Yours Specially

"Get this straight first. They are called special children because they make YOU feel special"

As welcome as those colorful balloons are to a naughty kid with
a pin xD

And how true it turned out to be =') Never in the 16 years of my life have I felt this welcome. Just proved that you do NOT need a welcome mat , the costly and cozy things or even politeness (the quintessential host 'etiquette' ) to make a  person feel more at home. All you need is some love , which would permeate in to your surroundings like a pepper started sneezing bout , however bad your habitat may look extrinsically.






The thing which annoys people like me , who were blessed enough to meet these children , is the large
scale amount of stigma and ignorance looming around them , the thing which proudly goes around with its ballooned chest swelling with ridiculous rumors  and  a very long nose poking into every person's private life , which goes about the all important name 'society'. I really want to meet those 'four people' , one has to be constantly wary and worried of  - . -
It is just sad , this inborn/ in place tendency to ridicule the different (and therefore) discriminated amongst us. And funnily enough , my usually lame and spammy sociology book came up with one of the best put lines ever.

"The disabled are rendered disabled not because they are biologically/inherently disabled , but because the SOCIETY renders them so". 

No fancy words , one might argue. But it hits the bulls eye in terms of delivering the intended message. Yes , there are some kids out there who have a predisposition for certain problems , but it is us , the all ominous  society , who act as the pathogenic stressors most of the times. The family and social support system one gets born into makes a whole world of difference. For example , one of my new friends Varadharajan ( :D ) although born with severe mental retardation keeps asking for his parents  in his own distinct way (for he is not gifted like us to form coherent words.)
It just about breaks your heart when he points outside the window and shouts 'drrrr' to enact a bus engine.His parents who are just a bus drive away are allowed to meet him only two times a month , unlucky them x/ The deal is done , when he repeatedly taps yours shoulder and calls you 'amma' ...

"Well my friend's name was Nikhitesh, and guess what? He can dance for 40 minutes straight, and is an avid folk dancer.He can draw, and he can sing. I can only shake myself a little bit and say I can dance,I can copy and say I can draw, and I cannot sing. And still people call them inferior. They call people like Nikhitesh as victims and pity them. But then we are in the wrong people. We need to learn a lot from them, and no one is superior or inferior. Everyone is equal, but they still outshine us. And guess what, Nik ( I gave him this name, thanks to my North Indian accent I cant pronounce this name) is just 11 yrs old. And me? I am 17 yr old. Need I say more."

shares our friend prerna , who was also privileged enough to meet and interact with one of the special ones.
One of my friends ran up to me after the visit and asked me one of the more poignant questions in life ,

"Dude ,  how lucky are we to be  born  normal?" 

Problems.

By the time you finish your first meeting with them , you would most probably be ashamed for thinking that you had 'problems' with your life. Don't get me wrong , to his / her their problem is the utmost important and requires not to be shooed away without any thought. Yet , the mountain looks like a molehill , when you interact with others , who endure more than their share of problems , from the nature and society , for no mistake they ever did.

We miss the innocent times x)

And to top it all off ,  THEY   don't seem to actually have a problem with the life they were gifted. Not one child in that mental health ward looked sad , even the ones affected with depression taking an effort to be amiable with the strangers who were visiting them . Their innocent and simple outlook in life is what we are sorely missing in our over complicated analysis of our life and problems. Please! , ones who think their lives suck because of inept boyfriends/girlfriends , over workload , body weight , skincolor or sheer boredom , i again say Please! please visit these mental health care centers and spend a few hours with these children. Else , you would be needing to meet a counselor yourself real soon.
Visiting these places is a two way thing.
a) It would make these children or even adults ( with the heart of a child) unconditionally happy! You are actually doing a service and great help by showering some attention to ones who are being grossly overlooked by negligence and selective blindness.
b) The thought of some one  to share their time with , gets such unanimous support that it is bound to make you feel someone special :) It is a beautiful cycle .
c) You would mock your problems rather letting it go the other way and mock you! At least you would be shamed and humbled enough for the time being to not let such petty problems invade your thoughts.
d) You are playing your small part in removing this stigma attached to being different or deviant. By becoming aware about the true meaning of mentally affected people you are passively help bring a change so big that one day a society where everyone would be  accepted for who she/he is. ( Utopian indeed)

I do not know what I plan to achieve with all this rambling. If at least one of you become sensitive enough to other people's weaknesses and stop making derogatory statements pointing to it , you receive my utmost respect. Also children like varadharajan , nikhitesh , kalaiarasi and rakshitha.... are waiting for you to visit them!

You can contact organisations like
Andhira mahila sabha 
here
here

Pls do join the community 

Yours specially
Semi 


(A big thank you to anthara pathak , for letting me put her beautiful pictures for this post x) she is a fast upcoming photo blogger . Catch her work in her blog, Shifting focus )