( This is the original article in English written by me which has been
translated into Tamil and featured in the `Women`s Day` special feature of
Ladies Special, a Tamil monthly in their March,2021 issue)
I consider most of the Indian women as human dynamos. The number of things they pack in a day`s
work is amazing. They work 24x7x365
days. There are no Sundays or holidays
for them. For those who do some jobs in addition to managing a home, the
life is even tougher. There are millions of them in the world. What makes 60 years old Mythili Seshadri stand out in
this crowd is her will power to do things she enjoys doing in spite of a Liver condition which calls for her to be extremely
careful in her food habits, medicines that she can take and also the kind of activities she can undertake.
Right from her college days in Coimbatore, where she was
born and brought up, she was inclined towards social service. She was actively
involved both in National Service scheme ( NSS) and Community Social Service (CSS)
which was to influence her career choice
later in life. Her marriage at 24 took
her to Bombay, where her husband a successful advertising professional was
working. While she was brushing up on
English speaking skills, she decided to
get a B Ed from the Bombay Teachers Training College and qualify herself as a
teacher.
` I was thrilled when I learnt that out of 1600 applicants,
only 100 had been short listed and I was one of them` says Mythili.
Arrival of her son within two years of her marriage
prevented her from taking up any teaching assignments in Mumbai. The family
moved to Chennai in 1988 where she was
to realize many of her dreams over the years.
As a person who cannot sit at home idly , in her spare time she learnt
Shorthand, Typing , Tailoring & Embroidery. It was in 1997, a friend
influenced her to consider teaching special children. She joined Vidya Sagar , a school for special children in
Chennai, as a volunteer in their Vocational Rehabilitation Unit. Her formal training in Tailoring and Embroidery
helped her being instrumental in starting the Tailoring unit in Vidya Sagar. She taught the students to make
draw string bags ( Surukku pai), scrunchies ( cloth rubber band), hand towels to name a few. These were done using the
scrap materials given by a boutique in the neighbor hood.
`I was delighted when
I found that some of the students I had trained were given jobs in a well
known Boutique, where they did well. But
I also realized that being a mere volunteer, not an employee, you are not taken
seriously by the management . So I
decided to get formal qualification as a special educator by joining `Bala Vidyalaya` , a school for
the hearing impaired, and did a One Year Diploma In Teaching Young
Hearing Impaired, a course which is recognized by the `Rehabilitation Council of
India`.
Along the way she
also completed two short term courses in Alternative and Augmentative
Communication conducted by Vidya Sagar. After
working in Bala Vidyalaya for a couple of years she decided to quit and started teaching
language therapy to children with special needs at home. Her students also
included children with additional disabilities like mental retardation, autism
, cerebral palsey besides being from
different age groups. This one-on –one therapy helped children who cannot hear and speak to get
integrated into mainstream schools.
`It is tough because these children do not understand direct
communication but respond to alternative method of teaching where you patiently
take them through several stages using different props to make them understand
things. The course also involved training the parents of such children so that they can continue to practice the
lessons at home. It is heartening , when, after two years of training they are
ready to be integrated into main stream schools. That is the biggest
satisfaction from the job I got.` However, since teaching such children
necessitated speaking loudly she developed vocal chord problems, which posed
the danger of Mythily losing her own ability to speak. So reluctantly she had
to give up a career she loved so much.
This setback did not deter Mythili from pursuing other
interests which helped her bring out the inherent creativity in her. She
channelized her creative abilities by involving herself in making handicrafts
and a variety of cloth bags, curtains etc.
Most of these items were made
from waste cloth and other waste materials thus furthering the concept of
`Waste to wealth`. However she did not do it as a regular business but produced
bags, curtains from old saris, wall hangings, plastic bag dispensers to name a
few, based on specific demands from friends and relatives.
While she was busy
creating useful items from waste cloths, another friend introduced her to the fascinating world of `Quilts` which
again opened up opportunities for converting used cloths into mattresses, table runners, wall hangings etc. For this she had to attend a training workshop run by
`The Square Inch(TSI)`in her neighbor hood
before she could start working on the quilts. She even participated in the
First International Quilt festival held in Chennai , in 2019 where her quilt
titled `Pinwheel in a square inch` was displayed. It was made using more than
5000 cloth pieces, each measuring one square inch.
When I asked her about the process of making a quilt she
said, ` I first think of an idea,
convert the idea into a picture/drawing, then look for materials to make
the quilt and then get into action. I used an old saree to create a quilt to
cover the Diwan set in my home. Similarly I made curtains out of old cloth
materials. Every quilt is like a piece of art. I thoroughly enjoy making them`
says Mythili. She is currently active in the informal group of quilt makers in
Chennai.
Mythili is quite excited to talk about how a childhood dream of
becoming a dancer came true when she was in her early fifties. Once she was invited to participate in a group
dance by the Rotary Club in which her husband is a member. Her inability to coordinate her foot movements made her lose the opportunity to dance . She felt miserable. Around
that time she came to know about a dance
school in her neighbor hood which was providing dance training for senior
citizens- ranging in age from 5o to 80. She promptly enrolled herself in the
classes and learnt to dance reasonably well. She was a part of the group from
the school which was invited to perform at temple & other festivals in the
city.
` I even participated
in a group dance organized by my Rotary Club, reassuring myself that I
can also dance.`
Mythili did all the above while busy bringing up her son
& daughter who are both married and
blessed her with four lovely grand
children. Most interesting aspect of her
life is the fact that she never appointed the ubiquitous Velaikari ( maid
servant), not even a part time one, to
help her with some of the household
chores. Where did she get the energy for this? Her reply sums up the practical
woman that she is: `I did not have any maid servant all these years because, I
realized early that dependence on them can cause unnecessary anxieties and tensions . My day is not
affected by the Idiosyncrasies of a maid. With strong will power as my
strength I have been managing the home
and my outside interests. Having a two
wheeler of my own has also helped me in
being independent to move around
on assignments.`
Mythili also gives full credit to her supportive husband for encouraging her to do whatever
she enjoys doing. As they say there is
always a man behind a successful woman and vice versa!
( Note: Mythili is my sister in law)
