PreraNa

I'm a tutor at PreraNa - a home for the physically challenged and economically backward[ Yes,i go teach them Parisara,Vignaana,Samaaja and GaNita :) ]

There's Pramod-a 6 year old LKG-going-kiddo who only smiles and giggles at every gesture i make..he loves it when i draw apples and kites in his book so much that he'd not let me do anything else than that!..with the naughtiest look a kid can ever have,he can't hear anybody calling out his name nor say out his name aloud....not only his name,that is..

Savitri - a 16 year old student of history who can sing so well with an amazingly striking voice - bold and clear..very much unlike her vision..

Then there's Eshwar - a diabetic patient who can only crawl..but with a determination of passing his class-12 exams in his second attempt,so strong..

Manu and madhu - who paint well..one dumb-and-deaf and the other polio-struck..
And Suma - the girl who gestured on my first day there to ask if i'm married yet..

Vishnu-who forgets that F comes after E and all the alphabets after Q even after i've taught him some n times....and loves doodling so much that all his books are filled up almost only with lines and arcs.
Ranjita,Chetan and Chandu who are at PreraNa because their parents can't afford to have them at home..

There are some 50 children...each enjoying the challenges they face in ways their own..

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When i go there every morning,there usually are a few of them waiting for me at the door to inform the rest to assemble in the room and occupy their places before i enter..

There was Shivu at the door-side today.
I parked my scooty and took a few steps,still far away for him to hear me approach..and i heard him shout 'Sahanakka bandru'..[Sahana Akka's is here]

As i entered,Shivu was still there..he beamed and wished me 'Goodmorning'..
Having nothing else to ask him at that moment,i asked - 'Naan bandiddu hege gottaitu?Gaadi shabdha kelista?' [ How could you know that i came?Was it the sound of my scooter? ]

He was about to nod, but, instead shook his head..
'Illa akka....nimma gejje shabdha kelistu..' [ No,not your vehicle..i heard the sound of your anklets..]

I smiled a smile which he could not see......he, perhaps, never can..blind that his eyes are..
..then there was -'Goodmorning Akka' in a chorus..

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I sometimes wonder why he chose to say that he heard my anklets....




P.S: 1. Names have NOT been changed.
2. Nanna gejje pic's a modified portion from a picture originally taken by Soumya..