Students of Techno India Group Public School gear up for their annual sports in Dharampur Athletic Ground. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

I want to remain cocooned in my own world. I spin my thoughts around my world, but what thoughts? Do I have the ability to think? Why am I so anxious about the unknown? Why do I get distressed if the world around me is not predictable? Why do I want to scream when you hug me Mamma? Is it the lace of your nightdress that pricks me like cactus thorns? I want to run away from you Mamma, please understand, but I have no means of telling you that! The bright street lights or a crowded coffee shop assaults my senses....I want to shut my eyes and cover my ears to get away from this harsh world...

Movies like Koshish, Black, Awakening, Sadma, Beautiful Mind and now Taare Zameen Par speak about them, forcing us to stop and think about them. Do we know them? Are they part of our society? Kudos to these filmmakers for making us recognise their existence.

Impediment or retardation sometimes becomes so complex that it is called multiple disabilities. Treating them becomes difficult and lengthy.

It was Leo Kanner and Dr Hans Asperger who first told the world about Autistic Spectrum Disorder, the most misunderstood condition. They are with us everywhere. Only if you observe a child over a period of time can you identify the disorder. Their behaviour is situation specific. Nobody can explain why a child is biting his palm or hitting his cheeks. They cannot communicate with us.

I dare not say let them be as they are. They are happiest left to themselves, but society — especially their parents — can’t accept their different behaviour. Let them immerse in the ocean of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Ravi Shankar, Amjad Ali Khan, Jagjit Singh or Ajoy Chakraborty. Maybe that will strike a chord and allow them to dwell in that world which they consider their own.

To be continued

Autism consultant Krishna Roy enters the world of TZP

Fables corrected

The fox and the crane become friends again in an illustration from a World of Children’s Books title, retelling the Aesop’s fable with a child-friendly ending

Remember the jay who put on a few peacock feathers and paraded itself as a peacock? In Aesop’s Fables, the pretender was told off by both jays and peacocks. “Imagine the effect such a rejection would have on a formative mind,” says F.R. Mahmood Hasan, managing director of World of Children’s Books.

The Bangladesh-based publisher has come up with a series of books in Bengali for children aged between five and eight years, carrying fables with doctored conclusions and morals. So in the new version, the crow offers to dance dressed as a peacock, but when his plumes drop off, the birds appreciate the effort he put in instead of deriding him.

“We want to move away from that black-and-white division of society where one is either good or evil. A child should learn to coexist with people of all sorts,” Hasan says. Taking up the thread of argument, Mustafa Panna, editor of WCB, points out that the morals of the traditional fables are often quite cruel, preaching destruction of the wicked and patronage of the good.

“Take the story of the crane and the fox. The Aesop version has the fox inviting the crane for supper and offering food in an unsuitable container, leaving the guest unfed. The crane invites the fox in turn and does the same to him. But this tit-for-tat mindset is discouraged by educationists even in the West,” Panna says. So in the WCB version, the fox apologises in the end and invites the crane again for a proper meal.

Politically corrected versions of fables have been in vogue for over a decade in English but by introducing concepts like gender politics and socio-economic discrimination, they often take the fables beyond the ken of the child. But these books, perhaps a maiden effort of the kind in Bengali, remain as child-friendly as the originals are. “We plan to come to the Book Fair,” promises Panna, before starting for Dhaka.

Sudeshna Banerjee

Green campaign

A campaign to save the environment and create awareness among schoolchildren was launched by WWF and Tata Agrico on January 11. “My Green World” — expected to cover 20 schools kick started at Carmel High School.

Saswati Sen, director of WWF said: “We run nature clubs in many schools and the response has always been encouraging. The green cover in the city is fast disappearing and it is our duty to save the environment.” This initiative has been planned for three months and is expected to wrap up by March. Hundred winners will be taken to the Sunderbans as a treat.

Aishwarya Chandran and Tanuka De were adjudged best speakers of a debate — “Environmental Protection Does Not Go Hand In Hand With Industrial Development”. Srinanti Sarkar, Sneha Biswas and Avishikta Das won the sit-and-draw competition.

Doel Bose
Second year, English
St Xavier’s College