..Life goes on...Laksmi Ayah
Ayah amma I want to go to the toilet” yells little Sukanya, rocking in her chair. Lakshmi ayah rushes into the class room slightly out of breadth, and with ease which comes from practice transfers her onto a wheelchair, all the while talking to her, softly, gently, pacifying the child. “Bus was late kutty , traffic jam no” she says to the child, while wheeling her into the bathroom, making sure she closes the door behind her. They come out after a while, once again friends. Lakshmi ayah was my right hand in the class. One minute wheeling the kids to the toilet, the next helping me clear the tables of the days work, sweeping, cleaning, feeding, lifting, seating, carrying. The work list is endless in a special school. Especially for a person like her with 15 years of service, who had seen the small school grow into the colossal institute it now was. Teachers had come and gone, management changes, children had grown up and left. She had seen innumerable volunteers, helpers and more, ...