Anupama
Anupama was born on 3rd Dec. 1983 - which later was designated as World Disabled Day. Octogenarian Dr. Merchant in Bombay, who examined her in 1984 told us that she's is a person with Down syndrome and advised us to train her in music, dance that would help her overall development. Fortunately she did not have any other congenital issues and the Doctor also treated her with thyroxine and brain tonics such as encephabol, neurocetam etc for the first 7 years.
Holding on to the cues given by Dr. Merchant we did everything possible to train her in music and dance. Her two elder sisters- Tripti and Priti contributed immensely in her development. Anupama has undergone training in Bharatanatyam dance from many Gurus in Hubli-Dharwad. She was treated as a normal child and in 1988 when we were in Chandigarh, she was given IQ test at PGI. They said that she has borderline IQ and she could go to normal school. She was admitted to St. Xaviers till 1991. Returning to Hubli she continued her studies in Pillay English Medium School until 5th Standard. During those years she was regarded as the Dancer of the School amd helped her school get recognition for dance.
As she could not cope with her writing and as there was no extra training facilities we had to shift her to a special school. Now she is working as a Teaching Assistant in a Play School where she takes care of children- feeding and teaching the alphabets and making them dance to rhymes by getting them to perform with her.
She has cleared dance examinations conducted by Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Bombay. She was chosen as a model in 2017 " "I am Special" calendar brought out by Swarga Foundation, Coimbattur. She was the star performer in District Level Disabled Day celebrations for many years and Utsavs organised by the Karnataka Govt. Anupama has given solo performances in DD Chandana - Kannada Doordarshan Channel. She is always ready to perform in Temples, Churches and wherever she gets an opportunity to show her talent. Her journey so far is filled with infectious love, abundant happiness and divine innocence. What makes her great is the fact that in Hubli we are recognised as parents of Anupama. Really she has made us Proud.
