Shades of kindness
Three years back, I met a young, bubbly woman, Teena. She was actively working among the blind children at the time.
What did she teach?
“Painting,” she said.
Surprised by her answer, I asked the question again. I sensed a smile in her tone and felt like she has heard this before. It did not make sense to me. How will they know which colour is what? How can they enjoy their final work?
For a fact, I knew that she had the answers to all my questions. She went on to explain how she, along with her team, put in their all for these children.
“We talk to them as they touch different colours,” she said. She also mentioned how they relate each colour to an element of nature that these children can touch. She used to teach the children of the Government High School for the Blind, Olassa, Kottayam, Kerala, India, along with an enthusiastic team of youngsters under the leadership of Ananthu Vasudev, who is one of the main reasons that Teena channelised her art into helping community.
That New Year I got a calendar with paintings made by the children of the blind school. It was Ananthu’s team, along with Teena, that spearheaded this project and it was a splendid work, to say the least. As I moved from one month to another on the calendar, I was in awe of what I looked at. Every page was saturated with untold stories and emotions. I wanted to know each and every child behind the paintings, up close.
Teena used to also paint casts of children in the nearby hospital at the time. All this, while working full-time as an art teacher in a school in Kerala. She has also done some creative art for movie celebrities.
It was such a delight to watch her use her artistic talent to spread kindness to the people around her. The pandemic played spoilsport when it came to all these activities but even during that season of isolation, she found ways to connect and help people.
During the pandemic she pioneered an initiative wherein one could make a stranger’s day. “Each day it used to be a different thing. One day I got food delivered to a person, some times I called people and spoke to them and then it went onto writing letters and reaching out to people.” Over 70 people around the globe participated in the letter-writing initiative and sometimes people also sent in small gifts along with the letters. She also took a few online painting and art classes for children during the time. From broken bones to broken hearts, she used her art to bring a smile to both the young and old.
“Pandemic was a season when many were depressed. I wanted to be there for those people even if it was in a small way. I would listen to their stories and worries but never dole out advice of any sort. If things looked like they were going out of hand, I would ask the person to get professional help.” Teena also operates as the project manager of a local group called ‘The Evolver’s Project’ that works with a set of like-minded people to uplift the youth of the society. This group is also headed by Ananthu. As the activities in the blind school were on a halt during the pandemic, The Evolver’s team along with Teena decided to bring out postcards instead of calendars with the children’s paintings. The initiative was well-appreciated by many across the world and the proceeds of the sale were given to the blind children’s welfare.
While most of us complain or give excuses when it comes to helping out others, it is indeed amazing to watch a few find opportunities even in the midst of uncertainties to reach out to the ones around them. Teena is truly an inspiration to many of us. Her passion for people fizzes with love and kindness. Her creative methods of helping others definitely come under the tag “amazing”. And her drive to do more for people is simply divine.
