The importance of nurturing the talent of special children and encouraging them was stressed at the 90th year celebrations of the Guild of Service at the Mary Clubwala Jadhav High School for the Hearing Impaired on Saturday.
At the function, Mohiniattam exponent Gopika Varma recalled her connection with the special children years ago when she had to stop dancing due to health reasons.
“I noticed a group of hearing-impaired boys at a park near my house. When I enquired, I found they were not given encouragement to do anything and hence spent time at the park,” she said.
She then decided to start a unit for blocking printing in sarees and trained and employed the boys. “We produced 180 sarees a day and at one point, I employed about 45 such boys. I ran the unit for 10 years and now the boys are well placed in other units and earn for their family,” said the dancer.
S Sethuram, president, Rotary Club of Madras North-West, recalled his association with the Guild and said that the club would continue to support the institution.