Ishanya India Foundation, my second home

A home is a place where one lives especially as a member of a family or household. Every family has its ups and downs like a rollercoaster ride. The slow anticipation, the sudden thrills coupled with scary shrieks here and there. Sometimes you ride along really well, or sometimes you feel like jumping outta there. But a place like no other, because no matter what happens you know you're together with the people you care about. That's Ishanya India Foundation for me. This is my second home.

It's not only a home for me, but for many others. At Ishanya we make a home for everyone. We wrap it up with a nice word called "inclusivity". A shared sense of familiarity that is overwhelmingly warm. Every day is a new beginning like groundhog day, you start all over from the scratch, but use a different approach each time. My colleagues are some of the toughest warriors I have known. They wouldn't mind fighting ten thousand battles from the depths of Tartarus just to see their student's victory. No child left behind says Kanye and I do agree with him.?

Every educator at Ishanya shares a deep pain that hides behind their beautiful smiles. A pain that can be seen through the eyes. This very internal pain of theirs fuels them to go up and beyond at work. To rise above their primitive tendencies and transcend their pain into Power. They give power to their students. They light up the world to brighten up the path of the future. Lastly, These very educators give me the power to be more than what I was yesterday.?

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience". At Ishanya India Foundation, we share a vicarious atonement to be a tool for neurodivergent individuals so that they can polish their unique skills and attain independence. Additionally, there has been a shift in how society views neurodivergent individuals from the past medical model to a more neurodiversity model, which considers it as a natural form of human diversity and promotes inclusion and support for neurodivergent people, rather than viewing them as disordered or in need of a cure. One of my favourite Nirvana songs has a line that goes “Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be” and that has stayed with me throughout. Don’t forget to enjoy the rollercoaster ride, because we are all in this together. Have a safe trip!

Author: Mark Lobo