Published by Margika—An NGO for Special Needs Children, 2022, 249 pages.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in four people faces challenges in the functioning of their body or mind. Many of them start experiencing these challenges— autism, for example, or a physical disability—before they are 25.

However, this does not mean that these children cannot lead a full life, as this book shows. It is a collection of artwork and writing by children and young adults with special needs, mostly from India. The NGO behind this project, Margika, believes that art and creativity can be tools for healing. “Visual art enables us to access unconscious memories and thought processes stored in the right-brain hemisphere. Research has shown that memory and cognition improve when academic content combines with visual hooks that appeal to a child’s inherent multi-sensory gifts.”

This book is the result. The artists featured here come from different socioeconomic groups, and from both urban and rural areas. They range in age from 9 to 24. Mindscapes is divided into sections labelled Hope, Optimism, Strength and so on, accompanied by short poems by Afroze Fatima. Each artist is introduced with a small write-up.

And it is eye-opening. The skill and talent on display prove the fact that disability actually means differently abled rather than lacking in ability, something that sounds like a no-brainer, but which we need to be reminded of. The art is vibrant, expressive and a joy to look at.

I will pick out a few of these artists at random: 19-year-old Devansh Maurya, who has severe autism and is not only a painter in the style of Mark Rothko, but also a budding pianist. Sixteen-year-old Rajashri Nallam who has locomotor disability, which makes movement challenging, but art allows her to express herself. Twelve-year-old Anunya with severe intellectual disability, whose paintings include portraits, still lives, and scenes from mythology and nature. The paintings of Nazmeen, who has hearing and speech difficulties, bring out the deep interconnections in nature.

Some of the people featured here have written about themselves. These entries are as moving as the art. Bhanu Goud S., who has speech and motor difficulties, writes in his essay, “A Day in My Life” about how he just wants to be like everyone else and how hard it is for him to feel like he belongs. He wants to be an art teacher when he grows up, so he can help people explore their emotions through art, as he does. Twenty-four-year-old Harshvardhan Rao, who has Asperger’s syndrome, has found an outlet through horse riding.

I met Neena Rao in Hyderabad on a recent visit, and when she told me about her work, I was intrigued, especially when she talked to me about this book. I’m glad I read it, and would like to share it with readers.

I’m sure you will find it as rewarding as I did.