For differently-abled people, the the need to constantly fit into society often seem to overide the pain and mental agony, which goes with being born with a physical deformity.
However Syed Sallauddin Pasha, an exponent of Kathak, yoga, martial arts and Bharatanatyam, firmly believes that a combination of arts can be used effectively in therapeutic education to teach and empower people with special abilities.
Pasha, the artistic Director, Ability Unlimited Foundation, a non governmental organisation, trains special children through a culmination of music, dance yoga colour and rhythm therapy, stresses on the importance of art as a medium of healing.
20-year-old polio afflicted Gulshan Kumar, who holds a Guinness World Record for attempting the maximum, 63, spins in a wheelchair in a minute says Pasha's method of education through therapy has worked wonders.
"I wanted to challenge myself. I don't believe that being physically handicapped merit for only making paper bags or candles. We have a cricket team of wheelchair ridden people. We have participated in many competitions. I also drive my own bike," says Kumar who was diagnosed with polio as a nine-month old.
Kumar is a student at the just launched first-of-a-kind therapeutic education centre, which currently runs at Muhiddinpur Dabarsi village in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh and offers offers diploma courses in diverse subjects ranging from sign language to choreography.
