One giant stride of sensitivity

Thanks to Anil Mudgal who runs Arushi and NGO for the welfare of the physically and mentally challenged children, that this great step taken by him and his team as helped thousands of them to attend school with respect from the capable children. This story was given to me by Anil when we met over for a cup of coffee where he explained the full idea and I told him the moment the Madhya Pradesh Government finishes printing them on the text books we will meet again and then write the story for the Hindustan Times. So after the text books for children had come to the open market with the printed matter on how to treat and behave with the physically and mentally challenged children in schools I went back to Arushi where I was a frequent visitor and got the whole picture for the below story in April, 2005.

This one little page in the school textbooks of the State will unfold a giant chapter in empowerment of physically and mentally challenged kids.
Advocacy for special children will take a giant stride with the flip of just one page listing their rights and ways to facilitate their integration into the academic mainstream that’s been added to the MP Text book Corporation’s books this year (2005-2006).
The first move of its kind anywhere in the country, the single page has a huge outreach. Of the 6.5 crore school textbooks for all the classes for the coming academic session, almost 35 percent will have this page, surpassing in scale anything that might have been tried before.
In the 2006-2007 sessions, all the textbooks will have the “Rights Page”.
Six years of continued lobbying with the State Government and MP Textbook Corporation by Bhopal based NGO Arushi that has been working for the visually & physically challenged, has finally bore fruit as School Education., Principal Secretary Anshu Vaish decided the time had come for the socially critical move.
Corporation MD SK Mishra responded immediately. Experts on issues concerning differently-abled kids chalked out a list of 17 dos and don’ts. These include tips like seating disabled kids in front row of a class, involving them with all the possible activities on mentally challenged kids, routine contact with the parents of such children.
If the kids are hearing-challenged, they should be able to see blackboards, teachers faces, lips and hands clearly, should wear heir hearing aids all the time and use of drawing aids for teaching.
For the visually challenged, use of Braille, apprising the kids with the school environment and utilities like drinking water and toilets and maintaining hurdle-free environment have been recommended.
For wheelchair bound kids, special low design of water taps, fountains and toilets and construction of ramps for wheelchair movement etc have been suggested. The instructions include treatment of children with speech-impairment and giving them a patient hearing. Teachers have been urged to tell other children not to make fun of the differently-abled children and be friendly with them.
Apart from all these points the page also asks the school to ensure that once a month a special class be held to teach the importance of the abled children on how to treat and behave with the physically and mentally challenged children.
And for Anil Mudgal and Arushi, this page was another feather in his cap as he has toiled very hard not only on this project but also various such others which give and sense of equality for the physically and mentally challenged.

Visually challenged makes move with 'Vishy'

This story was another one which was provided to me by Anil Mudgal, a very good friend who runs ‘Arushi’ a NGO for the welfare of the disabled and specially the visually challenged. One evening when I was taking an evening walk near the office I happened to bump into him and he was narrating that he would be leaving with a 15 members blind students for Chennai to meet Chess Grand Master Vishwanath Anand. And so this story was written.

“The Gift given at the year end, Lifted the motherland’s glory to unachievable heights, Said the mother in joyous mood, Keep this wonderful work always as high, Hey Anand remain elevated in this century, Happy millennium and a happy new year”

This translation of a Hindi poem penned by the visually challenged Radheshyam Panwariya (23) will be presented to the world chess champion, Vishwanath Anand, in Chennai on February 5, 2001. Do not think that what he does only is writing poems in awe and admiration. He has the gumption to throw gauntlet at the world champion across the chessboard. February 5 springs up another such moment for him to match his brain with Vishy.
The last time Panwariya played with Anand was in 1999. He played the white to lose to the Grand Master in 42 moves. “This year I am going well prepared to give at least a scare to the tiger of chess,” says Panwariya.
“I have done my home work well and made up some moves which the Grand Master will appreciate,” he added like an exuberant fighter.
While playing the last time Panwariya started with king pawn only to loose his queen Knight within five moves. “I was offensive though in the middle of the game Anand advised me to cool off. This time I will play safe and try me best to protect the knights as long as possible,” he said.
“if I can delay his victory this time, it itself is an achievement,” says he who started playing Chess at the age of 12. he thanks Arushi, an NGO working among the visually challenged in Bhopal for providing him all that is needed to stay ahead in the brain game.
On being asked about offering the white to Anand to play with, he laughed with a quip, “Do you want me to become a sacrificial goat? “Anand is the king in the white game and I will be finished in ten moves.”
After the game in 1999, Anand shared a few tricks of the trade with me. I have always kept them in my mind while playing practice matches with the computer. Though I have won a few practicing game, I lost many as well.” Anand did tell me the last time that he lost a game in five moves to his mother, when he had made some rash moves seven years ago. “Playing safe will always make the opponent think and in the process there is every chance that he makes a mistake on which you can make up moves to victory,” said the Grand Master.
On asked what he would achieve by playing with the world champion, “more knowledge about the game” was his reply.
“The Grand master is a good human being and so is his wife, Aruna. They spent a whole day with us the last time an hopefully they will repeat the same this year,” says Panwariya.
Though Panwariya knows that he will loose the game, he says, “If things go well in the coming years, I will keep challenging the Grand Master time and again till I win.”