Our new Board Member Vaishali remembers how she got to know TARA

My name is Mrs. Vaishali Deshpande. Lawyer by profession, I have been a member of Child Welfare Committee from 2017 to 2020. When I joined, I had never heard about TARA. I remember noticing the welfare officers of the organisation through of the quality of their reports. Beyond the formal quality of these documents, they were showcasing the work done with the children and for their benefit. I felt the team had a strong connexion with the children, a real inclination to work for them, including to put at work what was complicated, to work on the drawbacks, to provide attention to special needs and psychological issues, to counsel and organise psychotherapies when needed. I was quite impressed by this dedication.

TARA representatives have always been available for the CWC, sometimes taking topics before the Committee. I also noted the passion in doing this, the sheer determination.

What I learned from my tenure in CWC is the use your potential/power for the upliftment of needy especially children whose voices are not heard. It is also of crucial importance for us, adults and professionals, to see the world from the perspective of the children we take care of. A child who is on its four legs sees from the ground level and from there, he sees a different world. A child who attends puberty has a lot of curiosity for the other sex, this phase also triggers rivalry and aggressivity in many cases. Instead of pretending that no such thing should happen, adults should discuss with children about sexuality in an open ad healthy manner. It’s an ecosystem : when we make the environment healthy, we create sound children, robust adults for a functional society, composed of citizens who can play their role. It’s important to believe in the potential of the children and to tap into it and keep holding their hand, till the time, they feel they are ready to handle things wisely.

To share a bit on a personal side, I realised my own potential quite late. I was not encouraged to develop my strengths as a child and this is something that I encourage parents and children to do. Today I have my practice as a lawyer in criminal, civil, family matters. I am willing to also venture in intellectual property, in order to help scientists with protection of new inventions. I have many more projects, now that children have grown up. Amongst other, I am planning to study Sanskrit and Hindi. Life is an eternal learning process!