Special mothers from across the district gathered here on Friday evening, marking the beginning of a movement that is likely to create history by making May 11 National Special Mothers Day.
The gathering saw mothers of normal children interacting with the mothers of special children at a rare platform provided jointly by the district administration, the Rehabilitation Institute for Cognitively and Communicatively Challenged (RICCCH), a service-oriented non-profit organisation offering care and expertise for the differently abled, and Parivaar, a national body of the parents of the differently-abled.
The Magic Academy of Gopinath Muthukad too lent its support to the move.
District Collector Amit Meena, P. Ubaidulla, MLA, district panchayat vice president Sakeena Pulpadan, and District Medical Officer K. Sakeena led the programme as mothers of differently abled children came up to the stage and received red roses from their wards in an emotion-ridden scene. Tears had welled up in the eyes of most mothers at the programme.
The programme titled ‘Amma Nilavu’ , planned to be held in the open air ambience of Kottakkunnu here, was shifted to Town Hall because of summer showers.
Young film actor Sharat Das and popular flautist Rajesh Cherthala were the guests. Rajesh played a few lullabies on his flute as the differently abled children greeted their mothers with red roses.
He entertained the crowd with his mesmerising flute recital.
The guests and the mothers joined the children in releasing balloons, announcing the beginning of a special day for the mothers whose struggles in taking care of their special children go largely unnoticed.
“May 13 is International Mothers Day. We want to make May 11 Special Mothers Day. This is just a beginning,” said Mr. Meena.
“Awareness about the needs of the differently abled should not be limited to their parents alone. Everyone in society should know what it means to be a differently abled person,” said Vadakkethil Hamza, chairman, RICCCH.
