While I struggle to set up my audio and find the record button, Anita sits watching me patiently, a full smile donning her face at all times.

She laughs at my clumsiness good-naturedly, and greets me with a bright ‘hello!’ when I do manage to set it up.

Her days are busy and I’ve caught her between online classes. She tells me about the cooking class she just attended and her online Kathak classes. We talk about movies, our favourite actors (her’s is Mohanlal), music, her modeling career, and all her artwork that she’s sold. It sounds like an ordinary enough conversation, but in reality, her story is an inspiring one, of grit and determination.

You see, when Anita was born, her parents were told she wouldn’t live beyond age 3, and that she wouldn’t be able to walk, talk, or do things that regular kids did, all because she was born with the genetic condition known as Down syndrome.

And Anita has disproved every bit of the prophecy all her life.

You can catch parts of my conversation with Anita in our latest podcast.

In the podcast, I also speak with Anita’s mother, Usha Menon, as well as Ranjan Sharma about some misconceptions associated with the condition, and how parents can care for their kids to ensure they get to live healthy and happy lives, that’s as ‘normal’ as any.

Ranjan Sharma started a chain of WhatsApp (now Telegram) groups for this very reason. To spread awareness about the condition, to provide new and scared parents with a supportive community who understands them and shares their experiences, and also to counsel them through the process of bringing up a child with Down syndrome.

(If you would like to contact Ranjan Sharma or join his international network of support groups, you can reach him at 98113 11052. You can also visit the group’s Facebook page here.)