Home alone
Meera Balachander

A cosy two-bedroom apartment in a big housing society of bustling Chembur. Seven girls, their mothers. A flurry of activity. Support, security, future - welcome to 'God's Smile', a wonderful initiative taken by C. R. Balasubramanian and Meenakshi Balasubramaniam (Director, National Job Development Centre, Spastics Society of India).

This is a bold and warm step towards finding a solution for the nagging problem of "what after us?" faced by parents of children with disabilities. The seven girls are all trainees of the centre and this apartment is, at present, a day centre where they learn to be together in a real home atmosphere with their mothers chipping in their bit too. Here, they continue with the vocational activities learnt at NJDC. After a sufficient period of acclimatising, and as the need arises, God's Smile will become a full time residential home for the girls. Another salient feature which the Balasubramanians hope to incorporate will be a symbiotic relationship of homeless senior citizens and these children with disabilities. Kudos to the avant grade couple!

Source: Success & Ability, Volume 7 No. 1
Issue: Jan-Mar 2002