Keith gave a "Anthony Robbins hug" to Marian. They sat in the garden and exchanged notes. Mrs Jain gave us breakfast a little later in her beautiful house. Then, we drove off to Dehradun and had a brief meeting with Cyril ji. Both Cyril and Keith were unanimous that donor need a lot of "education"!! It is nice to hear someone say loud and clear what has been your gut feeling for a long time..
Then, some last minute marketing for relatives back home; Finally, we were just in time to meet Mr Brijnath and Mr B C Joshi at Doon library. It was a brief but intense interaction with two academics, tecahers and sensitive human beings: we have asked them to help us find a PWS (or anyone with time and interest) to help us start a self help group in Dehradun for people who stammer.
An "Anthony Robbins hug" and we parted as Shatabdi inched out of Dehradun. Nitin will be receiving Keith in Delhi and sending him onwards to IG Airport in Delhi very kindly.
Keith's visit gave us another occasion to emphasise that stammering does matter to us (why else would this Englishman come from UK and give talk after talk in four cities in India, almost non-stop for two weeks?)..
His visit also gave us a chance to meet many of us, who had been just an email ID or a screen name for one another. It also gave a fledgling "organisation" a chance to coordinate, network, synchronise complex events across cities, weekdays and weekends, regions- all through volunteers. We learned to deal with media too. We learned to trust each other, support each other. We learned to get out of our 'SHG mode' and talk to the big world outside. There are many more miles to go, before one could rest, I guess- but let us acknowledge that collectively we, the TISA, have achieved something worthwhile, something we could be proud of.
Thanks to all of you, in TISA family and Keith.
2 comments:
Yes Sir,
It is not We just learn & experience a totally different enviornment ,we also learn how to be proud of ourself & to perform exceptionaly well in th eworld.
I remember When we are about to leave Pune & Keith he repeatadly told us to practice & also dont just speak ,COMMUNICATE.
Thanx
TISA to give me just a glimpus of new life.
Dear friends,
I am so pleased that my visit to see many of you helped TISA.
As Sachin said, many of you got together full time or part time to create a linked tour of 4 cities.
You set out to look after me but by doing so you achieved many wonderful things yourselves. You got out into the world, beyond your family and workplace, and communicated.
You arranged bedrooms / meeting rooms / taxis / media / dealt with problems / met and talked with strangers / planned day long events / learned what went right and what might be improved / met fellow members of TISA.
You thought of me, but helped yourselves. That is a very good message. If you spend time focusing on helping others, you automatically help yourself.
Also I get very excited about Sachin’s workshops and treks.
You, TISA, have met the Challenge of ‘Keith’s trip to India’. What is your next challenge? You will have your own ideas, but there is one that instantly springs to my mind. (A quick clue: How many states do you have?)
Namaste,
TISA's special friend,
Keith
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