Daily Times

We live in a society where everyone is in a hurry to get some place as soon as possible.

Sure, we donate money to noble causes and provide our individual empathic responses for people who are in need of attention and who cross our paths. But how many of us ever go out of our way to donate indeed our time, our energies or resources other than that monthly charitable donation we mark on our planner? Leading actress Sania Saeed collaborated with Dettol Warriors to do just that – donate her time, skills and resources to enlighten the colourless world of the Deaf Reach School.

Storytelling involves vocals – the ups and downs of emotions portrayed through hearing which we take for granted but think of the hearing impaired children, whose world is without this wonderful sense. They can see lightning but they cannot truly understand its wonder since they haven’t heard the sound that goes with it. Not deterred though, and acting on the maxim that where there is a will, there is a way, artist extraordinaire Sania Saeed used her expertise in story telling translated into sign language to bring joy and wonder to the lives of so many hearing impaired kids. The endeavour is a great reminder to all of us as well that when moving forward, those of us who are more privileged must strive to take along others who are not as privileged as ourselves. Social participation and provision of opportunities means no one gets left behind and everyone enjoys basic rights- of course this will happen when one considers that caring for others is a basic right not a privilege.

Once the story telling session is over, the hearing impaired children will also get a chance to vote for their favourite idea and run for the Dettol Warriors Education Fund competition worth Rs 250,000. What a blast! I am sure the hearing impaired children will be thrilled to not only be able to watch and understand the storytelling session but to also participate in the competition as otherwise such a double bonanza may not be possible for them! The event is a reminder that all children must be given equal opportunities and chances. It is guaranteed to be a stress-free day when parents and children alike can enjoy and participate in both story-telling and planting activity.

Published in Daily Times, March 5^th 2019.