If There Is God, He Lives In Bombay

By Manuwant Choudhary

If there is a God he lives on a two acre plot in Sewri, Bombay, at this school for special children run by the Jai Vakeel Foundation.

A few years before India's independence in 1947 a girl Dina was born to Mr & Mrs Hormusjee Vakeel but unfortunately she was afflicted with the Downs Syndrome, a genetic disorder caused when abnormal cell division results in an extra full or partial copy of chromosome 21 leading to learning disabilities.

Mr & Mrs Hormusjee's dream was to provide a learning space to their child Dina where she could grow and be happy but they could not find a single such facility in India, so they were compelled to convert their own home into a school for special children.

First there were only a dozen students but as the numbers grew the Hormusjee's bought a two acre plot of land in Sewri and started the school as it is today.

Now 700 children come here daily in buses from across Bombay. Besides this the Foundation runs two smaller facilities in Pune and Nashik to cater to children from other regions, especially rural India.

Admissions are given only to students having an IQ of 70 or less as certified by the government besides the school conducts its own IQ tests before admissions.


But to see all 700 students on the school ground preparing for the annual sports day was inspiring.

Simply because each child is unique here, requiring a very detailed attention and medical care and counselling, for me its hard to even imagine them marching to the drums in unision with so much enthusiasm.

And there are the cups waiting to be won - the Celebrations !

But its in the classrooms and cubicles that special individual attention is given by trained counsellors to help each child. And initially this can be slow, really slow.

But through music or something the child likes doing communication is established and over months little by little the child gains confidence and joins the learning process.

I spoke to a counsellor as to how she manages this and she replied, "Patience and lots of patience is the only way. There are no time frames, some improve fast, others could take six months even but eventually they do."

The Foundation also organises vocational courses so that they can be usefully employed. Recently, they have even introduced a course for data operator, I was told.

Those who do not find employment in the market are provided employment on campus here - from incense making, to candles to decorative items.

Like two girls show me how to make a paper rose within a minute, even I cannot make one !

And there are the looms - they weave some very fine cotton here. You can support the children by purchasing these items from their website jaivakeel.org or make donations.

A tall Muslim father stood beaming at us just near a door, "Today is the first time my son has been able to stand up on his own feet...and he seems to like this door very much !"

The child looked at us confidently ready to take on the world.

Most teachers say they too learn something new from the children everyday.

For the rest of us I would say if you spend even an hour here you will be cured of your ego.

As for me - mine just crashed - I had this one big ego that no one could love Ms. A as much as I did but here all 700 children love her as much and more...

And yet she loves me just a little bit, like she did when we first met at college.

For this I am grateful, eternally.

The Manhole Activist

By Manuwant Choudhary

Outside a tiny roadside restaurant in Patna I found a man argue with three workers who were fixing a manhole...he told them with some confidence, "Either you fix it right or I will file an FIR with the police saying you have swindled govt. money you took to do the job."

The man was the restaurant owner and the problem was that the workers had laid some telephone cables underground but they failed to fix the manhole properly at the level of the road.

The workers realised that the man was serious.

As I finished my lunch and came out I saw the workers had left, the manhole had been fixed properly except some rubble remained.

And the man who forced the workers to do their job stood alone.

I congratulated him for his activism and told him if every Indian was so vigilant then India would be a developed country.

He said his name was Rajesh Gupta and this was the only business he owned.

He then told, "Yeh kya hai..main do do Superintendant of police aur do judge par bhee case kiya hua hoon." (Oh this is nothing I have filed two cases on two SPs and two judges !)

This is his story.

"My father ran this restaurant for 30 years but now I run it..I have it registered after paying stamp paper but the government claims the land is theirs..they want me to leave and since I didnt...the police arrested me, took me to a judge's kothi at midnight and sent me to prison the next morning."

"When I was produced before the same judge I asked him if the police had ever produced anyone with a dacoity charge or kidnapping or murder at that hour at his home...and that he must check the records as he had no such cases against him."

The judge granted him bail.

Mr. Gupta continued, "I am an RTI activist too. Like did you know the govt. allocation for the small park here. Its 22 crores ! I have asked them what they are going to build?

I do not own an apartment, I live in an old house and this is my only business but do you know just to live like this I have filed 22 cases in the Patna High Court.

"I have filed cases for parks to everything....even Bangladeshi ghuspaithee ! Hindus suffer a lot in this country so I fight more than any political party."

He then asked me, "Do you see anything there?"

I said, "Yes, a sign May I Help You. Its a police chowki..."

"Have you seen any policeman ever sit there?

I replied, "No, never."

He said, "But they paint the May I Help You sign every month...do you know why?

Me: No.

Him, "The story begins when you look up....See that hoarding...that sells for Rs.5 lakh !...so their aim is not to May I Help You...but to collect money from across the city...crores....sab loot-paat hai.."