Swarnalaxmi is a 17-year-old class 11 student with visual impairment from Pondicherry. She attended the Special School for the Visually Challenged in Chennai from classes 1 to 10. One day when she was in class 8, her teacher spoke about the Children’s Parliament. Swarnalaxmi was right away hooked to the idea and resolved to discuss the same with her parents.
That evening at home, she sat next to her mother and spoke animatedly about joining it. Her mother readily shared her excitement. But she also pointed out the challenges involved — the need to speak eloquently, the extensive travel it may involve and the need to be outstanding. But Swarnalaxmi was resolute in her decision to join and was very sure that she was quite up to the task. Her parents eventually yielded to her wishes.
Swarnalaxmi’s mother knew that her daughter had grown up as a very confident person thanks to the innumerable stories of courageous women like Jhansi ki Rani, Mother Theresa and Helen Keller that she had narrated to her. Swarnalaxmi says, “When my mother read these moving stories, I could sense that she was crying for their sufferings and was elated with their success. I too in turn was deeply moved. These stories made me a very strong person.”
Soon, she enrolled herself in Children’s Parliament. Her articulation, self-assured voice and confident demeanour made her an outstanding and unmissable presence. She soon became the finance minister in Children’s Parliament.
However, her visibility was limited to a narrow circle of schools and, at best, within Tamil Nadu. CBM had already heard about Swarnalaxmi. Its staff happened to directly witness her powerful presence in Children’s Parliament sessions. Making persons with disabilities like Swarnalaxmi more visible to the world was something CBM always deeply valued.
CBM was very much aware of the significance and meaning such visibility holds for other persons with disabilities. So, when it heard about Swarnalaxmi’s difficulty in meeting travel expenses to go to Ahmedabad to participate in Children’s Parliament held there, CBM readily supported her. In Ahmedabad, her popularity soared further. Visibility at the national level opened up a chance to represent India at the UN. But the cost of travel was prohibitive. CBM stepped in and sponsored her.
Swarnalaxmi’s following words echo this strategic vision of CBM, “When I stood up to speak at the UN gathering, I sensed the immenseness of the opportunity and also realised that I had to speak of the aspirations of all the students with disabilities like me in India. Above all, I knew that by doing what I was there to do excellently and with impeccable success, I could inspire all my brethren and assure them that everything is possible.”
More than what it could do to others, how empowering this exposure has been for Swarnalaxmi needs to be narrated. Her confidence rose to new levels, inspiring her mother to learn from her. Her mother shares, “All other successful parents want their children to be like them: doctor parents want their children to be doctors, civil servant parents groom their children to become IAS officers, so on and so forth. But in our case, it is the reverse: it is like our daughter that I aspire to be. I have recently enrolled for MSc programme through distance education. Even when I have to deliver speeches in those programmes in which Swarnalaxmi takes part, it is from her that I take tips as to how to speak.”
Swarnalaxmi’s legal awareness too has increased, thanks to her participation in Children’s Parliament. On one occasion, when she met the Chief Minister of Pondicherry UT to secure admission for herself, she could even update him on the mandatory provision for inclusive education in all government funded schools by telling him the entire Act word by word.
This exposure she received made Swarnalakshmi to think and campaign beyond herself and her personal interests to include all students with disabilities. She had wanted to join a mainstream school early on. But lack of acceptance and access had made it impossible for her.
