It took colours to bring back hope to his parents

Seeing their son Himal paint, at a time when even holding a fork seemed like an impossible task, Harish Bikmal and his wife realised their son was on a path of inspiration. Himal was diagnosed with severe non-verbal autism at the age of two but his art has inspired his father Harish, a native of Hyderabad now settled in Virginia to co-found Zenaviv.The initiative provides a platform that promotes and empowers people with autism to showcase their artistic talents.
As parents of a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Harish and his wife Sandhya had to face a lot of difficulties with Himal constantly falling sick due to a compromised immune system. With the recurring health problems, the couple was worried about their son’s future. On two instances, Himal had run away from home. He was unable to communicate, resorting to crying and shouting to express his discomfort. These incidents only made the distress of his parents mount further. They were running out of hope.
However one fine day, while Himal’s mother was painting, he snatched her paintbrush away. But what he did next surprised his parents. He started painting. At this time, Himal was around ten-years-old and even holding cutlery was a challenge for him. While he went to work on the canvas, his parents realised that this expression of his was their ray of hope. Since that day, they decided to nurture their son’s talent and even found an art teacher to help him pursue his passion.
“A few years back, there was no insurance to cover children with autism. With medical bills mounting, we decided to organise a fundraiser showcasing Himal’s artwork. His paintings were converted into around 1,500 postcards and within two hours, they were all sold out. As many as 130 of his paintings were sold in a span of six hours,” Harish Bikmal told TOI. “Himal could not understand what was going on but his face would light up every time someone came up and paid him a compliment. This is what inspired me to establish Zenaviv,” Himal’s father added.
“The love for painting empowered Himal. He would smile when he would paint and would even insist we clicked a picture of him with his painting. We thought that if painting can transform the life of our child, we can help parents of other children with a similar condition to find their passion and purpose. Our goal is to improve the self-esteem of children with special needs by helping them showcase their talents to the world and change the perception of parents,” Harish said.
Now all of 18 years, Himal is undergoing training for table tennis, taekwondo and fitness. It requires patience to try out different things and recognise the potential of a child with special needs and Harish asserts that there is always a possibility for things to get better. “Not every child will have an interest in painting. Some may be talented in playing instruments and some could be good at swimming,” Harish says adding that the visual memory in children is very strong and it is essential to focus on the strengths of one’s child.