30 August 2012

Para Olympics 2012

It was a delight to watch the inaguration of Para Olympics last night on TV. I usually watch Para Olympics more eagerly than Olympics because of two reasons: (i) The events prove that physical disability is not a handicap in any way if we handle it properly and (ii) I am considered to be physically handicapped by some people (though many of my friends and dignified aquaintances tell me that I don't look like someone with a handicap).

Well, the fact is that I do have a slight handicap (due to polio in my right leg) though it is not very visible. I, my parents, siblings and my well wisher relatives and friends never considered me as one with a handicap, as after all polio never affected me in any way (physically and psychologically).

At a school sports meet with Dr Daisy Dharmaraj and Dr Jacob D Raj, an adorable couple, who run PREPARE, a Chennai based NGO, 1996 
Well, this year's Para Olympics will continue reassuring that disabled people are not what they are wrongly perceived to be. Let us watch the events and share our joy with participants from 165 countries which are represented in the mega event.

Best wishes to all these differently abled sportsmen and sportswomen.


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About Me

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Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
I am a retired K-12 Education Management Professional. I have worked at different levels in K-12 school systems, textbook publishing, elearning and Education NGOs. I have held memberships in The Association for Science Education (UK), American Association of Physics Teachers and The Malaysian Institute of Physics. I hold a 1st class B Sc Degree in Physics followed by B Ed [English and Physical Science] and M A [Childcare and Education] degrees. My published works include 59 articles in teacher development magazines in India and the US and a book entitled `Creative Classrooms and Child Friendly Schools' (listed in Amazon). This book is almost an anecdotal account of my professional experience in six countries (including Cambodia where I worked as Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Education, Youth And Sports). I served as mentor in the Certificate of Teaching Mastery Program offered by Teachers Without Borders.