It is a Friday afternoon and we are at a song-and-dance session organised at a school in Santacruz, Mumbai, called Gharkul, at which music therapist Ashish Kasbe, aided by volunteers and staff members, is keeping the children engaged. The children are mentally challenged, and an effort is being made to improve their cognitive abilities with the aid of music. A young man, Sanket, volunteers on the keyboard every Friday (a hobby which is being put to the best use!) and plays for a little boy who has learnt to sing songs in English (Jingle Bells), Tamil/English (Why this Kolaveri Kolaveri Kolaveri Di?) and Hindi/Marathi (Singham etc.)
This is followed by an open invitation to the class to dance. Five students take the dance floor and the energy is unbelievable. The confidence and the absence of stage fear is inspirational (for the first author, who even though he is a senior lecturer at a foreign university, does get pangs of stage fear from time to time). Strange and ironical that the ‘mentally-unchallenged’ often experience stage fear!
After 45 minutes, Sharad Kale, the Principal requests silence and they obey instantly. We are honoured (this would stand right at the top for us, as far as demonstrations of appreciation are concerned) and we feel touched. Tears could have trickled down but are held back. Two greeting cards crafted by some of the children at Gharkul, are presented to us, by a little boy and a little girl. The girl is happy when she is shown her photograph on the smartphone screen – visibly delighted and gleeful!
We first heard about Gharkul on the television channel STAR TV’s Aaj ki Raat hai Zindagi. Gharkul is a Mumbai-based public charitable trust operational since 2007, under the presidentship of Sunil Satpute, a dimunitive individual whose small frame belies his infinite zeal and incomparable enthusiasm to accept challenges, persist and be a force for good, in modern India. Well, Gharkul is a school for mentally-challenged children, who may evoke sympathy in the minds of the ordinarily-good, but who are veritably ‘Taare Zameen Par’ in the eyes of people like Satpute.
True calling
Kasbe, a computer scientist by training, is now a music therapist and he believes firmly that he has found his true calling. Helping disadvantaged people in distress/need is something which gives him immense satisfaction at the end of every working day. He has worked with cancer patients in Chennai as well, and believes that music has tremendous potential to heal, when one considers that it communes directly with the soul. And as readers know, the one thing which binds us to God is the soul.
Post-retirement, people either continue working for themselves or simply become home-bound and inactive. They can all take leaves out of the books of Shejwal, a retired gentleman who worked with Indian Oil till 2011, and for the last five years has been dedicating himself to social causes, alongwith his wife. He also, like Kasbe, believes in the power of music to heal and change for the better. He uses the word ‘evolve’ and says that everything to do with Gharkul is an evolution; not a revolution. The former, as we know is slow like the tortoise of the fable. The latter is like the hare from the same fable. We all know how the fable ends. Smiles on the faces of the children at Gharkul, he says, is his reward. We are told about the inexplicable delight the children felt when they saw a lot of water in a swimming pool for the first time – at the Shangri-la resort in Bhiwandi (north of Mumbai) – and learnt about the joys of swimming. Water and its amazing healing power, ….quite like music.
First things first – no cart before horse, please
Kale has been with Gharkul for four years now. He specialised in ‘special teaching for the mentally challenged’ while pursuing his B.Ed degree. While he is originally a post-graduate in economics, he too, like Kasbe, found his true calling in what he is doing currently at Gharkul. He stresses on the fact that such children need to be taught basic skills first – wearing clothes, shoes, eating food in the right way, toilet manners, combing their hair etc. – before one can even think in terms of literacy and numeracy. This, he tells us, is often lost on many parents and educators alike. Having taught them the basics, it would be worthwhile unlocking their hidden talents – painting Ganesh idols, making paper bags for use in groceries, crafting original greeting cards etc. Satpute tells us about Mahesh, an alumnus of Gharkul, who is now trained to be an auto-mechanic! None will disagree with the conviction of the staff members that it is necessary to think long-term about the future of such children. Just ‘abandoning’ them to their parents when they attain the age of 18 years will be a job half done or done improperly. Equipping them with self-help capabilities and skills which can help them to work and earn (like Mahesh) is a ‘sacred goal’ – rehabilitation in other words.
We enquire if the products the children make – greeting cards for instance – can constitute a steady supply to a market outside in the city where demand can be created, at first from sympathetic Mumbaikars keen to be of help. Satpute likes the idea but would like to ponder over ‘scale issues’. The outflow needs to be sustained to make the idea meaningfully implementable. We enquire if bank accounts can be opened for each child into which their earnings (if the aforesaid idea strikes root) can be channeled. This will provide them with small but growing individual funds, which they can avail of later on in their lives. ‘Good idea’, quips Kasbe, while the others concur with him and agree that this can be done. Citizens of Mumbai, you can volunteer to constitute the steady demand. An unwritten contract. What do you say?
Misconceptions need to be ironed out
Shejwal informs us that ‘mentally challenged’ is not synonymous with ‘mentally ill’. The former is like being physically challenged and having to use crutches, wheelchairs and avail of ramps to enter premises. Being mentally challenged, entitles one to the availability of care, compassion and love. This is what Gharkul supplies…in abundance!
We generally pine for college degrees so that we can rise to the top of the pack, or closer to the top rather, in terms of earning potential. Quite like rats racing up to the pinnacle of the garbage heap, to use a metaphor first employed by George Bernard Shaw. Satpute has three degrees against his name. His full time job is at an NGO which works with street children. Gharkul is a passion he has committed to, in addition. He grew up, buffeted by adversities and always tried to find opportunities to learn from them. He knows pain, experientially. He has lived it, endured it and learnt from it. He uses his empirical knowledge to allay pain in society. To build, brick by brick, a wall of order and care, love and hope. A kind of a relentless Tamasoma jyothirgamaya pursuit. The taller and wider this wall becomes, society will take on a more colourful hue. At Gharkul, Satpute is ably supported by his team comprising, in addition to Kale, Shejwal, Sanket and Kasbe, six women – Vice Principal Anuprita Edhate, Special Education teachers Vanashree Panchal, Prerna Pal and Anita Upadhyay, and support personnel Jayashree and Sadhana.
The modest need to be honoured first
Sunil Satpute is a modest man – a highly-educated, capable administrator, manager and communicator, and above all, a great human being. He believes that dedication to one’s work and commitment to service are their own rewards. Often, those who do truly great work, tend to be humble and modest. That is the way it has always been in the world. We therefore, take it upon ourselves – just like Aaj ki Raat hai Zindagi did, and some newspapers have also done in the recent past – to present Gharkul and the wonderful people who work there to readers of One India One People.
One of the staff members asked us, ‘Why is that people do not want to care for others these days?’ I pass the question on to the readers. Why are we self-centred and insecure? Are we scared? Is ‘being busy advancing one’s own selfish interests’ an acceptable excuse? What does enjoyment mean? All the staff members at Gharkul told us that when they return home in the evenings, they experience a great feeling of satisfaction. How many of us, having plum postings in the private or public sectors, and earning over a lakh of rupees every month, can say honestly that we are genuinely satisfied with our lives?
If this article has managed to convey to readers what we intended to convey, that will be the only reward we expect. Further, if after reading the article, some of you are motivated to browse
www.gharkul.org, and contact Sunil Satpute at ssatpute980@gmail.com offering to help and show an interest in visiting Gharkul, that would be tantamount to golden feathers in our topis!
