A yoga class is underway at V-Excel Learning Centre in Adyar, and Bagavathi, 43, dressed in a crisp green saree, is busy guiding a handful of 20-something-year-olds, mouthing instructions, fixing their posture, and constantly moving about the room.
Bagavathi has been working as an educator at V-Excel – a skill training centre for young adults with cognitive and intellectual disabilities – since 2018. The institute, with about 21 centres spread across Chennai, equips neurodivergent young adults with skills like tailoring, jute braiding, block printing, and bag making, among others, through its livelihood project.
Originally from Thiruchendur in Thoothukudi district, Bagavathi says she has studied only till Class 8 but has always been fond of tailoring. “I first joined this school as a tailor to help students make various products. I started with sanitary napkins, but now I have moved on to teaching them tailoring and other physical tasks.”
Until she had joined V-Excel, Bagavathi had never interacted with children or adults with intellectual disabilities. “I had to start small – as small as helping them fold a newspaper, thread a needle, or tie a knot,” she says.
Bagavathi helps one of her students stitch a cloth | Photo Credit: Akhila Easwaran
Currently, around 19 students on the spectrum are coached at the institute, all of them with varying levels of intellectual disabilities.
The last six years have been a learning curve, not just for her students but also for her, says Bagavathi. “I have learned to interact with them and understand their needs. I slowly understood that each person responds to different kinds of teaching styles, and I was quick to adapt to that. Now, I am a senior educator here,” she adds, beaming.
Bagavathi moved to Chennai in 2007. Her husband works for a rice mill and her daughter is pursuing MBA. “Back when I was in Thiruchendur, I never even considered working. It was not an option. Then I got married and moved to Chennai. It was here that I realised I should work. I immediately took the plunge when I got to know about this job,” says Bagavathi, whose father passed away when she was young and was raised by a single mother.
Chennai has since been her home away from home. When not at work, she loves frequenting the Marina beach. “It took me some time to get adjusted to Chennai. It was all new to me in the beginning. But once I took this job, I learned so much, I even know how to use a computer now.”
A Porur resident, Bagavathi’s day starts at 4 a.m. “After cooking for my family, I have to be at the bus stop by 7:10 a.m.; only then can I reach the institute by 8:45 a.m.,” she says, adding that she sometimes has to catch three buses to get to her workplace in Adyar.
But her work makes it all worth it. “Watching my students grow is so rewarding. When previous students come back and ask for me, I get so happy. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing how much progress they have made in life,” Bagavathi, who earns Rs 13,500 per month, says.
