Sujata Agrawal

An institution fostered by Tata Tea amid its plantations in Munnar is showing disabled children how to make the most of their abilities

Munnar is tea garden country at its most beautiful, home to rolling hillsides swathed in a green so rich in can blind the eye. Matching the ubiquity of the greenery in these parts is the Tata Tea insignia, signifying the company's huge plantation holding and the spread of its activities, commercial as much as social. Among the less visible of these is the work it does to bring a measure of ability and a whole lot of meaning to the lives of Munnar's disabled children.

Tata Tea estates and processing operations provide jobs to a large number of people in and around Munnar. The company has gone out of its way to provide all kinds of facilities and conveniences to its employees, among them schools, medical centres and more. A shining example of this is the attention directed towards the mentally and physically disabled children of its plantation workers and others.

Srishti, Tata Tea's umbrella welfare centre, is a unique initiative powered by the talents and dedication of the spouses of company employees, the employees themselves and others. It runs three projects that aim to equip disabled children to secure a better future: Development Activities in Rehabilitation (Dare), a centre for special education; Aranaya, a natural dye project; and Athulya, which manufactures handmade paper and paper products.

"We wanted to reduce the handicaps these youngsters face, develop their abilities and make them independent," says Ratna Krishnakumar, who is closely involved with Srishti. Backed by a committed team, she monitors all three projects.

Dare, launched in November 1991, was the first of Srishti's initiatives and its motto — 'They who do not dare to win have already lost' — explains its rationale. Teachers trained in special education focus on the children's abilities rather than their disabilities. The kids are initially taught motor and cognitive skills and, later, basic skills for day-to-day living and elementary social skills (like shopping for vegetables).

There is a continuous interaction between the teachers and parents. "It is important that the same support and understanding is also given at home," says Thankamma, a teacher at the centre. For the parents, who are usually plantation workers, Dare is important as it not only takes care of their children while they are at work but also provides midday meals. The school now has 82 students.

Some of the children are wonderfully creative and this talent is encouraged through art and craft activities. Their paintings are printed as greeting cards, which are sold to outside organisations and individuals. This also provides a welcome source of income. In 2003 Dare recorded sales of Rs 12.39 lakh and earned a net profit of Rs 5.76 lakh. The cards include a striking painting of a moonlit Taj Mahal by R. Jenith Kumar, a 13-year-old boy with a hearing impairment, and a wonderful watercolour of riverboats by Vijayalekshmi, a 19-year-old physically disabled girl. The cards are printed in a printing press run by a young man with a disability.

Srishti also runs a strawberry-preserve unit where children grow strawberries, harvest and clean them, and make the preserve, which is free of additives and preservatives. In 2003 some 1.20 lakh bottles of what are called High Range Strawberry Preserve were sold through different outlets. The resulting profit, Rs 9.30 lakh, was ploughed back into the project.

Aranya, the second project, was started in 1994. It trains and employs disabled youngsters to extract dyes from natural sources and colour different fabrics. Munnar is rich in natural colour sources such as eucalyptus, mulberry, roots and barks. Tea waste produces dyes in a unique shade of green, and this is available in plenty from the Tata Tea gardens. "A judicious blend of these raw materials results in an end-product that is truly outstanding," says Ms Krishnakumar. Aranya uses only natural dyes, not synthetic ones, and this has become its calling card.

These youngsters now execute orders for designers from Europe and Britain, such is their ability and confidence. The kids are innovative in the free-hand drawing they do on fabrics. Their newest project is dyeing material for linen shirts, to execute an order placed by Khazana, the Taj Hotels shop. To help them expand their horizons and keep up with the latest trends, designers are invited to conduct workshops at Munnar. Teachers are also sent abroad for training.

Aranya is a profitable venture today, with orders pouring in from Canada, Japan and Britain. It has given people like Mallika, a polio victim, a future they can look forward to. Tata Tea also encourages them by giving incentives in the form of government bonds, which works as a safety net for their future.

The third project, Athulya, was started in 1989 as an envelope-cutting unit for handicapped children. Today it makes paper and paper products (gift bags and envelopes, photo frames and wine bags) from recycled organic waste. The products are retailed at Kurunji, a shop in Munnar run by the Tata Tea Wives' Welfare Association. Athulya has got large orders from Japan and Britain, and it sold Rs 6 lakh worth of products in 2003. This is creditable, considering that the children here work for only five months of the year (during the rains it is too damp and humid to make paper products).

Tata Tea has consistently backed these projects, but Ms Krishnakumar's long-term goal is to register Srishti as an independent public trust so that a wider audience can support it. At present, many visitors to Munnar are impressed by the work, but are unable to give any financial assistance.

While all three projects are making profits — a tribute to the youngsters' abilities and their dedication — sometimes there are unexpected but pleasant outcomes too. Recently a young woman from Athulya married a young man from Aranya, and the company gave them a house as a wedding gift.

"It is intensely fulfilling to help them become independent and to see them lead normal lives," says Ms Krishnakumar. But there's more to the picture than personal satisfaction. Srishti and its offshoots have proved that the disabled can, with determination and support, more than make up for what they lack in physical or mental well-being. All they need is a helping hand and, more importantly, a caring mindset.

Uploaded in March 2005