Abhivyakti, the 3rd chapter – An evening to remember

Nayi Disha Resource Centre had its 3^rd flagship edition of Abhivyakti on the 1^st of December 2019 at World One School. Abhivyakti is a platform to showcase the talent of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, be it in dance, music, baking, art and crafts, or any other field.

It was amazing to have children from various schools and different parts of the city come together and perform to their abilities at Abhivyakti.  The effort and zeal of parents and children to perform at their best always amazes the organising team! One could feel the vibrancy in the atmosphere. The event was not just exciting but inspirational and insightful too.

The event was inaugurated by Sh. Jayesh Ranjan, Principle Secretary, Department of Industries, Commerce & IT, Govt of Telangana. The event also hosted Dr Evita Fernandez, Chairperson, Fernandez Foundation. Both our distinguished guests shared their wisdom and knowledge with the attendees.

Inclusion being the theme, the event saw children with disabilities come and perform on stage with their neuro-typical siblings or friends. Young performers were little magicians at play, one could only adore, dote-on and yet learn life lessons from them. The teenager participants taught us to work hard, never give up and accept one another. It was reiterated that everyone should be given a fair and equal chance in every walk of life.

It was truly mesmerizing to see Aliya and her mum perform a beautiful Bollywood melody and watch Benny, an 8 year old star perform on a Telugu track.

“The awesome enablers “, band of 10 astounding keyboard players played “Bum Bum Bole song“. They had everyone dancing along with them.

There was also a group performance by the girls of Pawmen Cap school along with their volunteers. This was followed by Katna Deekshit’s Casio performance with his partner Khyati, who sang the song. Everyone sat glued throughout the show.

Kedar and Siddhanth got together to play famous Bollywood songs on their keyboards. They kept the audience entertained. But the show stopper was the fashion show, everyone rocked the stage with their confidence.

The art gallery had people hooked on to it.  It was incredible to see how beautifully and brilliantly Kabir and Kedar had conveyed their thoughts on canvas.

Parents like Shailaja Nori and Krishna and schools like Kshetram school, and Aashayam school hosted food stalls. Year by year experience tells us that many of the parents hosting the food stalls are seriously considering food and catering as a future vocation/career path based on their children’s interest. Isn’t that amazing?

The arts and crafts stalls were a sight to sees with lovely Jewellery, Diyas, Lanterns , Handmade paper products, jute products etc. The stalls were hosted by Ashwin, Aured Hearing Impaired Institution, and Shraddha School! Varshitha’s flower vase and other crafts were a treat to the eyes.

In addition mother-son stall hosted by Ms. Roja  and Phaneendra had beautiful Potly bags, wrist bands, cell phone sling bags, key chains. WEDAA, a new and upcoming venture – again a mother-son initiative had their products including cold-pressed oils etc. These stalls, along with others kept the shoppers busy too.

We also had some very innovative activity stalls set up by the representatives of Synchrony, CDC Fernandez and Divis Foundation. There was an interesting Harry Potter themed photo booth set up by our young volunteers too.

Abhivyakti each year relentlessly motivates kids to ‘exhibit and portray’ their talent with no inhibitions. Abhivyakti is an event for parents to network and build a strong parent’s community.  We would like to once again thank our Sponsors, Volunteers from Youth for Seva and all members of the Organising Committee for their support.

Kudos to all the parents, especially  our organising committee (mostly parents) Sailaja, Lavanya, Deepa, Shweta, Sunitha, Vandana, Smita, Sudeepa, Prashanth and Jaya  for a marvellous Abhivyakti 2019