
Introduction to KV Calendars
The concept informing the calendar is simple: to look at the world through different prisms, keeping in mind that disability is a factor, but not necessarily the most important or interesting one. And so when we consider Joy, Inclusion, Slowing Down, Friendship, Teaching, Growth or Imagination, some of the people we photograph have disabilities and some do not. The funny thing is that it’s not always possible to tell which is which.
Over the years, many people have helped us with the calendar. Avinash Pasricha, a world-renowned photographer and one of our dearest friends, has been involved since our inaugural edition. Starting with his first visit to Karuna Vihar in 1996, he has come every year, always ready to devote as much time as we need to the shoot and developing close ties with the children and staff in the process. It was he who introduced us to the Thomson Press, where the calendar has been printed for the past nine years and because of him, I began to get a better understanding of the rigors of photography.
Avinash is now well over sixty, retired and often plagued by back problems. But whenever I worry that another shoot might be asking too much, he surprises me by turning up with more energy than I – nearly 20 years his junior – could dream of. No matter how early I suggest we start, he wants it a little earlier. And long after I am ready to call it a day, he comes up with one more idea for how we could orchestrate a difficult shoot. He believes that taking pictures is a form of meditation, and that as long as he can remain fully present in the moment, the experience – far from tiring him – actually rejuvenates and refreshes.
Recently, we have been lucky to have other volunteer photographers come to shoot with us – Edmund Cluett, took pictures which became stock photos for every presentation in the last five years and is also a designer, poet and artist; and the wonderful Momenta team. Ken Carl, Muir Adams and Erin Steigerwalt each spent weeks “embedded” in our projects and left us with an astonishing library of images.
Shalini Sinha has been the main designer of the calendar over the years, beginning in 1999 when she contributed some hand-drawn borders as illustrations and then doing the full design from 2000 onwards (assisted for several years by Prashant Upadhyaya – an old friend, a former pediatric surgeon, now a graphic designer). Shalini, a designer and illustrator who trained at Parsons School of Design and Cooper Union, has been a consultant to the Foundation for many years, creating our brochures, posters, letterheads and wall paintings to great effect. She is the mother of two artistic daughters (Tanisha and Amaya), with whom she often collaborates on projects.
Others who have contributed to the calendar include Neha Agrawal, Beth Shirrell, Noorie Agrawal, Aileen Aquino and Nick Lacke were all design interns at the Foundation – each one brought a unique blend of creativity, skill and cutting edge talent to the calendar.
One of the most rewarding aspects of the calendar is the opportunity it gives to bring poetry and images together. Since 1998, each calendar has had a specific theme – it is a task indeed to collect relevant quotations from the eclectic array of poets, writers and religious and philosophical traditions which people have come to expect every year. The moment one calendar goes to press, we start searching for quotes for the next one. But never alone. Emails go out to a devoted club of fellow word lovers and slowly, over a month or two, suggestions flow in. The process of sifting through the astonishing collection of thoughts – all so lyrically phrased – is peaceful and contemplative. And the next phase – matching the poetry to the photographs – is even better. Somehow, both words and images grow deeper, more suggestive and mysterious, by being paired. If only we could add music as well!
Finally, every January, we wait eagerly for the responses. Thousands are sent out around the world and we watch the post and the email for many weeks, waiting for proof that others love receiving it as much as we love creating it. That is probably not possible, but we do get enough letters to make us believe it is worth continuing. (A word to our fans: letters on paper are better than emails! We love to put all the notes up on the calendar bulletin board, and the more diverse the cards and note-papers are, the more exciting the display becomes. . . but we’ll take whatever we can get!)
Order the new one today!
Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you.
– Hafiz
The cost of the calendar this year is Rs. 500
See the Calendars!
“The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.”
~ Thomas Merton
It’s hard to improve when everyone keeps telling you how great you already are. Walk around with a disability and everyone finds you amazing. Have a child with special needs and you are promoted to sainthood. Tell someone you work in the field and all standards disappear.
Disabled? Whatever you do is way, way more than anything I thought you capable of. (You’re buying your own milk? You’re so inspiring!)
Parent of a disabled child? God only chooses the best to care for his special angels. (What an incredible mother you are. I could never do what you do!).
Working in the field? Whatever you do, however you do it, is so much more than anyone should have to do. (You must be so noble! You must have so much patience!)
So why would you want to improve as a person, as a parent, as a professional? Why would you bother to grow or develop if the only message you ever get is that you are already astonishing, already way better than necessary, already beyond anyone’s wildest dreams?
We aren’t even expected to maintain standards – let alone push ourselves to achieve greater heights of excellence.
What happens to a child from whom nothing is expected? What kind of parents think they’ve already arrived at perfection? What sort of institutions are created when the standards which apply to every other profession are relaxed for them?
It’s up to us, therefore, to police ourselves. Whether we are persons with disability, parents or professionals, we can’t rely on the external supports that work in the rest of the world. The speed limits that keep us safe on the highways, the honour rolls that encourage us to do our best and achieve our potential, the community pressure that compels us to provide our children with the best environment we can afford – they aren’t there for us or for our work.
We have to set our own standards, monitor our own performance and establish new goals whenever the last ones are achieved. We have to stay alert and ever watchful. Constant Vigilance!
It’s nice to hear how wonderful, inspiring and amazing you are. It’s lovely to be told you are perfect and that there is nothing to improve upon. But we all know it is neither helpful nor true. This year, the clarion call at the Latika Roy Foundation is the seemingly uninspiring: “Not good enough.”
It’s not good enough for the kids to just be happy: are they also learning and achieving as much as they possibly can? It’s not good enough for the families to just be grateful: are they also empowered and confident enough to question our ideas and come up with their own? It’s not good enough for the team to just be devoted and loving: are they also passionate about their professions and committed to learning and doing more?
Complacency is insidious because by its very nature we don’t recognise it when we are most steeped in it. The older we get, the more dangerous it becomes. The Latika Roy Foundation is 22 now and we get our share of praise and adulation. These days, we try to ignore it.
Constant vigilance! We’re focused on excellence; we’re paying attention to every detail and we are reviewing our results all the time. Our goal is nothing less than perfection. It may not be possible, but don’t tell us that.
-–Jo Chopra
The calendar was designed by Shalini Sinha and printed at Expressions, Dehra Dun. The photographers – Edmund Cluett, Ken Carl, Joe Gidjunis, Bhumesh Bharti, Manik Mandal, Robert Dodge and Jo Chopra – graciously donated their services. All donations go to support the work of the Latika Roy Foundation’s projects for children and young adults with special needs.
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