Creative solutions

It would have been just another dance drama on Krishna but for one startling fact8212;the blue god on stage had both arms missing.

It would have been just another dance drama on Krishna but for one startling fact8212;the blue god on stage had both arms missing. As the audience reaction swung from initial shock to a gradual acceptance, lead actor Saurav Kuku Pathak knew he had proved his point. He8217;d provoked and inspired, because nobody who watched Krishna8212;Kal, Aaj Aur Kal would forget in a hurry how disability could not dim the power of divinity.

8220;It8217;s ditto for humans with a physical handicap,8221; says Pathak, before adding smugly, 8220;Look at me.8221; He lost his arms in a short circuit when he was three. 8220;If that was a punishment for being naughty, the lesson was quite lost on me. I remain an extremely restless person who wants to do it all. I8217;m a sucker for challenges,8221; he says. Maybe that explains how he ended up studying in a mainstream school and being part of the football team. 8220;Learning how to scribble with a pencil held between my toes was my first big challenge, learning how to balance myself while chasing a football was the next achievement,8221; he recalls. In between, he also dabbled in theatre, music, dance and taekwondo.

He wants every child, mainly the specially abled, to 8220;be as wild as possible8221;. 8220;Why should a child hide in the background just because he is special?8221; he asks. As a solution, Pathak has started an organisation called Saureena8212;an acronym for Serve, Aspire, Unite, Rise, Emerge, Evolve, Nurture, Awake8212;in April. It trains special children in creative arts such as classical dance, music and theatre. 8220;While schools hone a child8217;s IQ, there8217;s no substitute for the artistic training in developing his personality,8221; he says. Saureena is powered by the belief that modern youth 8220;are looking for the right platform to do good8221;. One of those attracted to Saureena is Pratyush Gupta of the Shri Ram Centre. 8220;The stage brings out the inner strength of every child, emboldening him for all future endeavours. For a special child, this becomes all the more important,8221; says Gupta, who directed Pathak and a cast of visually challenged children in Krishna.

Running Saureena as well as holding a full-time job ensures that Pathak is up all hours. He is currently trying to create a fund flow for his idealistic venture and the going is tough. 8220;It8217;s difficult,8221; he says. 8220;But so was writing with my feet or becoming a footballer.8221; This champ is going to fight till the end.