When Usha Ramakrishnan, chairperson, Vidya Sagar, asked young achievers who have chosen alternate career paths about how it all began, the answers ranged from incisive to ingenious.
At the panel discussion on the first day of the Madras Dyslexia Week, organised by the Madras Dyslexia Association (MDA), first-year engineering student Sai Prapanch spoke about how an idea in class IX led to his first published novel. Doctor-turned-Bharatanatyam dancer Jyotsna Jagannathan narrated her experience of finding a Bharatnatyam teacher in Kenya that set her on a different course.
Film director and publicity designer Siddharth Chandrashekhar’s creative journey began with doodling and as for Rohini A., a canine behaviour therapist and trainer, her life changed when she brought home a puppy.
Sushma Somasekharan decided to pursue Carnatic music over being a chartered accountant, and Vasan Sowriraja, founder of 1000 Lookz that offers visual makeover solutions, switched career paths after he saw a woman testing cosmetics on her hand.
The evening also gave a platform for parents to speak about how children who were not conventionally good in academics found other creative avenues.
D. Chandrasekhar, president, MDA, said that children with learning disabilities are rarely given the opportunity to show their creativity and participate in competitions. “We are organising a host of contests through the week, and students from around 30 schools are participating,” he said, adding that awareness on dyslexia is still not high enough. “Our focus is creating a lot on awareness,” he said.
