THE SUPPORT CREW
“What would you think if i sang out of tune,
would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and i’ll sing you a song,
and i’ll try not to sing out of key.”
Early intervention is the key for both the parent and the child. It helped them come to terms with the reality – to accept Jijo as he is and look towards ways to help him benefit in every other way.
Spastics Society of Karnataka was the saving grace! Their assistance helped in the long run and they are still yielding results, recalling all their methods.
Jijo went to various schools in India. It was important for him to get special needs care from the beginning.
Schools like Rajkumari Amrit Kaur Child Study Centre in Delhi did a wonderful job in introducing ways to help him enjoy his learning. This was followed by Baldwin’s Opportunity School (Bangalore), Noble Mission (Kolkata) to finally Spastics Society of Karnataka (Bangalore). Changing environments made him learn to acclimatise with every situation and his perseverance highlights his determination to remain a catalyst of happiness!
An online one-to-one cognitive course with Tanusree Das, who’s a special educator based in Kolkata, is a refreshing session for Jijo every week. They get along so well that it seems like he’s chatting with a friend online!
Tanusree, along with being a highly experienced tutor, is a mountain of perseverance – her patience is unparalleled. This innovative special educator never runs out of ideas to help and guide Jijo.
Anicipate is the backbone of Jijo’s professional development! A visual and motion design studio run by Neerav Doshi - who’s an animator from the National Institute of Design, is where Jijo learns how to work in a studio environment and gets all the inspiration he needs from the animators and illustrators around him.
Ghost Animation is an animation collective which is another place that Jijo calls home! It’s run by Upamanyu Bhattacharya, Kalp Sanghvi, Gaurav Wakankar, Shaheen Sheriff, Anwaar Alam & Isha Mangalmurthy (animators & NID alumni). It’s a fascinating environment for Jijo that reminds him of Walt Disney Studios and he learns so much from observing the insanely skilled animators there!
We all remember Gaurav Juyal from the television series Art Attack! His fondness for Jijo grew from watching him consistently work towards his focused goal - to be an illustrator and animator. He guided the family to help Jijo think and explore ideas. His live demonstrations on how to make things move ignited a new fire in #SuperheroJijo!
An encounter with an artist like Pooja Bhatt began a magical journey that awakened Jijo’s world of hues! Suddenly weekends were all about painting with love and music! The results of which surprised each and everyone. They paint together in her studio and this becomes a space of “no-constraints art” for Jijo!
Abhimanyu Ghimiray is Jijo’s demigod when it comes to art! One of the first people who took keen interest in Jijo’s work, he had a huge influence on the little guy. All Jijo wanted to be and do in life was to be Abhimanyu! Whether it’s to do with what clothes he wears to what he draws, his demigod was always in his mind. Abhimanyu’s love for Jijo was shown through his art as well where he featured “Superhero Jijo” in his first solo art exhibition hosted by Gensler, about Bangalore!
Like Jijo says, “All dabhai (elder brother) friends are my friends now. Dabhai has no friends!”
But for his dabhai, there’s an un-explanable level of happiness in that sentence. He considers himself lucky to have such great people around him who didn’t have to be introduced to the words inclusion and empathy when it came to special kids like Jijo. It's because of the way they treated him, Jijo evolved into an outspoken and confident individual - something that would have never happened if he was restricted to home and school only!
Take a glimpse at his little moments of happiness and mischief through the episodes of “Life of Jijo - A Down Syndrome Artist” by clicking below or take a look at his work in the online store!