More than 3 months have elapsed? There was always an adrenaline rush, pumping me to script my new post; but what? I had three choices mulling in my mind for quite some time …
Number 1- to write about my Fascination towards Islam! Number 2- the best week of my life spent @ New Delhi during the last month for the National Moot Court Competition. Number 3 – “Rum & Rasam”…an unconventional story of friendship, love & sacrifice!!..
Arrgh…then from where did this “Second Innings -back to school” arrive??! .. After much thought I am writing a quickie which I felt I need to, before I forget anything about it..
It has been over 3 years since I completed my 10+2 & ever since, I have not been to my School! The reasons were varied. My urge towards going to school decreased the moment I understood that almost all my gurus have been transferred within an year, post my +2 !
3 Years from there & finally I am back to school for a different cause! Ironically, I am not back to my school! I am back to a different school for a different cause!!..
SCRIBE- Yes ! That was the reason why I went there, to assist the physically disabled.
This happened a month back when I got a call from Miss.Maheshwari, head of Disability Legislation Unit, known as the I-Scribe of Vidya Sagars.
I take a few words from their website just to enhance the post !
“When Sage Vyasa wanted to write the Mahabharata all those thousands of years ago, he was in a hurry and the words were spilling out of him. So what did he do? He asked for a scribe”
Especially when some of us need one desperately if we want to get on with our lives. I am talking of those who are visually impaired or have motor or other disabilities. Yes, that's exactly what a scribe does. He or she sits there and acts as the writer for people who cannot wield the pen themselves at exam time.
Post my registration in their Web site an year & half back, I got this call @ the right time when I was sitting so jobless desperately looking for a change! I was asked if I could scribe for few students over 2 weeks for the quarterly exams @ Lady Aandal Higher Sec School @ Chetpet ! I was excited for two reasons! 1) I get a change to be back to school
2) The long wait is over & I am gonna do something productive!!
Does this post have a point? - I'm not certain
Nevertheless, one thing I am certain is I can share what I experienced with those differently blessed Children of God …
8.20 In the morning & I was still on bed unable to wakeup! The snooze button in my mobile has been pressed over 11 times & I was all set to press for the twelfth!! Suddenly I was reminded of the examination that I was supposed to write for Rishab of class XI-Commerce Section @ Lady Aandal. As if an accident had happened, I was freaked!!
I experienced the same tension of being late to school during the time of exams almost after 3 years!
My mind kept telling me in the absence of my mom @ home!…Dumb***, you keep sleeping without a bit of seriousness to go to school ! Run, at least now…remove your laze & get ready soon! But I was home alone! My cloths were thrown haphazardly & post my shower I had to go deep into the mountain of cloths which I had not folded for over a month just to search the right one for the day!!!...
I was there bang @ 8.58 AM @ L.A! Another gorgeousness in my life the moment I entered the staffroom!! Aarrgh !! She’s a teacher boss!!..Rekha was the Coordinator of the examination department of Physically Challenged students.
“Hello Madam, this is Vignesh Krishnan from I-Scribe! Can you take me to Miss.Rekha?” A small giggle from this young lady & finally… “Yeah Sir (Bulb) I am Miss.Rekha, Coordinator of examination dept”!
Although I hated her calling me as Sir , I couldn’t resist telling it to her ! Finally on the 3rd day of my work @ Lady Aandal , I told her !! Madam, if you don’t mind it would be great if you could call me Vignesh! Lol..Another giggle from this female like the one’s in Tamil & Mallu movies of the 70’s & 80’s!
I was introduced to Rishab Bhutra , the boy for whom I was going to write examination for the next 2 weeks @ L.A!! Excitement as well as fear popped in my mind!
For what I have seen with most guys & gals when they interact with physically challenged kids are discomfort, fear & restlessness to move away from them & soon!..
However, I just had a problem called fear! Will I be able to make it !
