When I first read about Karishma on Natalie Hale’s page, I was speechless. She is extremely beautiful and quite a composed young woman and it was not the fact that she has “Down Syndrome” that made me sit and read about her, but the fact that she has donated over $37000 USD for Vietnamese children with disabilities and that is something that got my attention and made me extremely proud of her. Here is her official website
www.karishmakannan.com
www.karishmakannan.com
How inspiring and a great girl she is, to have done something that would change a lot of lives. Interestingly in Hindi, her name means “Miracle” and I am proud that she is indeed a Miracle girl. Look through her paintings and you’d realise that those are not something which people would buy out of sympathy. She has a great eye for detail and good understanding of colours.
I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that she achieved all, or a lot of this only after turning 18 and like lot of late bloomers she found her interest in something that she had never learnt before.
According to her parents, they saw a big change in her when they relocated to Vietnam. Karishma was 18 year old then. The culture, food-habits, school, language and life style, everything was different but this proved to be a blessing in disguise and here she found her true calling.
She was fortunate to have found great teachers who believed in her abilities and helped her talent blossom. She had her first solo exhibition of 45 paintings in November 2011 where she raised US$11500, which she chose to donate to special schools and home for challenged elders in Vietnam. Since then she has contributed about $37ooo and is going to do more charity through her paintings in future.
What a story! Her parents say that they were lucky to have met right people at right time and they are happy that they found the Art teacher who believed in her abilities. How beautiful! I was so excited to read about this girl and her experiences and kept wondering that if the family wouldn’t have moved to Vietnam or if they hadn’t met the right teachers, would all this have been possible? May be not. And let me be honest, but I kept thinking what a great role some people can play in others’ lives and how imperative it is to have right teachers who can believe in our kids. I also went on a little guilt trip thinking if I am doing enough? or If I am providing the right opportunities for my daughter to grow up into a fine independent girl? At this juncture all I can say is that being parents we all try hard, give our best but it is also important for us to expose them to lot of things and people so that they can explore, learn and decide if there is something they would like to pursue in their lives. Everybody might not be lucky to have the teachers who’d recognise the potential talents of our kids and that should be fine as long as we as parents do that and give those opportunities and our unconditional support to our kids.
Here is a video; you’d love to watch…
