PHOTOS: How a pandemic changed everything for these students

Delhi: A Guruvardhan, 16

Every morning by 7.50 am, Guruvardhan would be ready for his school bus to pick him up from Shankar Vihar in Delhi. By 1.15 pm, he would be back home. After finishing his homework, exercise and dinner, it was bedtime. A fixed routine is necessary for the student of Tamanna Special School, who has cerebral palsy with an intellectual disability. “Any change in his busy routine, and he would get behavioural issues,” says his mother A Sumathi.

When the pandemic hit, his routine was completely disrupted. “He would start throwing things, bang his head against the wall, and tell us he wants to go to school. So we set up a timetable for him,” she says. The dining table was converted into his study table to attend online classes. “He loves candles, so we made some at home. He was so happy!” The upside of the pandemic is that he has started engaging more in physical activities, like playing throw-ball and football in their backyard.