AMBIKA KAMESHWAR - BRINGING A SMILE INTO THE LIVES OF SPECIAL CHILDREN

RASA (Ramana Sunritya Alaya), is a social service organisation started by Dr Ambika Kameshwar, an accomplished singer and dancer who has specialised in creative choreography. She has explored new ways of communicating with adults and children with special needs. Ambika has been the recipient of many awards such as the Bharat Kala Ratna, Perumaikkuria Penmani, Kala Vedhi and Stree Ratna.

I was five, when I started learning music and seven, when I started learning dance. I grew up with music and dance as part of me. I learnt Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Luckily, I had the opportunity to work with leading choreographers like Narendra Sharma who has worked with Uday Shankar and B K Sharma at Delhi. Under his guidance, I was exposed to many creative presentations, like experimenting with movements. It was not stylised, it did not pertain to any particular style of dancing. It was more of an exploration of the body.

I was a performer, but I wanted to take dance and music beyond performing on stage. I sincerely feel that a person who has had exposure to the performing arts is quite different from a person who has not had exposure to the arts. There is a difference in the communication, body language etc. Luckily through the grace of God, while in college at Bangalore, I was requested to teach dance and music for the children of the Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind for their annual day function. Initially the children would feel my hands, the mudras (gestures), feel my body and measure the steps for each movement. At the end of the whole process, I was delighted to find the amazing self-confidence, and the joy with which they started communicating. I remember one particular incident; there was this young girl who was visually impaired, and I told her that she has to run across the stage; she ran and stopped exactly where I told her to stop. The way she took on space while running, and the confidence with which she did it, made her a totally different person. So, I feel that music and dance have to be part of everyone's lives. 

I came to Madras after my engagement, and I started teaching in the Spastics Society, as my sister-in- law was running it. The other reason for concentrating on teaching only in special schools is, I feel that normal children get a lot of exposure to many things, unlike special children.

 I have done my research in Indian theatre, which involves drama, dance and music. I felt why not develop a methodology that uses theatre as a learning tool. After all, theatre imitates life. So I decided to develop a system (Creative Movement Education), where drama, theatre, storytelling, movement games, arts and crafts are also added to dance and music, thereby giving it a more holistic approach. This learning methodology as a developmental tool is applicable for everyone, but RASA focuses especially on people with various disabilities, as they do not get opportunities like others.

From 1983 to 1989, I was teaching as a consultant in various schools. In 1989, I started RASA as a non-profit organisation. I felt that I couldn't do much alone, so I decided to start a school, and train like-minded people to work with me. We teach life skills at RASA a) Gross motor skills like walking, running, jumping, skipping; b) Fine motor skills like reading, grasping, writing and painting; c) Social skills like communicating and general understanding - basically every aspect of life that is required, to be completely functional in life.

Initially, I put an advertisement in a local newspaper. It slowly started picking up. People came to know of RASA through word of mouth, through articles in the newspaper etc.

In the first few years they would sit and watch me work. In '94, when my methodology started becoming popular in the special schools I was teaching in, I felt, I should start a formalised and structured course, wherein inputs from theatre arts for special needs are put together, so that everything is given in a capsulated form. They are given exposure to both, theatre arts and children with disabilities. We introduce them to Cerebral Palsy, Down's syndrome, Autism, Mental Rehabilitation, and Dyslexia. We teach them about speech therapy, special education etc. In the early years, I had speech therapists and special educators come to the school for a few hours, but now through documentation and my extensive interaction with them, I am able to give my counsellors everything in a capsulated form. The course work includes written papers, viva voce and field projects. We also have a Volunteer's Orientation Programme. These courses aim at giving an insight into the methodology focussing on Creativity and Self Expression.

We mostly get children with some kind of mental disability.

Very supportive. My husband has been very encouraging. In fact, when I got engaged I was not even a graduate. After marriage, I completed my graduation, post graduation, M.Phil, and PhD.

The 'Creative Movement Education', that we at RASA have developed should go beyond RASA and spread awareness among the community, so that special children can grow as part of the whole society.

Keep smiling and forge ahead. Feel good about what you do.

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