Our First Anniversary with The Banyan

ALERT was about to complete its first year; the Emergency Response Team (ERT) trainings have kicked off well, planning and preparation are on for an upcoming project centred on the ERT trainings along with efforts to initiate our other activities. Amidst all this, we wanted to find some time to celebrate our first anniversary in our own way. An account of a previous visit by two of our members to BALM (The Banyan facility at Kovalam) sparked off the thought of spending our time with The Banyan. Apart from the opportunity to interact with the residents, we were also quite eager to learn more about the Banyan and the work they do.

Having made the necessary arrangements for our visit, we arrived at The Banyan centre in Mogappair, home of their Adaikalam project, on the morning of the 2nd October; our first anniversary. The reception was warm and we took a few minutes to take in the surroundings before proceeding to their library. Our host Merril Matthew, the occupational therapist, introduced The Banyan to all of us while we in turn introduced her to ALERT. It was an interesting session where we learned not just about what Banyan does but also about the challenges they face as an NGO. Our discussion soon evolved into an interactive session about their rehab process, mental illness/disorders, caring for inmates and their activities.

Inspired by what we learned, we couldn’t wait to meet the residents of Adaikalam. We visited the 4 levels of dormitories which were categorized based on the residents' health condition. Around 30 of them from the Levels 1 & 2 dormitories were waiting to meet us in the common room. With warm smiles, they welcomed us and introduced themselves to us. We found the Level 1 residents more interactive than expected despite their ongoing treatment.

As games were part of their daily routine, there was a flurry of response when we called them for participation. Some even came out with games of their choice. We started with one of their favourites, a regional game more on the lines of 'Simon says…', and we could feel their excitement and curiosity among couple of new residents. Having found a Hindi translator among us, the game heated up with some quick rounds. It helped us break the ice with them and some more residents joined in the fun.

'Passing the Ball' was their next choice of game and the music added more to their excitement. Now it was our turn to be amazed to see the array of talent that was put on display. Every time the music stopped and a resident stepped up to sing or dance, we were left with awe. There were some good voices and the songs were sung with such emotional balance that it would not be an exaggeration to say that a few of us were moved when an old film song was rendered. Tamil film superstar Rajni seems to be the star here when it comes to dancing as most of his styles were part of their dance moves. Soon it became an impromptu dance floor and our members couldn’t refrain from letting it loose along with the residents. It was a moment to cherish, to see the joy in their faces, dancing along with us; am sure we all felt like we were in a party with friends and family.

Lunch time was nearing and it was time for us to leave them. We distributed some chocolates to them and were greeted with lots of thanks and love. Some of them even came forward to tell us about their past life and how they found themselves at Banyan. Before saying goodbye to them, they gave us permission for a group photograph and we were quite happy to click some shots as our souvenirs.

Down at the office, we met the rest of their social workers and staff. We had brought some donations in the form of cakes and juice for all the residents which were reserved for the evening snacks. We thanked the resident doctor Vanitha for arranging our visit and offered to assist them in the future as need arises. As we departed, we were overwhelmed with many thoughts, new ideas, a renewed passion to make a difference in our society and the promise to make regular visits to similar facilities across the city in the near future.

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