My Good Morning Messages of Feb

Most of us are WhatsApp users. Just users or addicts? 

WhatsApp has simplified communication, even for not so tech-savvy people.  Now each one is a member of at least half a dozen groups.  Some are family groups, some are work related.  I used to get annoyed with the same posts being forwarded in almost all the groups.  At times, a message that you forward comes back to you in seconds!  This reminds me of an old saying "You get what you give" :)

I do get annoyed with these innumerable good morning messages that we get in different groups.  They are all advises and quotes.  I tend to believe that those who send such advises / posts, do practice them in life.  But few instances of interaction with the people who send the advises, revealed that many of them don't even bother to read those posts, but just forward.  I don't know what to call such attitudes!

Couple of months back I too decided to get into this good morning posts bandwagon.  But NO FORWARDS..  I chose a group with parents and volunteers of 'persons with intellectual disabilities' and everyday I created a card with quotes related to different aspects of 'persons with intellectual disabilities', and posted in the group everyday morning.  I kept getting responses once in a while.  Messages on the card are created by me.  But I created the background (using images in public domain), that goes with the chosen messages.  

I thoroughly enjoyed creating them.  I did miss 5 days in February.   Here are all the cards I created in February.  

A Competition with a Message

Last Sunday I witnessed a unique competition.  It was "Cook for Change Challenge", a cooking competition for intellectually challenged persons.  My daughter was also a participant.  There were 7 teams of 2 participants each and one person to support them.  

It was not ‘yet another’ competition, primarily because, all the participants were happy, relaxed, enjoying cooking and never bothered about the outcome.  I don’t think we can find such ambiance and attitude in any other competition.  These are the days of too many reality shows and competitions.  During the shows, cameras focus on parents and supporter's faces to highlight the tensions and anxieties.  Also the anchors do their best to make the participants tense.  May be they need it to raise their TRPs.   Only in competition like “Cook for Change Challenge", we can see relaxed, happy participants who enjoy what they do.  

Isn’t it we the so called “Normal” people have to learn a lot from persons with intellectual disabilities? Whenever I see many good morning advise posts in WhatsApp Inbox, I felt I don’t need them. I am seeing most of those good and noble habits demonstrated ‘live’ by my daughter and the persons with special needs with whom I interact almost every other day.   

When the prizes were announced and the participants went to stage to collect certificates / prizes from the dignitaries, it was all smiles on their faces, irrespective of whether they won or not.  In any competition we use to say “Participation is what is important and not winning”.  We see it ‘live’ here.  In most other competitions we see high negativity through jealousy, anger, desperation etc. etc.  

I’m very happy that the team in which my daughter was a member, won the competition, and got good reviews of what they cooked.  I don’t think, both the team members could comprehend what is “First Prize” or being “Champions”.  My daughter enjoy attention from others.  So for her, being with dignitaries on the stage and chatting with them was yet another opportunity to get attention from everyone round.  I don’t think she understood that her team topped and won the competition.  The winning “Wow” is for the other “Normal” people who supports the team, and not for the team members.  

The way the world around us is evolving into more and more competitive, and it’s becoming almost impossible for us to ‘learn’ from what the ‘persons with intellectual dis(?)abilities’ demonstrate through their lives.  The state of the society as a whole is such that it is very difficult to have osmosis of the ‘right’ habits to the ‘normal’ us.  

So I wonder who is ‘disabled’?  An inclusive society where people from one end to the other of the ‘ability spectrum’ live together, only can make the world more meaningful and fair to everyone.  

I would like to complement the Veruschka Foundation for organising the “Cook for Change Challenge”, thereby giving a strong message to the world for a more inclusive society.  Three cheers to Veruschka Foundation!!!

Participants in the competition

Picture Curtsey: The Cook For Change Challenge FB page