I was one of the lucky few that got to go to the UK as a part of the youth exchange team Deep Griha sends every ten years or so. During our stay, we visited a number of churches, museums and schools. One such visit was to a special needs’ school that caters to the educational needs of the physically and mentally challenged kids. From the outside, the school was quite plain and simple. However, on entering, we found ourselves in a totally different world. It was colourful and full of life. We were served lunch in the garden that was specially designed for the students with speakers playing different bird and insect sounds, with varied plants and even a totem pole. The corridors were adorned with different fabrics-each piece of fabric representing a day of the week; hence, enabling the children to identify the days upon touching the cloth. A fantastic idea I thought…and there were many more. The amenities were superb. What impressed me most was the dedication of the staff, the way the kids were looked after, cared for, entertained and educated; the patience, the love- all genuine.

Throughout the tour of the school, I was practically in awe of the facilities available for the handicapped children and all along I kept wondering if we ever had any such thing in India... if people ever bothered that much. I concluded in the negative. But it wasn’t till I got back to India that I realized my conclusion to be quite wrong. We may not have too many ‘special needs’ schools and the ones already present may not have the necessary facilities but we do have people who care. This is where organizations like Deep Griha come into light. Apart from the failing computers and power cuts, it is filled with people who are genuinely concerned about the poor communities here, who dedicate some part of their lives towards giving these communities a reason continue living despite the many problems they may have to face. I see here the same amount of concern and care as I did in the UK and it will never cease to amaze me how, inspite of the struggles, people still dedicate their entire lives so that others can have a better one.