PEREGRINATIONS

October is Learning Disabilities Awareness Month. Learning disabilities are disorders of the brain that affect the ability of a normally intelligent child to learn in spite of having the resources and conditions to do so. But what does it actually mean to live with a learning disability? This is the story of Riyaz and Mithu.  It's exam time. 9-year-old Riyaz and father are studying. Question1: There are 250 students in the school. 115 are boys. How many girls are there in the school? Riyaz, bright eyes shining, ventures, ‘Addition?’ Riyaz tries again, ‘Is it multiplication?’ ‘Subtraction?’ He gets it right, eventually. But wait a minute, did he just guess it? Yes, he did. Riyaz still has to use his fingers to count while doing simple sums. At the shop he argues with the shopkeeper for change; everyone else is getting some money back, so why shouldn’t he? Then there is Mithu, who is 23 years old. She is the ‘absent-minded professor’. Mithu is always late. She loses her way constantl...

Ten years ago, at this time, I was filled with anticipation mixed with trepidation. I was certain in my decision but was hazy about the consequences. In a few more hours we would set off, my parents and myself, a family of three. Of course I would be driving. But on our way back, I would not be driving. I would be otherwise occupied. And here I am, still otherwise occupied. I set out in the morning as a single woman with not a care in the world, came back a mother. As my daughter cuddled in my arms in the backseat of the car, while my father drove and mother navigated, it had not really sunk in. I smiled down at the peacefully sleeping face, more in accordance with textbook behaviour. Then we reached home, parked our car and I climbed out with her in my arms. My neighbour who was coming down the stairs asked, ‘Whose child is this?’ and I replied, ‘Mine!’. That is when it hit me, I am a mother! It is such an all-consuming, all subsuming identity. During these past ten years, I have wond...

A comprehensive guide on   How to achieve a state of purposelessness, rudderlessness and demotivation How to become a stagnant marshland with no flow or will to go anywhere Do not pick up any genetic mutations that will terminate you in utero Do not be the product of a union between the old or illiterate or starving or diseased Do not be the product of a union outside of wedlock Do not be the product of a union with drugs or alcohol or violence or poverty Do not be conceived in a society that rejects the female child; do not get aborted before birth; do not get suffocated, drowned, poisoned, thrown in garbage after birth Do not be born to parents without enough affluence or influence to get pre-natal and ante-natal care   Do not be born to a mother with no milk, no food, no safety, no medicines and no power to get any of these Do not be born to a family with multiple mouths to feed and nothing to feed Do not be born to a family with no power and no agency   Do not be born...