Tales galore about camaraderie at the time of lockdown. And how such spontaneous bonding puts up potent barricades of humanity against an untamed virus on the rampage.
Now, another chronicle of defiance has emerged, albeit through a song.
Only that this time, more than the song, Hum Honge Kamyaab, which invokes a triumph against odds, the effort behind it and the thinking that spurred it are making it priceless.
Thirteen autistic children from different corners of Kerala came together to give voice to a song now trending on social media, defying their social and communication skills pruned by a behavioural condition not of their choice.
In the nearly four-minute video, these kids unravel their beautiful young minds, a hitherto uncharted territory, for a lofty cause.
The Ernakulam chapter of the Autism Club conceptualised this virtual show of benign empathy.“These children are not very accustomed to a life of stillness, or in isolation. They are often engaged in one project or another. With the lockdown and their list of things to do dwindling, life had indeed become frustrating for most. That's why we decided to organize such an initiative,” Deepti Mathews, who is in charge of the Autism Skill Development division of the club told Onmanorama.
“We were not really prepared for this big response. We are all thrilled,” Deepti, who is also a member of the club's Advisory Committee, said.
“There are more projects in the pipeline,” she added. They range from creative writing, cooking, farming, painting and much more. “If it was not for the lockdown, they would have been engaged in various classes and therapy sessions,” says Deepti.
The club facilitates empowerment classes for students and their parents. The aim is to unlock the hidden treasure troves of talent.
“This lockdown, while frustrating as it is, has also been a blessing in disguise. We have been afforded the time and opportunity to experiment with a whole lot of things,” says she.
Most of the parents have been taken by surprise by the range of things that their kids now do, things which they didn't know they could.
Some of them have even penned marvellous poetry. In the process, this young pool of selfless minds has proclaimed that the misery unleashed by COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus that has claimed over two lakh precious lives worldwide, can be tamed.
That isn't all. They are engaged in a chain game 'Pass the Triangle'. Each child draws 3 to 5 triangles to grow a chain that denotes togetherness.
And then, they also produce masks, a task which needs much more effort from their part than their more fortunate peers.
The world's battle against coronavirus is a protracted one, but such precious, selfless acts are trickling down to form a reservoir of empathy binding humanity at the time of a pandemic.
