Tuesday, August 18, 2009

A Beacon of light

About two weeks back, I came across an article in a local weekly (Friday, Gulf News, UAE) about a mother of two children, who is balancing her life on the needs of her children. Sandhya Perera, a Srilankan mother, had given up her job in a bank so as to dedicate her entire attention towards her daughters. There is no wonder in this story as numerous women who were working either before marriage or before child birth are bidding adieu to their promising career for the betterment of their families. In the group of these house wives, Sandhya is special as both of her daughters are special needs children.

Again, Sandhya's story could have paralled with stories of mothers with special need children but for the courageous compassion with which she has adapted her life. Her one daughter, Dilni has cerebral palsy and the other daughter, Dilani has acute learning difficulties. Sandhya has not taken a year or two to come out of the grief to bite the reality of her fate. She admitted her daughters at a Therapy centre and taken up a job in a reputed bank in Dubai. Her entire life got enlightened in a single moment when she came across a poem written by Edna Massimilla (the author of much famous book, Heaven's very special child & the family). The following words of Edna has had severe impact in the life of Sandhya Perera.


A meeting was held, quite far from earth
"It's time again for another birth"
Said the Angels to the Lord above,
"This special child need much love"
Her progress may seem very slow,
Accomplishments she may not show
And she'll require extra care
From all the folks she meets down there

She may not run or laugh or play
Her thoughts may seem quite far away
In many ways she won't adapt,
And she'll be known as handicapped
So let's be careful where she's sent
We want life to be content
Please, Lord, find the right parents who
Will do this special job for you


They will not realize right away
The leading role they're asked to play
But with this child sent from above
Comes stronger faith and richer love.
And soon they'll know the privilege given
In caring for this gift from Heaven.
Their precious charge, so meek and mild
Is heaven's very special child.

A person, whose mind is hoavered with questions for God for why he or she is chosen for the fate of breeding a special need child, read this poem. Sandhya understood that she is one of the chosen mothers gifted with these children to be taken care not with mere attention but with great attention. She gave up her banking job and pursued an international diploma in special needs education. Having reached upto the doctorate level, she is now working at Dubai Autism Centre dividing her life equally between her daughters and the children of same nature.

I do not want to share in this blog, all the dilemmas and sacrifices that she has encountered as I would be sounding more like Suchitra Bajpai, who has reported about Sandhya in this weekly. The lesson that I have learnt from Sandhya's life is that we as parents do not want to take pride with the fact that God has given us healthy children. The Almighty has not chosen us. Or anyone who is reading this blog is having a special need child, I invite you to add a fourth dimension to your life with the words of Edna. Or anyone, who is reading this blog is having a special need sibling, please remember that you possess the precious human being as your brother or sister. Or anyone, who is at the verge of failures, learn life from the life of Sandyas. God has not created anyone or anything without purpose. Also, if we are destined to have a sorrow in life, rather than wailing on the Toilet floor, we should toil to understand "God! why me?". I am sure that we will get an answer.

In my journey, Sandhya has implanted the seeds of hope and empathy. Sandhya Perera, I salute you, Senora.
(Image Courtesy : Friday, Gulf News)
(Poem Courtesy : http://www.downsyn.com/)

11 Observations:

Praveen said...

Hats off to Sandhya

My standing ovation to you for providing a vision of fourth dimension with the comparison words of Edna to not only those who are mentally broken, but also to each and everyone.

Sometimes we all think we are very much blessed when we are given with all the sustenance of health & wealth. But how unlucky are we from the words of Edna. We are not even provided sometimes with the privileges of tough times which will make us strong.

Literally thinking I believe that we have closed our eyes to see the Beacon of the light you have mentioned.

Musings of a lonely traveler said...

Praveen!
You are sounding true in all your words :)

pawan said...

That was touching. She is one of those kind of rare people the world can hold. I really felt like crying.

YOu can write tragedies man, especially with the soothing narration of yours which added more to the article.

Musings of a lonely traveler said...

Thank you Pawan! I'll give a try for sure :)

Shruti said...

Hey baai!!
awesome,...
i was completely moved by this article!
BTW,check out my blog!
you have been tagged..

keep smiling

Musings of a lonely traveler said...

Hi Shruti! Glad you liked it. Will finish the tag at the earliest :)

Happybirdie said...

I have just one word for this post of yours...brilliant..I really had tears in my eyes reading that..keep it up.
now u hv a new follower in me

Musings of a lonely traveler said...

Happybirdie!
I really got inspired when there are readers who are digging out the old posts and commenting on the same; Welcome to my blog; keep checking for more posts :)

Shrimal said...

I met Mrs Perera about 2 weeks back at an autism fund raising stall at a mall in Dubai, during those 4 hours with her i was suprised by her cheerfullness (i have seen the article before i met her) she seemed just like any other parent...she is just amazing!!..

Musings of a lonely traveler said...

Hi Shrimal!
Oh really! you should be highly privileged to work in hand with such a great human being :)

Don't you have any blog Shrimal??

Shrimal said...

nah its not my thing :), if you are in dubai, and wanna help out..you can join VolunteerInDubai..has many events going on, heres an article abt VID http://www.khaleejtimes.com/weekend/inside.asp?xfile=/data/weekend/2009/August/weekend_August58.xml&section=weekend

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