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So there I was sitting comfortably on a sofa explaining my project to these three ladies who had nicely welcomed me. Little did I know that one of them was Dr. Surekha Ramachandran, the chairwoman and founder of the Down syndrome federation of India. She started speaking and she completely caught my attention just by hearing how proud she was of the foundation and through her gestures I could really see she meant every single word she said. Sometimes in Spanish I refer to people as « luz » which means light, meaning that that person somehow shines by their positive energy and just by their way of being themselves. In other words they catch your attention and convey the genuine good vibes they have. Dr. Surekha Ramachandran is one of the few people on this planet that I would describe as a light. She conveyed so much good energy, but also strength, and the will and need to help others.
She then invited me to meet the group of mothers and fathers sitting at the back of the main room. I suddenly got a bit nervous because I had never talked about my project in front of so many people who have a child with Down Syndrome. I had already talked about it to a few classes of primary school kids in Spain but had never really mentioned it to parents who were now forever linked to someone who would change their way of seeing life, just like it changed mine. At the same time I couldn’t stop smiling because this was what the project was all about, having an exchange with people who know a lot about Down syndrome and my will to learn more about what it is like to live with it in different countries.
I was lucky that one of the ladies that had welcomed me was there to translate what I was saying to Chennai’s local language called Tamil. A majority of people in India speak Hindi but many regions also use their main local language to communicate. It was quite funny because I had never had someone to translate what I was saying so I had absolutely no idea where to stop or how fast I should go. Having also no idea what Tamil grammatically looks like I had no idea how long it would take to translate one of my sentences or how difficult it could be.
Dr. Surekha Ramachandran stopped me and told me that some of the people who were there and some people with Down syndrome in India could speak up to four languages!
Most parents who were there sitting on the floor or standing at the back of the room were all parents of children who were quite young. Most of them were mothers but I was also quite happy to see a few fathers. I think I was surprised because before arriving at the foundation I described India as a « man’s man’s man’s world » mostly due to the fact that in New Delhi, Agra and Mumbai I had seen a huge majority of men on the streets and only a few women. I remember it being something that really personally shocked me so I think I unconsciously associated education to women as it used to be like in the past here in Western Europe. I have always thought that education is something that should equally come from both parents, so by seeing both parents being there made me happy.
Before I knew it, there I was, standing nervously in front of so many eyes ready to talk about the D2020 World Project. I had no ideas this would happen therefore I hadn’t prepared any specific questions for the parents. I decided at first to talk about my sister because I thought it would be interesting for them to know what she does in her daily life. I told them that my sister lives alone and that she has a job that she goes to by herself. I also told them that she speaks fluent English and French and suddenly Dr. Surekha Ramachandran stopped me and told me that some of the people who were there and some people with Down syndrome in India could speak up to four languages! I was amazed! This is where you realize that sometimes we are the ones who set limits to other people, and why should we? Four languages! I have always been a huge admirer of people who could speak various languages and knowing that a person with Down syndrome could speak four was simply incredible. The parents laughed when they saw my face because I could not believe my eyes. What a huge opportunity they were giving to their kids to speak so many languages. Speaking different languages makes you think in many different ways, it opens your mind, and in some way it must develop something in your brain that allows you to hop from one language to another more easily.
India was definitely the hardest country on this world tour but there I was standing there and it felt like the time had stopped.
I could not tell you how long I stood there in front of them, I did not care about the time. It was just magical! Some parents even asked me questions in English which really made it possible for me to answer directly without having someone to translate anything to the person who had asked the question. Of course the person who was there to nicely help me would also translate it to Tamil to make sure everyone could understand, but it really made me feel like they were interested in my project and interested to hear about someone who had lived all his life with a sister with Down Syndrome. They all had so many important and interesting questions that for the second time in this adventure I really had the feeling there was one thing in common that brought us all together: diversity, and in this specific case, Down syndrome. They asked me all the questions they had and I had the chance to ask them all the questions that could come up to my mind! During our whole conversation I did not know where to look. They all had something in their faces that caught my attention. Was it the smiles? The laughs? The fact they were listening to every word I said? Or the fact that we were all there gathered around one thing we all had in common. India was definitely the hardest country on this world tour but there I was standing there and it felt like the time had stopped. It felt like I was somewhere else. It was just me and them.
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