160 people walk from Star Theatre to Hedua Park to raise Down syndrome awareness
Telegraph | 24 March 2025
Why should I go for coffee with you always and not my friends? A 30-year-old woman with Down syndrome asked her mother.
Individuals with Down syndrome, their families and doctors participated in a walk on Saturday to spread awareness about their condition in a society that fails to understand their needs and desires.
“Society has to be more accepting and acknowledge their need for company and friendships,” said the mother of a girl with Down syndrome.
A total of 160 people participated in the walk from Star Theatre to Hedua Park.
“There has to be greater awareness among people about Down syndrome. A large section tends to put people with different conditions under the same bracket. They have to understand that whether it’s Down syndrome or autism, it comes with its own set of situations and should not be clubbed together,” said Nitasha Guha, president, Central Kolkata Welfare Association for Persons with Down Syndrome, a parents’ body that organised the walk.
“Also, instead of writing them off society must acknowledge their abilities, too. Our children have talents and they deserve a life of dignity and respect,” said Guha.
Guha’s daughter, Meghna, 30, conducts dancing, poetry, and drawing classes for primary school children in a government-aided school twice a week.
On Saturday, she was on the road advocating for her rights.
Another individual, a 25-year-old woman, who works in an NGO as a data operator, also participated.
“They want to be accepted as they are,” said Guha.
While Meghna goes out to work she loves to chat with her friends online, many of whom are neurotypical (individuals with standard neurological development or functioning).
“I enjoy chatting with them and discussing music with them,” she said.
The desire for sameness among the neurotypical is what makes the society more exclusive, said those working in the disability sector for decades.
“We look for more of the same and if anybody is a little different they are excluded,” said Reena Sen, vice-chairperson, Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy.
She said a person with any condition wants to be recognised for who they are. “They want to be looked at as human beings.”