Man Proposes, God Disposes!

     Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference. 
                                                                By Robert Frost 

                                                                          

When I was young, I was a totally carefree, fun-loving person; an extrovert by nature, I made friends easily. I used to be interested in everything and would take part in all the activities in school and college. I was a Jack of all trades, with a keen interest in arts, sports, and I excelled at academics too. With minimum effort I always managed to be in the top three in school. 

Those days, we did not have many career options. If you were good at studies, you went for either engineering or medicine and most of my close friends in junior college opted to study medicine. My cousin Padam Dada, who was from Pune, was studying medicine at Grand Medical college in Mumbai. He would often come over to our place for the weekends and narrate his experiences. I saw the amount of hard work he had to put in, poring over thick textbooks, keeping meticulous notes. I did not want to dissect human bodies, I did not want to see pain and suffering every day, I wanted to enjoy life. So, I consciously stayed away from the medical or any of the allied professions. And somebody up there, was laughing at me!

Destiny had something else planned for me. Somehow, after my twelfth grade, during my undergrad, there was a complete change in my personality. That fun-loving, carefree Arti got lost somewhere. I became introverted, shy, and reticent. I became the strong, silent type and that is how I have remained ever since. Today, as Founder, Director of the Academy of Learning and Development, a school for children with special needs, I meet children with different diagnoses daily. As an Anat Baniel Method NeuroMovement (ABMNM) practitioner, I work closely with children with special needs and stroke patients.

In August 2016, I learnt about ABMNM, and in a bid to leave no stone unturned, I decided to take Tanaya to the States for lessons. I lost no time in getting the first available appointment for two weeks intensive for Tanaya in December of 2016. Unfortunately, it was not going to be possible for Ajinkya to accompany us due to prior commitments. So, he suggested that I take an appointment for later. But I was determined to go in December as Tanaya was already 19 years old by then and I did not want to delay any longer. Ajinkya was not at all happy about my decision as he did not want me to travel alone with Tanaya to a foreign land where we did not know anyone. I had never been to the West coast before, I had never driven in the US, so travelling would be a problem. So, I started looking for some contact near San Rafael who could help me out. When that did not work out, I started looking for someone who could accompany me on the trip. And as they say, when you wish for something from the bottom of your heart, the Universe colludes to make it come true.

My 24 years old Canadian niece, Manasi, who had a dream job travelling around the world, got the pink slip while she was visiting India. That worked just fine for me. I roped her into accompanying us to the US. We were very excited. It was going to be an all-girls trip!

We had a consultation with Anat, followed by lessons with her team members. While we were there, Anat invited me to attend some sessions of the Children’s Mastery training that was going on at the centre then. What I saw and heard at the training impressed me greatly. I met parents who had been taking ABMNM lessons for their young children with special needs and who were now in the training. I learnt of their experiences and the outcomes they had had with their children. Some of them bordered on the miraculous. I was so inspired that I signed up for the next training that was to start in March 2017.

There was a lot of trepidation in my mind, as the training was a very intensive and long one. It consisted of ten segments of Basic training, followed by four segments of Children’s Mastery, then two segments of Vitality and Anti-Aging and then one segment of High Performers. I was not sure how I would manage with home, school, and my part-time job as a professor at SBM, NMIMS. That year I had also joined the doctoral program at NMIMS. Fortunately for me, from our batch onwards, Anat had changed the format of the training wherein four segments were now in the online mode. Still, I would have to travel to the States every two months for the next year and half. Also, the cost of the entire training would be humongous. As usual, Ajinkya backed me totally. He said, “Don’t worry about Tanaya, or the home, or the expenses. Just go and do it.”

And so, I started, one segment at a time. And before I knew it, I had completed the entire training, and continue with the Continuous Education. When I started the training, it was more for Tanaya and myself. I never thought I would practice ABMNM professionally. But soon it became evident to me that I had no choice really, it was a no brainer, I had to practice. I felt morally bound to do so, I would be doing a great dis-service to society if I did not practice ABMNM for I was the only qualified ABMNM practitioner in the country. Later, one of my batch mates moved to India and now, we are two practitioners in a country of over a billion people.

So here I am, when all my friends have retired or are on the verge of retirement, I am starting out on an exciting new career path. Knowing that you can make a difference to someone’s life is exhilarating, at the same time, it is also frightening and humbling. The possibilities are limitless and so the responsibility is huge. I pray that I live up to the expectations of ABMNM and the parents.

Arti Deo

Anat Baniel Method NeuroMovement (ABMNM) Practitioner 

Director, Academy of Learning and Development, school for children with special needs.