Age: 21 years
(began his journey with Prabhat at the age of 13)
Condition: Hearing and speech impaired
Enjoys photography and dancing
During a baseline survey being conducted by Prabhat, this young boy (13 years) was found working at a tea stall. He would start his day at 9 in the morning till 9 in the night and earn ₹ 10 for the day. The freedom of earning even though a sum as small as ten rupees gave him a sense of independence and thus he did not want to come for the academic sessions at any of the Prabhat Centres, even after persuasion. Prabhat then approached his family (a mother and a brother) counseled them at various levels about how he was being exploited how people were deriving sadistic satisfaction by getting him into vices and having laughs at his expense, the saddest part of it all was that he was not even realizing it. After repeated coaxing by Prabhat and his mother he finally decide to come to school. Once he did start attending the academic sessions at Prabhat he started enjoying it, he was provided with auto fare to and fro and also given nice clothes. Being only hearing and speech impaired he did have his initial apprehensions of being around other children with special needs especially children with severe mental retardation, cerebral palsy, etc. But through regular discussions he was made to understand the problems these children are facing and how he needs to help out rather than get irked by them. This also reiterated the fact that these children need to be brought out and made to face the world and make people realize of their existence.
His mother is also a person with special needs and earns a living by making quilts at home. He has always been very sharp in grasping things. Sessions with a speech therapist did bring improvement in his speech, but it was the overall confidence that he developed which was remarkable. A child who was being laughed at now has learnt to crack jokes himself. He loves to color, and thus honed his skills learning painting under expert guidance at Prabhat. He started working on his skills and realized how these vocational training sessions were helping him so much, even though the Centre he was attending shut down due to extraneous reasons he continues to be an integral part of the Prabhat family. He now helps his mother in her sewing work and also with household chores.
