MANDALA
Diverse therapies under one roof
Continua Kids is a centre for neurotherapy and all other kinds of therapies for uniquely abled kids. It was started in December 2016 by its founders, Dr Puja Kapoor, a paediatric neurologist, and Dr Himani Narula, a developmental and behavioural paediatrician director. The main purpose of forming this organisation was to take care of children with special needs like ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), autism, cerebral palsy, etc. At this place, therapies like occupational therapy, speech therapy, physiotherapy, ABA (applied behavioural analysis) therapy, and special education are used to help these children fit well with their peer age group. Dr Puja says, “Earlier, after a diagnosis was made, the parents would run from one therapy centre to another with the child, which was a struggle. This whole system was very scattered. It was also difficult for us to keep up with the further assessments and to monitor the child’s progress. And so, we thought of finding a more viable way of bringing all the experts together under one roof by creating one common therapy centre controlled by us so that the development of the child can be monitored by one team of doctors and therapists through proper case records in place. This led to the conception of Continua Kids.”
The founders also say that some of these children have ‘savant skills,’ which makes them sharp, fast learners, and have high IQs, and are skilled but lack the ability to make normal social conversations. In the training process at Continua Kids, each session with one personal therapist attending to the child is normally conducted for 45 minutes followed by a 15-minute counselling session with the parents, imparting them the mental resources they’d need to understand and help their children better.
Dr Himani says, “We only use scientific evidence–based therapies to determine the present developmental status of the child and then plan an early intervention course that addresses physical, cognitive, and social communication and self-help skills of the child. Our vision is to nurture skills in children so that they can come at par with their peers. We want each and every uniquely abled child to be more accepted in society. A lot of times, parents are in denial of the diagnosis of their kids or are themselves struggling with their own issues that went untreated. They require extreme support in order to be more accepting and understanding of their children’s needs. I conduct a 45-minute detailed counselling session for the parents about the prognosis and also give them home programs.”
Continua Kids has centres in many cities across the country. They have expanded a lot more, even globally, through online sessions. They have a Continua Kids app too, which is very helpful for parents to make direct appointments with doctors, look at the red flags, track milestones of their children, read blogs, etc. They also conduct live Facebook sessions every Saturday, which are educational, and awareness programs for parent groups for different problems. They try to talk to large audiences in person or online at one time to answer their questions and make the parents more equipped to deal with their situation.
www.continuakids.com
01244000055 • Info@continuakids.com
Sri Vidya Mahayaga
Ancient Indians were known to believe in the efficacy of yagyas (fire sacrifices) to invoke the blessings of gods and change the energy composition of a particular space. Knowers of this science have decided to take recourse to this practice to balance the negativity which is currently engulfing this world.
Shakthiveda Wellness Mission, a charitable trust founded by Rishidev Narendraji in 2006 in Bengaluru, is currently performing a Sri Vidya Mahayaga for 2880 hours under the leadership of Matha Dr Sripriya, the prime disciple of Narendraji, affectionately called ‘Amma’ by devotees. The yagya commenced at 4 a.m. on August 17, 2021, and will continuously be performed till 4 a.m. on December 21, 2021.
In addition to performing mahayagas that go on for a long period unceasingly, for the upliftment of humanity, the mission also conducts research on energy aspects related to the human body, cosmic and subtle energies, and their effect on individuals to provide spiritual solutions to the miseries of the people. Rishidev Narendraji, who is a graduate in mechanical engineering, and his prime disciple, Matha Dr Sripriya, are involved in research activities related to energy aspects for over three decades and have given a number of wellness measures for spiritual empowerment, health, wealth, knowledge, and interpersonal relationship aspects to the seekers.
Rishidev Narendraji, discovered that the human energy field comprises 56 intelligent cosmic energy components. As per Shakthiveda, fire is the purest and most uncontaminated element of life left on this planet. Shakthiveda fire rituals are simplified, and anyone can perform them irrespective of caste, creed, or religion. These fire rituals bring inner purification, environmental purification, happiness, and harmony with nature. In mahayagas, a number of medicinal herbs are used as oblation material, and through their continuous usage for a long period, the environment and nature are cleansed. Since we are part of nature, it helps in the wellbeing of mankind and other elements of nature. Positive changes in the environment have scientifically been recorded during Shakthiveda Bhaishajya Mahayagams, each of 81 hours duration.
Srividya Mahayaga, which is currently in progress, is being performed for health, wealth, family harmony, interpersonal relations, and spiritual empowerment of the people, giving them the strength they need in these difficult pandemic times.
People contribute to them by donating ghee, wood and herbs. At Shakthiveda, one can avail a free photo analysis by sharing their name and photo at 9900198585. The root cause of their suffering and the associated solution will be explained.
Website: https://www.shakthiveda.com/
Phone: +91 74837 53687 (Tamil, Kannada & English), +91 86605 17237 (Malayalam & English)
Email: swmission2007@gmail.com
Project Milk Bag
Rarely picked by rag pickers due to the low resale value, milk bags often end up in landfills and water bodies due to poor disposal. Three ladies—Hansu Pardiwala, who runs a social enterprise called Har Ghar Hara Ghar, which focusses on Waste Segregation Awareness & Training; Kunti Oza, who heads Clean Mumbai Foundation that has been working in the field of Waste Management since 1990; and Chitra Hiremath who is an alumnus of Xavier Institute of Mass Communication with 25 years of experience in Executive Search and HR—came across a WhatsApp message that made them think deeply. It was a simple message requesting people not to snip off the corners of milk bags while emptying them, as these little pieces of cut plastic find their way into the drains and waterways, thereby affecting marine life. It was this message that got them thinking that this is something everyone can do with little or no effort on their part.
Their main challenge was space to store the collected milk bags and convince people to clean the bags and hand them over to them. It took them a lot of effort and time to do that, but now, most people are sending them clean bags! In fact, there’s a lady from Chembur who used to come in a taxi every two months with 5–6 kg of bags she had collected from her building. Such people’s commitment kept them going. All the bags are upcycled to make bins, mugs, and buckets.
Their dream is to have the Milk Bag Project running in all metro cities and all two-tier and three-tier cities. They would like to mentor people to set this up in their own areas. Essentially, the Milk Bag Project is here to help us recycle our milk bags. All we have to do is clean, store, and courier the milk bags to their collection centre.
After hearing about this initiative, my husband and I too have started doing this as a small step to help the environment. All it takes for us in Bangalore is to courier the bags every month after collecting them so that they can be recycled. Is it not said that each step does make a difference, and if it involves just keeping aside a packet a day by all of us to save the environment, we all can surely join in this initiative.
This initiative reminds me of the Zen fable where a monk picks up each fish and throws it back into the sea after a storm. When told he cannot save all the fish in this manner, he responds that it does make a difference to each fish he is able to save. We too can make a difference with each milk packet, isn’t it?
Please email themilkbagproject@gmail.com to know where to send your bags from wherever you may be currently.
—Jamuna Rangachari