Hyderabad :  Celebrating Children Day with festivity and colours, Round Table India, an Indian arm of international organization spread all over the world organised ‘Taare Zameen Par’, a unique painting competition for differently-abled and physically challenged children here in city at Moksh Banquets, Necklace Road. The children reveled in colours and were royally treated with their choicest dishes like Noodles, Machuria, Biryani, etc. and were also given Food Hampers, Give-Aways besides prizes.

The Painting competition saw participation by 630 children from different schools such as Helen Keller School, Child Guidance Centre, Vidhyanjali School, Green Special School, Sanskriti Shikhar School, etc. The topic for the competition was Garden or Forest. Children using colour pencils, crayons or water colours drew sceneries, landscapes, etc. Bhagyalaxmi from Helen Keller School bagged the first prize winning in the 6-9 years category, while Jabeen of Sanskriti Shikhar School was adjudged as the winner in the 10-12 years category. Helen Keller School’s Kumari Sarita stood as the winner in 13-15 years category and Kumari Sanju, Helen Keller School bagged the first prize in the Above 16 years category. The Panel of Judges comprised of Mrs. Gool R. Plumber, Honorary General Secretary of The Andhra Pradesh Association for the Welfare of the Mentally Retarded (APAWMR) along with Artists Mrs. Pooja Nish, Dr. Namrata Rupani and Mrs. Nupur Munglani.

Speaking on the occasion, Round Tabler Mr. Kishore Kumar, Coordinator said that Taare Zamen Par is a National Initiative of Round Table India where Painting and sketch competition is organised for the differently-abled Children to help children unravel their hidden Skills. This competition was organised across the state in Hyderabad, Guntur, Vijayawada and Vizag simultaneously today. A total of nearly 1500 children took part across the state.

For the world, these kids are differently gifted. We feel they are definitely gifted. These kids dwell in a beautiful world of their own. Devoid of number crunching pressures, no deadlines… Just the pleasure of enjoying the moment. No ghosts of the past as memories, No phantoms of the future as worries. The sheer joy of living for the moment, said Mr. Kishore.

It was a great pleasure to see the differently gifted children enjoy their day out and express themselves with colours. Taare Zameen Par is annual activity that Round Table India undertakes where in children who are ‘specially abled’ take part in huge numbers, said Round Tabler Jeetinder Singh. Children of tablers participate as volunteers and put in their 100% for the event, he said.

Speaking on the sidelines Ms. K. Shailaja, Principal, Helen Keller School for the Deaf, Ramakrishnapuram, Secunderabad said that children from their school are very happy to participate in the painting competition. They like drawing and colouring, opportunities like these provide good exposure and awareness to children, she said. 160 students from her school participated in the painting competition.

Participant Veeranna, a student from Child Guidance Centre School For Differently Abled in Peerzadiguda, Hyderabad said that he was very happy to celebrate Children’s Day taking part in the painting competition. Every year we have good programs and celebrate the day with song and dance. All my friends are excited to take part in today’s competition, he said.