Dr Ramesh Chandra Shukla.... the common man who found ability in disability...!
Dr. Shukla, at his school office.
Banaras Hindu University, Hindi
movie Kranti, LML Vespa and 110. Now, you must be wondering what is the
relation between all these names and number. Dr. R C Shukla, the man who found
ability in disability completed his PhD in Psychology from Banaras Hindu
University, Kranti was the last movie he had watched, commutes around Delhi on
a LML Vespa scooter and 110 is the number of differently abled children he
takes care of at his Ashirbad Special Education School.
Until few years ago, Prateek
Jain had attention disorder and was hyper active. Rahul Yadav was completely
blind and used to spend most of his time at one corner of his house. Akhsya,
the son of an alcoholic father could not stand on his feet and was on the
receiving end of his father’s abuse. Today, Punnet passport is stamped with a
US Visa, he will be wearing the tricolour jersey to represent the India team in
special games. The trendy designer candles moulded by Rahul was sold out within
minutes in an exhibition at TCS Gurgaon campus. Akshya is able to take
baby step without support. Like, Prateek, Rahul and Akshya there are hundreds
of other differently abled children who have found ability in their disability.
It is all because of Dr Skhula’s years of selfless endeavor to help these
children lead a life of respect.
A Selfy with Prateek...!
Low profile, soft spoken, 53
years old Dr R C Shukla, does not require any introduction in the by lanes of
Durga Park locality in West Delhi. When children of Ashirbad Special Education
School celebrates Independence Day and Republic Day, the streets are crowded
with local people to applaud their performance. The spirit in which the children
sings Vanday Mataram, makes you to realize that they are no different. They
equally loves the country as we do. The sense of bonding that the children
exhibits is an outcome of Dr Shukla’s compassion.
When asked what is that one
thing, which keeps him moving, he politely said “Listening”. Day in and day out, he listens
to problem and concerns of people. Once he listen to a problem, he makes sure
to find a solution to the problem. His day starts with listening and end with
satisfaction. Being a Psychologist by profession and social worker by choice his
time are mostly spent among people in need.
Son of an Uttar Pradesh State
Transport Corporation employee, Dr Shukla inculcate the caring gene from
his father. Empathy is something he learned from his father and honesty is the
other thing his father thought him. When you are armed with empathy and honesty
from your childhood you tend to stay away from the material richness and
instead find solace in bringing joy to other people life.
After completing his PhD from
BHU, he had a short tenure with Purbanchal University from 1990 to 1994. He later shifted to Delhi to work with National
Institute of Social Defence for 6 years. In the year 2000 he joined Association
of Social Brotherhood. It was around the same time he developed a strong
friendship with Dr Pandey (a Surgeon by profession). They both shared similar
feelings and felt the need to help the thousands of disabled children, who mostly
remain deprived.
The duo of Dr Shukla and Dr Pandey,
finally gave wings to their dream when they started Sanjeevini Social Welfare Society
in 2003-04. The same year Dr Shukla started Ashirbad Special Educational School,
from a single room with only one child named Deepak. Deepak’s, father was
jobless after Laxman Silvania bulb company was shut down and there was no one
take care of the child. The room was given on free of cost by Major Balbir
Chauhan a big hearted, noble army man.
From one room one child to a
200 sq yard school( rented) with 110 disabled children, the journey was not easy for Dr Shukla. At a time when he
was literally on the road in search of funds his wife Asha single handedly took care of their two
daughters Pallavi and Swastika. His wife had always stood by his dream. Without
her support it would not have been possible for him to take care of his
extended family.
Level II Class Room
The Ashirbad Special School is
serving a dual purpose. While children are engaged at the school through
various creative activities their parents were able to go out for work. Most of the
parents works as rickshaw puller, maids or similar kind of petty works. These
has helped in increasing the income of the parents.
The birthdays are never forgotten
On a recent visit to the
school, we saw an elderly lady entering the building. Only when Shukla ji
introduced us to her, we realized that she was visually impaired. She was a
retired music teacher and being honoured by President of India for her
contribution towards education. As soon as Mrs Rama Bhalla, presses her
Harmonium, the atmosphere inside the school completely gets charged up. One has
to be inside the school to actually experience the positive vibration created
through her music. Some children with mouth wide open, some with the fingers
inside their nostrils, some adjusting their ears and some simply clapping to
the tune while Mrs Bhalla spread musical harmony across the school for those 60
minutes. This has been a regular routine for Mrs Bhalla since the inception of
the school. She has also supported the school in many other ways.
