JOIN USThe kids of Mathru School for the Blind spread cheer recently with a performance based on Puneeta Khatri’s novel ‘Santa gets Bangalored’ at the Taj West End. The enactment was a funny take on how Santa is overwhelmed by the ever-growing Christmas gift list, and how he is not able to manage everything. People suggest that he should move to Bangalore, where one could change the way Santa works.
Things go out of control as Christmas draws near and the courier people are assigned to take care of the gift list. Santa and his elves are sent off holidaying. But they end up going bankrupt and they realise that the magic of Christmas is what kept them going. The enactment ends with Santa and his team moving back to the North Pole.
Kannada film actor Puneet Rajkumar, who was present at the event, was elated with the performance. “More and more enactments like these should be encouraged. It is a marvel to see these children’s capabilities. And that makes it a very special experience in itself. Translations of books and scripts should be done to make literature reachable to everyone alike,” said an excited Puneet.
Puneeta Khatri, the author of the novel, who worked with the children, said, “It was a fantastic experience to see the children so excited. They wanted to dress up, and do everything perfectly and were very enthusiastic about the smallest details of the performance. Their dedication has just added to my excitement.”
To work with these children and create a perfect performance must have taken its own time. Nirmala Francis, a visually-challenged teacher with Mathru Educational Trust for the Blind said, “The script that was provided by the author was translated into the Braille script, and then we started practising slowly. The kids needed a lot of practice to remember the lines but they gave their best shot at the performance, and have managed to win many hearts.”
One of the guests, Paul Reid, a British diplomat, said, “To see kids with limitations performing so well is surely appreciable. To be funny, remember all those lines and present it in such a manner, is surely worth noticing.”