‘Kids with Down’s Syndrome make great employees’

Aditya Subramanium, 24, a man with Down’s Syndrome, proudly declared, “I collect salary every month and keep it in the bank.” Working as a housekeeping staffer at Hotel Ramada Plaza Palm Grove for over a year, the Wadala resident changes two buses to get to work in Juhu.

Aditya is one of the very few people suffering from Down’s Syndrome who have been employed with private firms. “Children with Down’s Syndrome make great employees. They do not need any distractions like tea break, or smoke break. They work continuously,” said Puroshottam Burde, secretary of Parents of Downs Syndrome (PODS), also the state co-ordinator of federation of state associations.

Burde said that they have formed a group of four people to look for employment for their children in malls, hotels and food joints. “There are many capable children who have not got jobs outside,” lamented Burde.

Burde’s son Pranab who suffers from Downs Syndrome has also been employed in Hotel Leela as a housekeeping staffer. “I have 400 friends. There are hotel friends, school friends, home friends,” said Pranab. His job perks- “I love hotel food,” he said laughing gleefully. His father said that he hates missing even a day of work.

There are many other children who have been employed in their own schools like Dilkhush special school, Canossa Special High School, SPJ Sadhana School for the Developmentally Challenged, among many others that conduct workshops for these children like wood polishing, cooking, carpentry, paper bag making, etc and keep them occupied for 8 hours a day. Most of the children love dancing and have been training at Shaimak Daver’s classes free of charge for years.

Rishi Shahani, 29, is a gold medallist in the Special Olympics World Games in 1999. “You have to jump in the water when you hear the shot fired in the air. I swam two rounds and won,” he said. Asking the reporter what she would like to eat, Rishi claimed that he makes dal-chawal, sandwich, chai at home. He then solemnly asked—”Can you find me a job?”