Rishab is a boy with multiple disabilities! He can walk, but he has acute physical disorder. He can speak, but only in bits & pieces! His fingers are clogged in his right hand & his left hand has a small bend. Saliva pours from his mouth every half a minute as his tongue & tooth protrudes.
I was going to write, for this sweet little guy who welcomed me with a handshake. I was initially instructed by a coordinator of Vidyasagar on the Do’s & Don’s while scribing!
While I looked back in the hall, I was surprised to see around 6-7 more kids with different disabilities! I was equally happy with the amount of care the School took in case of these special Children ….
After our intro, I commenced writing for Rishab…Rishab is a fun loving, yet short tempered & an emotional kid! I was warned to have utmost patience while scribing for Rishab.My relationship grew right from day 1 of my scribing with all the other kids of different ages & different classes! There was Rahul, Rishab, Rakshith & many others …Sweet little children with high amount of enthusiasm & love !!..Rishab was a very naughty yet much matured for his age! After an hour & half of writing the first examination, i.e Computer Science, I faced the toughest challenge of scribing! Surpassing 1 Mark, 2 Mark & 4 Mark question, we reached the real marathon of writing the 8 Marks questions! 3 Questions of 8 Marks each was a real toughie…The genre of questions were quite simple & direct, yet it required high amount of elaboration taking into consideration the mark quotient! I perched on the edge of the seat trying to get what Rishab was trying to convey! Fortunately, he was given a computer in which he managed to type few words with his left hand !
I sat along with this young kid feeling terrible thinking about his plight. Slowly Rishab was getting paranoid, as I was not able to grasp, what he was trying to convey! He tweaked me thrice out of frustration & still was not able to convey what he wanted to. The words typed in the computer were neither proper nor could it be interpreted into bigger sentences.
I had to use all my interpretation skills to get the sentences right! Thanks to the tea that was served after an hour, which boosted me to think beyond. Finally, after much difficulty, I started to learn the linguistic nuances of physically challenged kids! Err; I would call them as differently abled kids …
More than writing the examination, 1/4th of the time was spent in cracking jokes & chatting … I was so hooked up with the little anecdotes that Rishab narrated to me. Suddenly, I was surprised to find something unique from this Kid. He had an impeccable capability of remembering things, especially relate things easily.
At a point, where I found it very tough to interpret a particular word which he was trying to convey, he suddenly turned back the question paper & with striking pace found the word in one of the questions in the Q.P. This was repeated wherever possible! I was mesmerized by the way he conveyed every single sentence to me.
My drive back home after the first examination took me to million thoughts that was galloping in my mind about Rishab & few other kids having different disabilities @ L.A.
Subsequent to my 3rd day @ Lady Aandal, I was a known to every kid in the Disability Unit of Lady Aandal. One thing which I loved about the school was the care that they had taken in case of these special children. Arranging Scribe to write the examination which many schools in the country lacked, special room for them to write the exams, 3-4 Coordinators just to make sure that things are in place for these kids!
Everyday I finished my examination; I longed to get back to school to write the next. I started loving the environment; I started to admire the teachers which I hadn’t done when I was a student!!!More than anything, I started to realize how much I have been missing the school days.
On one of the days, I asked Rishab if he has a girl friend...To my astonishment, he did have one ! My next obvious question was if it was one way or two way! He said it was his cousin sister & he is very much hesitant to ask for her. I couldn’t resist my laugh only to find this little kid giggling along with me...
This was when I thought about my School life! The best part of one’s life which has everything in it. Love, Hatred, Friendship, Innocence, Animosity, Ego & WHAT NOT??
And the irony about it is you realize its importance only when you come out of it.
I can go on describing about various other incidents that I experienced, during my short scribing work @ L.A. But I wonder if this would turn out to be a bore!..
So, here I come to an end !
“Folks …Just a point to ponder! I wish each one of us should strive to do something for the unprivileged, destitute or physically challenged at least once in our lifetime!
I bet the satisfaction you gain out of all these cannot be expressed in mere words….
Visit:-http://www.iscribe.co.in/
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