Something very special...
A scene from the "Special Krishna Leela" to be performed in New Delhi.
THIS IS arguably the first time that 150 differently abled students from six Delhi-based special schools are going to stage a play titled "Special Krishna Leela" at Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi. The play will be mounted this coming Wednesday at 6.30 p.m. There is more. An exhibition of some 30 works by these students and more will be displayed outside the auditorium that day. These two activities are coming up after a rigorous training of six months and an art camp, specially designed for them to help bring them to the mainstream society. The participants include both the physically and mentally challenged.
The credit for organising the training and the camp goes to Very Special Arts India - VSAI - a Delhi-based non government organisation dedicated to the cause of differently abled children and youth of the country. The training for the theatre was imparted by internationally acclaimed expert Syed Sallauddin Pasha who has been working with such students from all over the world for the past 20 years. "Rhythm is inbuilt in the body. I train them according to the vibration technique, touch and feel technique etc.," says Pasha.
In the play most participants are hearing impaired whom you will see dancing on tala rather than the melody as they can't hear the music. The art camp was organised under the guidance of well known artist Bulbul Sharma this past week. The 11 participants were sent from different special schools when the school authorities noticed their inclination towards art. "They were taught different techniques as painting on crushed paper, acrylic painting, canvases, collages, palette knife which they made themselves by cardboards instead of using real knife. We modified these techniques because in most art schools they are taught structured art with rubber and pencil while many such children can't hold pencil or will lose rubber," says Ambita Vardi, the project director of VSAI. The participating schools in these two programmes are Action for Ability Development (AADI), Balwant Rai Mehta Vidya Bhawan. Muskaan, Sanskriti, Vasant Valley School and VSAI.
RANA SIDDIQUI
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Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
