The Reality Check-My First Visit To Kalakal Cafe

THE REALITY CHECK

Antibiotics-Check

Coffee and Light snacks-Check

Entrance to the main door locked-Check

These were the umpteen things that raced through my head while leaving behind my sick eighteen year old, who was by then fast asleep.

T’was an easy drive for me, a road that I am quite familiar with, one that I take  occasionally when I go in for a mammography to a nearby hospital.(Yup, cancer took my mother)

Anticipation and fear in my heart as a first timer at the Kalakal Café, didn’t know how challenging this visit was going to be especially on their first anniversary. Every step I took towards the gate was literally by hiding behind an imaginary shield of being a CFGian…I was wholeheartedly welcomed by the most beautiful and graceful smile that solely belonged to Mrs.Anuradha Sankaran.

I extended my hand and we shook. I introduced myself as a CFG ian before I did my own name.

She beamed and praised the work and efforts contributed by the other CFG ians who were regulars there at the Café. The ease with which she interacted with me and showed me around the place, felt like I had already been there a million times and that this was not our first rendez-vous!

 Praiseworthy indeed! This shed light on the hard work and zeal put in by the regulars there in tandem with the staff and students of Vidya Sagar which in turn paved my way as a newcomer. Gratitude CFG!

Being a stickler to punctuality, I must admit I was there way ahead of the stipulated time, hence got to unwind before confronting the hard realities that were in store for me…I can still hear my heart pounding when Anuradha asked me to meet the first student who was seated quietly in his wheelchair-Janaki Raman.

I was more conscious of my accented Tamil with a Malayalam twang...that I was compelled to ask her if JR understood English…she pacified me and asked me not to worry and left me with him as she was attending to the decorations in and around the school.

Guess what? JR broke the ice, I must abashedly admit, while I was arranging and rearranging questions in my head, he took out his laminated page which contained all the letters of the English Alphabet and requested me to introduce myself.

With a lump in my throat and almost a parched one by then, I found myself tracing the letters of my name on his page, he smiled and very soon I found myself revealing too many details of my home and family to KR and he smiled gleefully in acknowledgement.

He extracted a small piece of paper, in which his humble thoughts were scrolled down by somebody as a speech to perhaps speak in the course of the event. It was a speech full of gratitude towards his teachers and others who’ve helped him along his journey.

By then the other students and faces familiar to JR were wheeled in…such happy faces, all beaming with thousand watt smiles…Ironical! how difficult it is for us to smile at strangers or even say hello to somebody we meet in the park or even to our next door neighbours!

As other CFG ians started trickling in, I found myself moving against a wall and there I stood and observed how the students greeted one another, the meaningful and appreciative gestures, the loud animated laughter and banter, the pleasantries they exchanged , some gossip as well between the ladies and the decibels grew louder, the smiles even wider as a few of the familiar CFG ians turned up-Nishanth, Sathish, Dhinesh, Tasneemji, Karthik to name a few came around them, there were high fives and handshakes and a few hugs and that’s something that has to be earned…not something that bloomed today or the previous day…it is a well nurtured bond between those students and the CFG ians who are regulars there…(read umbilical cord)

A lot of quality time has been invested for such a relationship to develop amongst the teachers, students and those regulars at the Kalakal Café meets. Respect! It was a moment to cherish and take back with me as a part of this community-much appreciation goes to the relentless service provided by the teachers in guiding these students into the real world.

These students are human beings like you and I, the difference being they are restricted in their movements and are confined to their wheelchairs by mere scramble of chromosomes if I can put it so bluntly! They need restaurants, cafes and other public venues which do not restrict their movement, where they can continue to behave the way they do without others jeering at them or putting their parents in an awkward situation, they have to be permitted and more venues made “wheelchair-friendly” so that they could merge with the general public. More than “Beware”…the public should “Be Aware” that they also have the right to use our space and breathe in the oxygen that we also inhale.

Our perspectives must change drastically, there should be an oversight while planning places of entertainment for one and all, be it a food court, a theatre, a shopping mall or merely a simple joy ride to quote a few.

This boils down to the definition of Kalakal Café, the definition is in experiencing the warmth and twinkle in the students’ eyes, the manner in which their eyes follow every word, deed or smile that you share with them. Mere words cannot express what the Café is about...as music plays in the backdrop by those who have taken time off from their lives to strike a chord or play a light tune irrespective of the fact that the students may not be able to comprehend…I must admit, I did see a student dancing about and he did say that he would prefer to dance to English songs than Tamil.

Thus as a CFG member what can we do for them? We can cause momentum as Aliji would put it, we can move mountains for them.

Taking the pages from their lives, even if it was for just an evening in my case…driving back home with tears rolling down my cheeks, I reflected on those students’ parents’ cumbersome routine-brushing their teeth for them-Check, bathing them-Check, Feeding them-check, dressing them-check, pinning a handkerchief on them-check…think of the young women especially the attention and hygiene they require every month…perhaps these second and fourth Saturdays are just the “Me Time” we give those parents while we chitchat with their children during those two hours…

Harsh realities simple pleasures for those students…have we done enough as a community?

Truly a Reality Check…returned home to monitor my son’s temperature, by now he was up and about waiting for me…needed to check with his doctor again, temperature was still above normal…