An Asperger’s reflections on canvas

KOCHI: It is difficult for parents to bear the fact their child has difficulty in social interactions. It was challenging for parents Muralee Thummarukudy and Dr Jayashree, too.  But they decided to draw strength from the realisation that their son Siddharth Muraly Nair, was obsessed with colours and could memorise colours, shapes and events – gifts which allowed him to always score high on visual memory and pattern recognition.

The path was not easy for the parents. For Muralee Thummarukudy, the chief of Disaster Risk Reduction at United Nations Environment Programme, finding a school for his son was a real challenge. Siddharth was born in Muscat when Muralee was working as corporate advisor to oil companies in South East Asia and the West Asia, dealing with oil industry-related emergencies. The family later moved to Switzerland where Siddharth started his schooling at Montessori School in Commugny. Improving his language and communicative skills proved a challenge to Siddharth. Searching for a pleasant and congenial atmosphere for his child to learn, Muralee shifted to Kerala. For Siddharth, it was a relief as he could draw the affection of his grandparents who made his world a little softer, kinder and warmer.

But tough times were not over for Muralee. Here, too, finding a school for his son proved daunting. Though Siddharth had a normal IQ, his language and communication skills were limited. This led to him getting rejected from nearly 50 schools in and around Kochi, including government schools, where Muralee applied for his son’s admission

Eventually, Siddharth was admitted at the Choice School in Tripunithura where the school authorities provided him a protective atmosphere. Siddharth overcame his linguistic problems and completed Grade 10 scoring 7.7 CGPA.