At Umeed Asha Kiran School there is a strong emphasis on imparting vocational skills
(Left) Children of Umeed Asha Kiran School are invited to all functions held at the Tambaram Air Force base. The children also perform cultural programmes for visiting Air Force personnel and their families. A child inside the cockpit of Kiran
Chennai: Just over a month ago, 15-year-old Abdul Rehman found himself in the cockpit of a Kiran aircraft at Tambaram Air Force station, a rare opportunity for civilians like him. “The entire experience was surreal and I liked being inside the cockpit immensely!” recalled Rehman, showing little signs of his disability. But then he shrugs off, for a visit to the flying instructors school, a premier IAF training establishment, where he was taken along with 20 other children is one among the many perks offered by the special school that he is enrolled into.
While the Umeed Asha Kiran School for differently abled children offers services just like any other special school would, it has a novelty feature which can be surpassed by none. It is situated right inside the Tambaram Air force base, where the sight and sound of flying machines like Kiran is as regular a feature as autos on city’s roads. Established in 1992, the school was originally intended to cater to the specific needs of Air Force personnel, stationed at Tambaram, who may have differently abled children.
“However, a decision was taken to open the school for civilians as well. Presently, of the 26 children enrolled, only two are from service while the rest are civilians belonging to the economically weaker sections of society,” said Mrs Payal Gupta, president of Air Force Wives Welfare Association, the patron of the school. One among the eight such schools located in airbases across the country, it has established a tie up with the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities. There is a strong emphasis on imparting vocational skills on children, aged between 7-20. Students make candles, paper bags, painted diyas and envelopes among other items that are sold at the in-house store.
However the connection with the Air Force personnel is inseparable. Children and their parents are invited to all functions at the base, including the spectacular passing out parades. Coupled with the frequent personalised tours of the base, the children also get opportunities to operate the advanced flying simulator. This bonding with the men in uniform is to such an extent that whenever Air Force personnel and their families come visiting, they are greeted with a smart salute by the children. Rehman, determined to overcome his intellectually disability, summed up. “When I grow up, I want to wear the uniform and become a police if not a Air Force guy,” he says.
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