Balloons

This is again a cute forward but did not threaten me with "dire consequences"

Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't

Believe everything happens for a reason..

If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it.

Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

Friends are like balloons; once you let them go,

you can't get them back. So I'm gonna tie you to

my heart so I never lose you. Send this to all your

friends including me and see how many you get

back. Send this balloon to everybody you like. You

may also return it to me. Send a lot of little balloons to

your friends!!!

Good Karma

I am constantly besieged by forwards on e-mail urging me to read the pieces and forward it to "n" number of people, it should leave my hands in "x" number of hours, not to break the chain and so and so forth, else bad luck would befall. These were the new age chain letters that I used to get as a kid. India in the seventies and the eighties had a lot of them. The carrot for not breaking the chain in those days was that it would create a world record and find a mention in the Guiness Book. You have no idea how much of my precious pocket money I have wasted in this exercise. Added to that I also ran errands and did odd jobs to earn a little extra to take care of the postage. Really a stupid, naive fool.

Anyway back to this story. In the early days of being on the net and some, I used to diligently do as told. It was my way of sending good wishes and also letting friends and family know that I was thinking of them and not sending a mere forward. Until one day my sister Tulsi threated to spam me. I was most upset that this "mere chit of a girl", the baby I had once held in my arms had the temerity to "talk" to me like that. However, I realized that not everyone would appreciate what I was doing and rightly so. These were friends and family, my loved ones that I was sending them to and it was certainly not on that my mails would carry threats of dire consequences if instructions were not followed. No matter whether or not one believed in these things. My baby, that mere chit of a girl had taught me an important lesson in cyber space courtesy; I had to hand it to her.

But then there were those who sent me these forwards and meant well. They truly wanted me to receive the blessings and be safe, prosper, be happy, get a windfall, etc. etc. I could not let them down either. Quite a dilemma. That is what it was until a few minutes ago when I had this brilliant idea. Hereinafter, I was going to put up these forwards that I liked on my blog. That way the world would read the piece and I would meet more than my target of "x" number of people to forward it to. Also the people reading it did not have to forward it or face any consequences or any such thing.

Really I surprise myself with my ingenuity and genius!!! Genius??? Just kidding, dear reader. Here is the first of these forwards.....Enjoy

Inclusive Education

This piece was written by Elu, a dear friend and colleague at Raksha (www.rakshasociety.org) in Cochin. She probably does not know or does not remember but she is also Aarzoo's Godmother. A few days ago she sent me this by e-mail and I told her that I was going to put it up on my blog with a few edits. Did not ask her just told her.........because these are my thoughts too and I could not have penned them down any better!! And knowing Elu, she is not going to start blogging anytime soon, so world please thank me for sharing this with you!!

Inclusion recognizes an individual's right to be treated equally. It aims to impart the same services and opportunities as everyone else. Inclusive Education in its ideal form is useful for both children with disabilities and also typical children. It also sensitizes the policy makers to build an inclusive society which will be efficient and ultimately useful for all the citizens and not to a selected group. The issue is: are we doing this just because we are one of the signatories of the UNCRPD (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) which forces us to implement the concept or are we really recognizing the fundamental right of a person to have an opportunity to learn, achieve and function as everybody else? I do hope it is the latter which not just signals a mature approach to education but also reflects a true and deep understanding of the universal nature of education itself. An effective inclusion in pedagogical terms requires sensitivity and a change in attitude towards the needs of a child with disability. The education system must be flexible and adaptations not only in teaching methodologies but also in the built environment - like the approach road to the school, the main gate, the main entrance, classrooms and toilets - are a necessity. Inclusion offers a child with disability an opportunity to cope with the challenges of the outside world. After all when these children grow to be adults they are not going to live in a special environment, they are going to live in regular society.

Elizabeth Philip

Rehabilitation Psychologist

Raksha Society for the Care of

Children with Special Needs,

Kochangadi, Kochi-2