Professionally speaking, I have deviated too far and too
many times. I started off as an Audit Manager immediately after qualifying my
final examination from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and ended up
recently as a Content Writer of a Lifestyle Magazine here in Dubai.
The journey has been long and colourful and though, I
performed my duties with utmost sincerity at all points of time, the duty I
most enjoyed was that of a professor. In all other cases, only my professional
self was involved whereas during those years as professor, my entire self was
involved. The parting was painful when I had to move to Dubai. Few months in a
job here in Dubai in Corporate Finance , I realised pretty soon that I was too
trapped in the mould of a teacher making it difficult for me to go back to a
corporate job. I decided to quit !
Thankfully, God gave me another reason to quit and look at
life in a new light. Surviving Cancer was a life changing experience for me. Priorities
of life changed overnight and the decision to quit whatever I was doing was
instant. A probability of recurrence adds a dangerous dimension to the “killer”
disease called “Cancer” and I guess, all cancer survivors live with this
uncertainty for the rest of their lives. Suddenly, I was in a rush to do things
that I wanted to do for quite some time before God sends me a notice, “Time up”.
At the top of my list of “things to do before I die”, I had
a secret wish…… I wanted to become part of lives of children who are
differently able ever since my daughter was born. There was an antecedent of my
being so passionate about the cause. Test results during pregnancy showed a
high probability that the daughter might be born with Down’s syndrome. The
thought of terminating the pregnancy did not occur to us for once and we went
around the city searching for specialist doctors, schools, therapists during
the balance period of pregnancy just to make sure that the baby get the best
care and support. The fact that there were not many facilities (and there still
isn’t) to support the development of children with special need and that the
society is not always conducive to accept them with open arms, were the only
concerns for our unborn child. The Almighty blessed us with a girl who did not
show any sign of Down’s syndrome but since then, I started to nurture a secret
wish that given a chance, I would like to help those beautiful souls with my
limited ability!
I took a small step to give my dream wings and started
working as a volunteer with a Paediatric Therapy Center for differently able
children here in Dubai. Sometimes, only passion is not sufficient - to have
specific knowledge and skill in order to be more helpful and to understand them
better was paramount. I recently enrolled myself for a professional training on
Behavioural Analysis and Occupational Therapy. Needless to say, my entire self
is involved once again while I learn.
As a part of the course curriculum, I am associated with a centre
which offers therapy (Occupational therapy, Speech therapy, therapy for Sensory
integration etc.) to children who have learning difficulty/disability. Each day,
I come home wrapped in a lingering fragrance of wild flowers; I look forward to
go back the next morning to hug them, cuddle them, learn with them, play with
them and be a part of their lives in a small way……I am a very happy soul now!
Yes, I will call them wild flowers high up in the mountains –
they are exotic and unique with vibrant colour and fragrance. To make wild
flowers bloom in the plain land is difficult but not impossible. The environment
has to be conducive and inviting for these wild flowers to bloom on the plains.
They need to be given a chance to adapt and I am sure, with little effort from
all of us around, the process of adaptation will be much easier. Do not try to
enter into their world with a bang ; rather carry with you a hint of forest
breeze when you would try to peep into their world.
If the society as a whole
and each member of the society takes a little effort, the sight of vibrant
colour of those wild flowers blooming everywhere around us will certainly be a
treat visually and that exotic fragrance will certainly uplift your soul to be
closer to your Almighty!
If we can not do it alone, let us join hands in a bid to protect these wild flowers!
