can prove helpful to the differently-abled children, he says that with regular practice and stern heart, the children will gain confidence and learn to put words to their thoughts. Apparently even the kids had similar views on the efficiency of the workshop. Jerin Shifani, a student from Kanyakumari seems pleased with her decision to choose this workshop over all others. “I like making and playing with dolls and Sir is also very sweet and patient with us,” she says. A smile spreads over Das’s face as he sees his students feeling content with the product of two hours’ labour. A face of foam and paper smiles with him too.  

Tête-à-tête with Sruti Mohapatra

Founder and Chief Executive of Swabiman and Chief Co-ordinator of Anjali National Children’s Festival shares her definition of success, her dreams for the future of organisation and her love for the differently-abled children in a conversation with Soumya Srivastava.

What pushed you towards working for special children? Did your own experience have any part to play?

I had a spinal cord injury in 1987 and traumatic as it was, I had the support of my family to drive me through it. I was educated and had a strong financial background, unlike many. When I came here after working with Disabled People’s International, I found that the situation here was far worse than I could ever expect. I travelled through Odisha and what I witnessed was baffling. These children were confined to the four walls of their home, not given access to school. Even the special schools were far from helpful. I wanted to break this notion that disabled children are worth nothing.

Why is Anjali so intent on bringing all children together? How is this interaction beneficial to them?

I believe that children are the future. We need to let them understand and appreciate the plights of those unlike them. The hatred or the alienation has to be dissolved and apathy has to be replaced by empathy. It is essential for them to know that these differently-abled children are also creative, curious, loving and kind.

Anjali promotes group activities more than solo acts but don’t you think that if a child stands victorious on doing something on his own, his confidence will grow even better?

The world and its people are growing to be more and more self centred these days. They only want to have achievements as individuals and not as a team. We, at Anjali, are trying to dissolve this outlook. We want more participation as teams, so that the kids know how to put the welfare of all before the welfare of oneself. The concepts of I, me, myself must be done away with.

Is this year a greater or lesser success than last year? The head count is definitely low.

I agree that the footfall this year has been much less than last year but I also know that Phailin is to be blamed. Many participants withdrew their names which I believe is nothing but reasonable parental concern. The real picture escapes them that Bhubaneshwar is not even distantly harmed by the perils of the cyclone or the floods. We know that it is not a failure or mismanagement on our part rather an unfortunate turn of events. Also, I would never judge the success of this event with headcounts.

Then what should be the parameters to judge Anjali’s success?

When I could see the joy in the eyes of children here, when they tell me they don’t wish to leave the camp, I know I have done my bit and this initiative has been a success. The children and their parents keep coming and telling me how disappointed they are that the festival has been cut short to four days from five. If we could make even one child smile then success is already ours.