The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Special children render a `special touch' to bakery exhibition

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Special children render a `special touch' to bakery exhibition

Staff Reporter

Culinary skills of the mentally challenged comes in for praise

CHENNAI: It was an exhibition of bakery products hosted at Taj Coromandel here on Tuesday. What made it special was the `Special Touch' rendered by mentally retarded children of Pathway, a centre dedicated for their rehabilitation and education. Cookies, pastries, cakes and pizzas were some of the products showcased at the exhibition, `Special Touch', co-hosted by Taj Coromandel.

120 items

The exhibition featured about 120 varieties of products made by a team of 15 children in the bakery unit of the Pathway based in Tiruvanmiyur.

Participating in the function, M.S. Swaminathan, agriculture scientist and Chairman, National Commission on Farmers, underlined the significance of supporting such ventures.

Appreciating the efforts of Pathway, he urged the people to care for those who were "only less fortunate and not less gifted."

Humaneness and compassion blended along with professional knowledge would facilitate in turning the mentally challenged into normal people.

S. Jayaraman, chairman and managing director of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation, commended Pathway for its dedication. He assured Pathway that his organisation would extend assistance

Special training

Culinary experts, including Chandri Bhat, S. Mallika Badrinath, and representatives from Taj Coromandel and B and M Hot Breads, appreciated the culinary skills of the mentally challenged children.

Chandra Prasad, technical director of Pathway, said the children who were trained at the bakery unit for five years underwent a special training at Taj Coromandel.

A.D.S.N. Prasad, founder-director of Pathway said that besides bakery, about 300 such children of Pathway were trained in vocational skills such as weaving, screen-printing and wood work to enable them to boost their confidence in income generation.

The announcement that the Cosmopolitan Club offered to purchase products brought smiles in the students.

Ruby Ponniah, president of the organisation, and Sudha Subramaniam, director (special projects), Pathway, were present.

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