It all began with reprimands. I had then heard of Dr Nandita D’Souza’s talk to parents on disciplining without tears and had resolved to try out this principle. Vikram was 10 yrs and yes, very willful like all kids his age! Raising a kid is not easy. And raising 2 kids, as a single parent, even more difficult.
I remembered my own childhood and all the reprimands flashed back. I remembered one where we had to write a line of acknowledgement over many pages. So on one such day I asked Vikram to write twenty or more lines of “I will not….., I’m sorry.” This led to more writing reprimands. Slowly they became topical write-ups. These were superb, because the exercise had become one of reflection and contemplation. In school too, in consultation with the counselor, these writing exercises continued. And the more I read them I found that his thoughts were so beautiful, so innocent, so pure, so profound!
One day, he came home saying he had got full marks for his English essay, and when he brought the test paper home a few days later, I had the opportunity to read it. It was a short story. But it brought tears to my eyes. It was titled, ‘Finding peace’. I shared it with one of my friends who is also Goa’s well known musician and dentist, Varun Carvalho. We were then supporting his initiative to empower children with the Rise Nation Army, through music. He had met Vikram and Varun and would often inquire about how they were doing. On reading the short story, he sent me the following message. ‘Wow! This is truly awesome, really deep. No one will say a 12-year-old has written this, he writes with so much depth. This boy will be something someday. He has an inward gaze. He is truly special and will evolve on his own. He is born special. You can see it in his writings, he is one with the universe. He feels everything around him. It’s a gift, not many can feel the vibrations of the universe.’
I believed him. Vikram had a special gift. I did not keep this to myself. I instantly showed Vikram the message and read it out aloud. His eyes opened wide and he smiled. He recognized that this compliment was genuine and he could no longer brush it aside as something ordinary.
After this I shared my thoughts with his teachers, especially Sandeep Doiphode and often conspired to collect these gems from either his school books or from the writing reprimands I would give him at home. His first story on ‘Honesty’ got published in the Neutral View. When he was 11, Sanctuary Cub magazine published his first write up on experiences with reptiles and amphibians. At 12, he won the runners up prize for the Scholastic Writing Awards 2018. At 13, his first book was compiled!
All children are unique. Each is truly special. They display this uniqueness as they are growing. Somewhere, as they are growing up, their unique abilities sometimes get ignored. Pushed into the shadows. Parents insist that their children must focus on academics. Sometimes teachers too, do the same. All children are expected to become doctors and engineers. There is no space for art, culture, music, humanities, creativity. Their unique skills become limited to extracurricular activities. What are our duties as parents and teachers? Isn’t it our responsibility to help identify this uniqueness and then help to nurture it? Every child I meet, every student I have met, has been unique, with special skills. And it has been a pleasure to help give wings to their ideas, their talents and their unique abilities.
October is a super special month. It is also celebrated as the National Book month. Fried cockroaches arrived last week. Prior to that we rushed to share the sample copies with our editor, illustrator and mentors. Varun Carvalho was thrilled to receive his copy. He talked to Vikram about life, childhood, music, writing, time, love and making memories. He also pulled out his guitar and sang him a special song, while the world whizzed past the busy street. Thank you for your humility and wisdom. This will remain etched forever in Vikram’s memory.
Dr Madhavi Kamat was thrilled to read the book. At the book release at NAB, Goa last week, she shared her insights about Vikram’s progress in school as her student and the writings in the book. She called him a wise sage and also acknowledged his childish innocence. She was appreciative of his thoughts shared in the book especially those about his passion for nature and on emotional terrorism. She reiterated that the poem ‘Bold’ should be an anthem of each of our lives!
The last 4 years have been the most challenging years, personally, but amidst these challenges rose the opportunity to rise up and shine. Life is but full of ups and downs, challenges and suffering. And when you endure them all, the winds pull you up and help you soar high. God is ever kind. Thank God, for these winds of change and positivity. Vikram has begun his flight. We thank you for being a part of lifting him up.
Fried cockroaches, by teen author Vikram D’Silva, is available at NAB Goa and the website www.vikramdsilva.in. All the proceeds from the sale of the book will help in supporting the visually impaired students at the National Association for the blind, St Cruz, Goa. Thank you all for supporting this initiative.
(Tallulah D’Silva is a practicing architect in Goa and has recently taught at the Goa College of Architecture as adjunct professor)
