A Perfect Place in This Imperfect World

This is an unusual story. A story of children who, to naked eye shall appear imperfect and disabled, but on a closer look they depict a world we all strive for. The children at SKID are happy and content. They are enthusiastic and passionate and their zeal to learn is much more that you and I will ever have.

They are different in one regard though. They use two senses less than we do. They are dumb and deaf. For me they are “differently abled” as it doesn’t deter them from facing the challenges and competing with the so called normal students.

These children are deaf and dumb and use their other senses to feel the world and express themselves. I was lucky to witness them practice for their annual day function and the way they dances to the tunes of All izz well. Their enthusiasm, synchronization was at par with the professional troupes across the globe.

At SKID, these children are taught to walk hand in hand with others in the world. They study the same subjects with no special privileges and are also inculcated with self esteem and humbleness. Interacting with them provided me an insight into an unexplored world of sign languages and taught me importance of utilization of various senses we possess.

The journey of SKID started way back in 1966. On 5th March 1966, The Deaf Aid Society was formed by Mrs Leech, a teacher from Pennsylvania. In 1971, the school was renamed after Mrs. Shiela Kothalvala who donated land for the construction of school building to meet the ever growing demand. Since then, Shiela Kothavala Institute of Deaf or SKID has been instrumental in shaping the lives of such children.

Sometime back, Sankara Eye Hospital, Bangalore conducted a camp at SKID in collaboration with GE Capital and screened their 160 children free of cost. It was a challenge for team Sankara as they had to make the children understand using sign language. The teachers and volunteers at SKID helped our team in interacting with the children.

The preliminary examination was carried out successfully and 25 children were prescribed glasses. The children were provided glasses on a later date free of cost by Sankara Eye Hospital. The smiles on their face on receiving the glasses gave me a satisfaction with the riches of the world fail to provide.

After my interaction with these amazingly perfect children, I have one advice for all of you my friends: “In case you visit Bangalore, remember to visit a place called SKID and witness a perfect place in this imperfect world of ours. You might miss one or two tourist spots in this city in case you decide to visit SKID but you will gain an insight to life.”

Dr. Rajat Chabba is a Research and Communication Executive with a Tamil Nadu based NGO and will be writing this monthly column for The Sip of Life. His writings can be viewed at http://thesipoflife.com/the-other-side/ and he can be contacted at rajat@thesipoflife.com

DR RAJAT CHABBA