Small wonder.

Seven-year-old Umangami is autistic. But she defies all the norms of her disability; she is in fact more talented than most normal children her age

Like her name suggests, Umangami is full of life and enthusiasm. She is multi talented and can put any normal seven-year-old to shame. She can sketch, dance, cycle and skate, although art is her forte. Doctors say she is better than other autistic children because she is not entirely autistic thus enabling her to develop faster. Cityplus speaks to Umangami’s parents about their gifted daughter.

Art start
Sangami Anchalkar, Umangami’s mother shares, “I was an advocate, however I had to take a break from my career, because I wanted to be with Umangami. She was only two and a half years old, when we found out that she had a speech problem. She would speak much less than other children her age. When she was in Sadhu Vaswani School at Sanpada, she was academically excellent, however, her behaviour was a little different from other children. She would not sit in one place for long and would get hyperactive. This is when we realised she was different from other children. Initially we had to take her for regular checkups, but we don’t have to do this now.”

All handwritten
“Umangami has such a fantastic grasping power that she can easily imitate a person in few seconds of meeting them. She has a beautiful and clear handwriting and her grasping power plays an important role in her sketching. Initially, we would give her pictures of nature, which she would imitate in her sketches. Later she could draw them without looking at the pictures and gradually she stated making sketches based on her imagination. She made her first sketch of a queen at the age of five. A few months later she made a portrait of me. So far she has made two portraits of me and one of her father.” adds Sangami.  
Soft-spoken Umangami shares, “Apart from sketching, I am fond of dancing and cycling. I have also won some prizes in my school and my society for the same.”
“She loves dancing too and is training under Vinod Lokhande at Ashraya. Last year, she was felicitated by the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Javed Ahmed for her overall performance as an autistic child. Jewellery is also a very important part of her life. Her sketch begins with making jewellery. She has made many portraits focusing on various types and designs of jewellery. In fact she has made a series of sketches of a bride in different hair styles and attires. She is also very organised and systematic when she uses something; she makes it a point to keep it back where it belongs.” shares Sangami.

Sketch it out
Umesh Anchalkar, Umangami’s father adds, “Earlier this year, Umangami hosted her first exhibition of her paintings at Ashraya School. Her work included portraits of Lord Balaji, Goddess Saraswati, her mother and me. We were planning to have an exhibition for a really long time, but we could not find the right platform. We were elated when Ashraya allowed us to participate in their ‘Diwali Mela’. We hand-picked few of her best works for this exhibition. The ‘Diwali Mela’ saw parents of special children from across schools. My aim was to motivate these parents to realise the special ability of their children. This year she was also awarded at the dandiya raas competition.”

Umangami today and tomorrow
Umesh adds, “As far as her progress is concerned, she is doing better than normal children, however she still faces problem with her speech.”
On her future endeavors, he adds, “I own a printing press and I wish to make calendars and greeting cards with the pictures drawn by her. I want to approach NGO’s like CRY for the same. We are also planning on appointing a full time teacher, who can train and improve her speaking skills. However, there are very few speech therapists in Navi Mumbai.”
Anjana Kachru, therapist at Ashraya adds, “About 3 years ago, she was enrolled in the school and I have seen her grow as an individual. My personal favourite sketch is the one of Lord Balaji. She is a brilliant student and if given the right opportunities, she will make it big in the future.”

--Indira Thakur