A Shout Out to Moms Everywhere
In families across the world, it’s usually the moms who do the heavy lifting – globally, the figure stands at thrice as much unpaid care work than men, with the numbers closer to five times as much in India (OECD, 2023). The emotional and physical toll is well documented. For mothers of disabled children, in […]
Autism Week at Latika
Awareness days come and go but for those who live with the conditions – or love those who do – like the children and families in our community, they’re a lived reality. So this year, we turned 2 April, World Autism Day, into a weeklong celebration. Autism’s everywhere this month, and quite literally too, with […]
Ramping Up On Safety
Safety is one of the most important values at Latika: ensuring the protection of our children and staff at all times is key to everything we do. Our ramp is a work of art, an example of iconic design and a practical means both of access and escape in the event of an emergency. The […]
Going for Gold
In February this year, 13 of our athletes participated in a sports meet in the run up to the Special Olympics at Jyoti Special School, Rishikesh. They competed in the 100-meter race, bocce, shot put, and softball throw, and what a performance they gave – one hundred percent, all of them, and we couldn’t be […]
Walking the Talk in Architecture, Access, and Acceptance
At Latika, acceptance and accessibility have formed the bedrock of our work since we got started three decades ago. So when our Executive Director, Jo Chopra, was invited to speak at the Doon Library and Resource Center on ‘Architecture, Access, Acceptance’ on 7 March, it was on a subject close to her heart, particularly now […]
IDR, March 4, 2025
Art for Latika | Take Two
During Covid, I happened to be stranded in the US. I had gone to be with my daughter for her first baby’s delivery and the day I arrived, all the airports shut down. I stayed for 15 months – until I’d gotten the second vaccine – and among the many things that happened during that […]
The ABCs of Art, Beauty, Construction
When we selected Pradeep Sachdeva Design Associates as the architects for our new campus, we knew our building would be beautiful. Exposed brickwork done with exquisite craftsmanship is PSDA’s signature trademark and we were not disappointed – they even designed a selfie point for us as a surprise! What we didn’t expect was how the […]
WELCOME, WIPRO!
We were delighted to welcome Shabda Birfani Bedi from the Wipro Foundation on 30 and 31 January 2025. On the agenda: a discussion of the Wabi-Sabi inclusion project funded in part by Wipro, an ardent proponent of inclusion, meetings with schools Wabi-Sabi partners with and of course, a grand tour of our construction site. Shabda […]
Why India’s National Building Code Matters
In Serbia, protests over a railway building collapse in November, 2024 which killed 15 people and severely injured two now threaten the stability of the nation. Students and other citizens have been demonstrating in ever-growing numbers since the accident over two and half months ago, claiming that the direct causes were shoddy construction, inadequate oversight […]