What surprised me this morning was sighting these two plants with their brilliant flowers, but in two colours, in pots next to each other. These flowers greeted and reminded me of the mixed experiences of the last thirty eight years.
On one side was the journey through an unchartered course since the beginning of the Child Development Centre in a small room at Egmore in Chennai in 1983, to welcome and receive children and to be engaged with them during their neuro-developmental journey. There were struggles, resistance, marginalisation, questionings and uncertainties.
On the other side were opportunities, encouragements, support, discoveries and finding direction to make child development of developmentally challenged children a national initiative. There are at least one hundred Child Development Centres and seven full time academic departments of Developmental Paediatrics in Medical Colleges in India as of now. A movie, Anjali was produced by Mr Mani Ratnam in 1988 to high light the needs of children with Neuro-developmental needs, based on the philosophy ASHIRVAD.
The flowers above brought these contrasting memories into focus and helped me to feel grateful for the journey thus far. I felt moved when I recalled that I was engaged in meeting on an average, ten children with Neuro-developmental needs and their parents, on a working day for the last thirty eight years. Many recollections of the formative experiences that came from these meetings gripped me this morning. Those children brought insights and informations which enriched my life and academic perspective. The parents in sharing their stories made me grow in being able to sense their spoken and unspoken needs.
Anna and I feel that we have been formed in this school of learning, where children and parents became our mentors.
The privilege of working with about 150 professionals, in the four different places where I worked during the last thirty eight years, was another experience of learning to listen, collaborate and to evolve approaches in Child Development and Rehabilitation which could become path finders for professionals.
It is a time to celebrate and grow in gratefulness.
It is also a time to consolidate and document observations, evidences and discoveries in the field of Child Development and Rehabilitation. That is what we are at now!
A journey through a desert and green pasture- that is how I shall summarise the thirty eight years!
One blessing we received on 14th November 1983 following the dedication of the Child Development Centre from a friend was that, 'It is now a seed and it shall bear flowers and fruits in due season'!
Anna and I feel indebted to the Bible Medical Missionary Fellowship (Interserve) who welcomed us to its fold and provided our needs till 1997, when we moved to the Christian Medical College, Vellore on its invitation to start the Developmental Paediatrics Unit in partnership with ASHIRVAD, which became the first academic department in any Medical College in the country! The Friends of ASHIRVAD became a midwife to let all these surprises take place!
God blessed and prospered! We bear witness to a history that amaze us and make us in a state of wonder and awe!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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