Mrs Bhalla..... musical magical moments..!
Mrs Bhalla’s husband too is
visually impaired. The visually impaired pair of husband and wife brought up
two extraordinary gifted children. Elder son Puneet is a Colonel with Indian
Army and Shashank the younger one is an engineer with HCL. Later, Dr Shukla
expressed “It is because of few good people like Mrs Rama Bhalla, we have been
able to run the school”.
Every day Dr Shukla, has to
think of arranging the next meal for the children. Till now he has been lucky
to find well-wishers like Mrs Rama Bhalla, who has been supporting his cause.
He mostly spend his day with the children from 9am in the morning till 6pm in
the evening. In his modest office room there is a picture of an elderly
gentlemen. When we enquired about the only photographs in the room, he informed
that it is the photograph of Mr D S Rawat, a yoga expert, whom Dr Shukla
consider as his guru. When you have
your Guru’s blessing, nothing can stop you from achieving your goal.
One of the satisfying thing to
have happen in his life is his younger daughter’s interest in his work. Swastika
wish to follow in his footstep and currently working as an intern with an
organization for PwD. She wish to continue her education in Master of Social Work.
His elderly daughter is happily married and committed to her father’s cause. He
confessed to be very luck on one account “I have been very fortunate to have a
very understanding and supporting family” “otherwise things would have been possible”.
He is a regular visitor to
Delhi Council of Child Welfare, where he a consultant in Psychology. He does complete
pre and post adaptation counselling of children and parents as well. People
from outside Delhi comes for his consultation and he gives a lot of time
listening and helping them.
Now, his only dream is to build
a school for these children, where they can have enough space to play and learn
various skills of their choice. He wants the children to be self-dependable and
earn respect. After spending more than
two decades with these special children he found Godly qualities in them…they
are honest, they are obedient, they are non-materialistic, they don’t have ego,
they are not hypocrites, they love people, they feel happy when appreciated and
above all they have a strong urge to lead a life of respect. The only thing
they seek is love. And we found all these qualities in Dr Shukla.
Our society has many such Godly
children, we only need some time to spend with them. By doing so, the children
will find love and in turn we will find 110 more reason to appreciate life.
Thank You Dr Shukla...our society will always be indebted to you
Dr. R C Shukla can be reached at ashirwad01@gmail.com
Abhijit Bhattcharya
penomemory@gmail.com,
The idea behind O'Memories...!
The idea behind O'Memories...! Ever imagine, how fulfilling it would be, if you get to read a biography of your grandfather. Your grandfather may not have lived a celebrity lifestyle but still you would love to read about his first experience of buying a second hand bicycle or taking your grandmother for an early morning ride on her birthday. Old memories are always priceless but hardly we think of documenting them. The most interesting and inspiring stories are of common man, but they perish with time. Your life may not sound very exciting to you but when your grandchildren will get to read of your struggles and triumphs, they certainly will feel proud and find inspiration from your life story. It is never too early or too late to record the experiences. These stories gets precious with time. Revisiting our roots is not only inspiring but refreshing too. For the world my father may be a common man but for me he is the real hero. At O’Memories …! we look forward to offer you a priceless memorabilia. If you want us to document life story of your/ family members/ friends write to us at penomemory@gmail.com.
The idea behind O'Memories...! Ever imagine, how fulfilling it would be, if you get to read a biography of your grandfather. Your grandfather may not have lived a celebrity lifestyle but still you would love to read about his first experience of buying a second hand bicycle or taking your grandmother for an early morning ride on her birthday. Old memories are always priceless but hardly we think of documenting them. The most interesting and inspiring stories are of common man, but they perish with time. Your life may not sound very exciting to you but when your grandchildren will get to read of your struggles and triumphs, they certainly will feel proud and find inspiration from your life story. It is never too early or too late to record the experiences. These stories gets precious with time. Revisiting our roots is not only inspiring but refreshing too. For the world my father may be a common man but for me he is the real hero. At O’Memories …! we look forward to offer you a priceless memorabilia. If you want us to document life story of your/ family members/ friends write to us at penomemory@gmail.com.
