A canvas of emotions and expressions

The coffee table book ‘Mindscapes: Canvas of Emotions in a Special World’ celebrates the endeavours of young people with special needs

Sparkling with joy, eight-year-old Rohit’s vibrant artwork shows school children, including a wheelchair user, playing. It reflects the hopes of Rohit, a hearing impaired Grade IV student at the Mana Bhavitha Centre in Siddipet. Drawings by another child Bhanu Goud (Demi Kalan, Tadwai mandal, Kamareddy) depicting Nature, farmers, praying during Bonalu festivities and career aspirations, seem cheerful enough until you see Bhanu’s expression of anger and anguish at the way relatives treated him and his parents due to his speech and motor challenges.

Rohit and Bhanu are among the differently-abled youngsters across the country who feature in the coffee table book Mindscapes: Canvas of Emotions in a Special World by Margika, an NGO for Children with Special Needs. The book celebrates the artistic expression, talents, thought-provoking insights and stories of youngsters with special needs, and gives voice to caregivers of these children. For instance, US-based Alec Kissoondyal reflects on Jessy, his 24-year-old sister, her likes, dislikes and her special way of communication. With an ageing mother, he worries how he will soothe his sister when she cries for ‘Mama’, after she is gone; he is her only option.

Attractively designed, the book has colourful paintings and photographs by the contributors interspersed with biographies and verses — by Mumbai-based law student Palomi Vatsayan and Hyderabad-based special educator Afroze Fatima — and captures the nuances of everyday events. In the first chapter titled Art, brain and healing accompanied by sketches, Dr Matcheri Keshavan, head of Harvard Medical School, explains how art is an effective tool to heal and for non-verbal expression. Chapters on care, strength, optimism, passion and inspiration follow.

Empathy, raising awareness and destigmatising special children is Margika’s aim, points out its founder Neena Rao. The focus is on advocacy, training, education and capacity building to include special children in the mainstream.

When her son Harshvardhan Rao was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, Neena knew almost nothing about the condition. Neena has a doctorate in environmental policies and left her high-powered job to move back to the US in 2015. Neuroscientist Dr Matcheri Keshavan’s guidance, her training in leadership and mental health at NGO Sangath in Goa and learnings as a mother of a special needs child helped her to launch Margrika in July 2017 to work in the education sector in Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Assam.  

She used to visit India twice a year for the learning disabilities programme launched in 2019 in Telangana. “When COVID happened, we trained 800 special educators on how to take care of these children, the parents, even themselves and their social and emotional regulation,” she recollects.

The book is an outcome of a virtual talent show that Margika held to boost the morale of the children during the pandemic. In October 2020, participants from across India, showcased music and dance performances and a digital exhibition of paintings, essays and poetry.