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November 14, 2003

It's their special day!

From: Times of India, India - Nov 14, 2003

POOJA VASHISHT

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

They scream with joy sans words, they celebrate without rhythm, they watch without seeing, and they talk without waiting to hear from you.

They celebrate “their” day in style undefined, unlike staple Children’s Day rigmarole! Chandigarh Times up, closes with hat ke kids.

Nau se gyarah… It’s written on their faces. A smile stretching across about half- a-dozen faces at Lion’s Deaf and Dumb School, geared up to watch Harry Potter at the theatre explains it all. They cannot hear wizard Potter uttering his magical words or enjoy the digitally exhilarating sound effects at Hogwarts. “But that’s the challenge. The children take it in their stride. Communication is difficult but not impossible,” explains their teacher Divya. “They can sense the vibrations to enjoy the music and judge actions to understand the situation,” she adds.

Play and Win… For teeming 100 brats at Vatika school for the deaf and dumb, it is a win-win situation. No boring synchronised dances or verbal contests, all they have to do is fight each other out in the field of sports! A sign here and a dot there, “Sandeep,” spells his name and also his zest for celebration. So do scores of his schoolmates. “A parade, drill session, athletics and free fun is the plan of action,” informs one of the teachers while the children have their session of “musical” chairs. Only that this time music is substituted with a moving handkerchief in the hand of the teacher.

Power Puff Girls… Yes 13-year-old duo Ishita and Ratika are... because not many of us would want to celebrate Children’s Day in narrow alleys crowded with stark reality of bare existence. “Both of us are holding an art workshop at Pustak School in Sector 25 in association with Youth Technical Training Society (YTTS) that has schools for street children,” puts Ishita thoughtfully. While this girl from alternate school Navital that believes in celebrating each day, wanted to do something extra, friend Ratika was apt support. “The seven to nine children are having an experience with creativity for the first time. They were extremely shy initially but now these little artists are coming out with inborn talents,” smiles Ratika.

“But you have to be extraordinarily thoughtful with these kids,” says Major General Rajendra Nath, chairperson of the Institute for The Blind. Children perhaps gauge the best barter trade...they give and take selflessly!

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