Time with magician Gopinath Muthukad translates into surprise and adventure for children. But for the 136 young participants at the Mambazhakkalam summer camp organised by the Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan here, Sunday will likely be a day that will remain for them forever.
Urging the children to dream and turn them into reality through sheer will power was 21-year-old C.P. Shihabudeen from Malappuram. Shihabudeen knows all about adversity because he was born without limbs. And yet there’s little that the youngster has not achieved that he set his mind to.
Shihabudeen was bedridden for the first five years of his life. His dream was to be able to get up. When he managed to do that, he dreamt of walking, and at the age of six, took his first steps. Every day brought new challenges.
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He wanted to go outside, and spend time with friends. He dreamt of playing cricket, Shihabudeen told the children. Giving up was not in his nature, and he did just that - play cricket. A report in the media even saw cricketer Sreesanth speak to him over the phone, he said.
Shihabudeen joined school in class eight, and scored 96 per cent marks in class 10. He took up the science stream in class 11 and 12, but the difficulties that came with the science subjects saw him do his graduation in English literature.
He is at present pursuing post-graduation in English at the University of Calicut.
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Sprinkling his talk with references to movies, Shihabudeen told the children how they should concentrate all their attention on studies.
Griping about things was of no help, he said. He could feel sorry for himself, but he chose to be optimistic. Recounting his experiences, he told them how he set out to play the keyboard and the violin and went to the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, to play in front of students there.
He showed a clipping of him taking part in a dance reality show and overcoming acute physical pain to realise his dream of performing in front of dancer Sudha Chandran. Quoting the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, he urged the children to dream, and work tirelessly to realise them.
His sense of humour, energy, and enthusiasm seemed to rub off on the children too, for there were claps aplenty, and requests for handshakes and selfies.
Shihabudeen said his aim was to move away from conventional education to train children to think for themselves, and tap their inner potential to achieve success.
Mr. Muthukad told the children how Shihabudeen had expressed his wish to learn magic, the desire to learn new things burning bright within him.
Shihabudeen, he told them, was an example on how to find meaning in life and live it to the full.