Visit to Sri Ramana Maharishi Academy For Blind

This one is long....you can go and get a 2 min walk before u start reading it :) I have been dying to write it this mail from the moment I came back from the school. Cant wait any more...here I go :)

(The plan was to take the kids in my aptt. complex L & T South City for a trip and here is how it went)

It was 9:15 when we gathered around the basket ball court and we had kids chirruping around and parents eager to know where are we going and whats going to happen there. I being the route leader ( if such a thing exits ! ) I explained to ppl how to reach the place around 10 times...( ppl chose to come one by one may be to help me revise the route properly! ) and we left at around 9:30.

As soon as we reached, catching our breaths and looking around, waiting for Joseph, the kids were already jumping and playing in the small play area with the rides. Finally, we somehow managed to get them together at one place with Joseph introducing himself ( Joseph is a teacher there) and talking about our entry into the school and the introductory session we were about to have. Do u think I am going too slow? please forgive me for this but I enjoyed each and every moment of today's visit and I want you to enjoy it too!

So now we proceeded towards the examination hall where we were waiting for Laxmi Iyer Sir to give us an introduction. ( Check out the picasa album to get a feel of the cosy setting we had there). Here comes the head of the department "L I " sir. Yes, L I Sir, thats what kids call him and thats how he loves getting called...a very nice person with lot of enthusiasm, wisdom and patience. He started with an introduction to the school and an introduction to how our visually impaired friends do their studies and make their living. He told us amazing stories of the visually impaired achieving feats in life ! One story was about a 3 yr old kid saving his father's life and getting a bravery award from the karnataka govt ! We started getting applause after each such story. ( Wait, applause! ) A truly inspiring and encouraging session for the kids as well as the parents.( and for me it was not just a session...it was enlightenment :D)

Joseph couldnt wait any longer to take the kids to a hands on session where they could meet and see visually impaired and become friends with them. We started with the "Resource Room" which had a great many tools and resources to play with. A small 10 min demo of the tools from an expert in the lab is what the kids really enjoyed ( kids being kids...they have to have fun with the tools :))

Next we went into the computer lab where we had Sheela, Nagaveni and Renuka ( 7th standard girls batch) doing typing practice.
What can be more intriguing than seeing the blind using a computer comfortably ( and I would say "grace" , honestly speaking I see more grace in the blind than us! ). Kids were happy and surprised at the same time.

Now this one was a total home run. I dint expect to see a dance performance during the visit. Joseph took us to the dance room where all kids sat sweetly cuddling and looking at the performers. We had two performers, one the dance teacher Mr. Manjappa and another his student Ninesh. Manjappa is a limca world record holder , with a record of being the first blind to perform kuchi pudi and bharatnatyam form of dances!!! They gave us a brief session on how the blind learn and perform such an expressive art. All the parents and the kids were totally mesmerised and amazed with the kind of proficiency with which the Nineesh danced with a pot full of water on his head and a "thaal" ( big plate ) under his feet.

Too long...and no one could wait to see the dairy where the cows are fed and milked by the students. Am really sorry that I forgot to take some photos there but the scene was amusing :D. The cows were having their lunch and "L I " Sir were telling kids how to touch and feed cows. Just imagine , kids coming one by one and jumping and screaming out of happiness just after touching the cow :D. The scene was worth a watch!

The last but the most important destination was the card-board factory. Here the kids could see how the visually impaired could run a whole factory all by themselves and make a living out that. Even I was surprised to know that all were visually impaired and were working so comfortably around the big machines as if they could see as good as I could. ( Picasa Picasa Picasa)

Today, was an amazing,full of fun and a great learning experience for L & T South City. I wish you ppl could share all the fun with us.

here is the link to the album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/pankajghanshani/LTSouthCityVisitSRMAB


I do have videos of some special moments..will upload them soon.