“Medha” meaning intellect was an initiative started with the blessings of Åšri Periyava to provide children with autism and other special needs, a platform for social interaction, cultural instruction, and motor skills development as well as community support for their families. Medha is Sankara Healthcare Foundation’s (www.giftofhealth.us/medha) special project for differently-abled children and their families. The classes provide group instruction that encourage interaction with peers, as well as individual instruction that is catered towards specific needs of the child. 

His Holiness Kanchi Åšankaracharya Åšri Periyava took time from his busy Dhanur Māsa schedule to grace the Medha Annual Day on December 20th 2020. He interacted with the differently-abled special children and their parents. The Medha children touched the hearts of the 160+ online audience with sentences in Sanskrit, shlokas and sharing what they had learned about their culture and their dharma. Ram, a special child from Chennai launched the program with a few melodious songs. 

Åšri Periyava was very pleased by the work and referenced Srimad Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 verse 32 to extol the virtues of seeing everyone and their problems as our own. 

आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन |

सुखं वा यदि वा दु:खं स योगी परमो मत: || 6.32||

ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṁ paśhyati yo ’rjuna

sukhaṁ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṁ sa yogī paramo mataḥ

Åšri Periyava gave his benign blessings to the children, their families and to the teachers and encouraged them to keep doing this work to help those in need. 

Do our children belong to us? What is our role with them? Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (Ch 15:7)  says mamaivāṁśo jÄ«va-loke - all living entities are my parts. Swami Tejomayananda explains that “We all come together for sometime, like co-passengers on a train or airplane, then depart, each to go his or her own way”.  We may all theoretically understand this, but to live this needs special strength. 

We got the opportunity to witness 10 special mothers who are embodiments of this special strength - Shakti.  The 10 includes Sripriya - Ram’s mother from Chennai as well as 9 Medha moms (Himabindu P, Himabindu V, Jayashree, Jaya, Sailaja, Bharathi, Rajshree, Veena, Swapna) The 10 mothers work with their special children on a regular basis - loving, feeding, caring, sensing pain and guarding them like no one else can. To understand these women Sri Brahmasri B Sundarkumar explains and I paraphrase. If a 50 pound bag had to be carried - would we give it to a 5 year old child? We would not. If we see a healthy and energetic person we will certainly ask them to help with the bag. Only those who have the strength to manage the effort can be given the responsibility. Medha, an initiative by Sankara Healthcare Foundation, is an effort to stand by these wonderful women.

What is Sankara Healthcare Foundation’s project Medha?

“Medha” meaning intellect was an initiative started to provide children  with autism and other special-needs, a platform for social interaction, cultural instruction, and motor skills development and a community support forum for their families. The classes provide group instruction that encourage interaction with peers, as well as individual instruction that is catered towards specific needs of the child. 

Medha aims at integrating differently enabled children into the mainstream by equipping them with cultural and social skills. 

Typical activities include: 

Basic Yoga techniques that help with balance and coordination
Breathing and meditation that help with slowing down/calming down
Music through Slokas and Bhajans (prayers/hymns/songs)
Culture - stories, Show & Tell 

Future activities being planned are basic Devanagari lessons and some basic drawing lessons to improve motor skills. 

The children (Jayendra Naga Ganapathi Pyda, Roshni Havaldar, Prajwal Kunchakuri, Mokshak Yamsani, Jatin Uddaho, Saharsh Karani, Shrinath Venkat, Sahishnu Ghanagam, Nikhil Kannan) are taught by seven passionate volunteers. 

They meet once a week online, as a group, and also each teacher meets 1-1 with a student during the week. The Medha parents find the classes to be very helpful and appreciate the teachers and volunteers. 

The Medha annual day gave us all an opportunity to get to know the children and their special talents. It brought a community together to stand by the wonderful families of the children.  

Get Involved

To learn more about this project or to get involved, contact us at https://www.giftofhealth.us/medha and click on “Contact Us” at the bottom of the page.

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