Making disabled abled

While many youngsters in the city turn to malls and movie halls to spend their leisure time, here is a young girl who wants to make physically challenged people smile.

While many youngsters in the city turn to malls and movie halls to spend their leisure time, here is a young girl who wants to make physically challenged people smile. Shraavya from Jayanagar 7th Block spends her leisure time teaching dance to physically challenged people.

Shraavya had selected sociology, psychology and English as her core subjects in BA and always had an inclination to do something for the betterment of physically challenged people. “What started as an extra-curricular activity in school and college turned out to be my passion for life – the driving force that wakes me up every morning,’’ she said.

One of her friends associated with Mobility India, founded in 1994 to address issues of people with disabilities, facilitated her visits to the physically challenged people.

“She was aware that I am interested to teach dance to the physically challenged people. Initially, I used to visit Mobility India once a week, but later it became daily,’’ she said.

Recalling her proud moments, she said that her joy knew no bounds when her students gave a performance at Phoenix Marketcity at Mahadevapura.

“It was held on December 2, 2012. The event was called Avighna, a talent promotion show. It was a grand success,’’ she said.

Recently, she launched ARTitude Cultural Academy to realise her ambition of becoming a full-fledge artiste.
“Many questions like why is that art never considered a mainstream profession in our society? Why do artists have to struggle to make ends meet by art alone? Why should art always be a hobby, a pastime, a distraction from the daily life? Why can’t art be ‘daily life itself’? Why is ‘being an artist’ when one grows up, hardly encouraged? These kind of questions have always plagued me. But I realised that if I know the questions, I must also know the answers. And the answer that emerged is ARTitude Cultural Academy,’’ she narrates.
Now, she is gearing up to prove her mettle once again. If all goes well, a dance programme will be held at KSLTA stadium on April 22. “The team will have normal as well as physically-challenged people,’’ she said.
How does she feel training physically challenged people? “I consider them as my friends. They also treat me as one among them. I even celebrate my birthday and other happy occasions such as festivals with them,’’ she added.


Source : DNA , 31st march 2013