A Tribute to our beloved Murthy Sir

“A minimally trained lay therapist who exercises a great capacity to love will achieve psychotherapeutic results that equal those of the very best psychiatrists”- M. Scott Peck

Some say when a great soul passes away, he leaves his footprints behind. Wg Cdr Peruvamba Ramakrishna Narayana Murthy VSM (Retd), well known by the name Murthy sir, was one such great soul who will always continue to live among us through our work. His contribution to the field of mental health is truly inspiring.

Born and raised in Bangalore, he graduated from Law and joined the Indian army in 1964. He received 2 awards while in service, one being Vishist Seva medal (1973).  After his retirement, he became the Chief Trainer and Managing Director of GM Academy for Leadership Skills Private Limited, Bangalore. In 1982, he was trained as counsellor at Sanjivini Society for Mental Health at New Delhi.

Rich counselling experience of more than 30 years with places like Sanjivini at New Delhi, Helping Hand, Vishwas and Sneha at Bangalore and Seva at Hyderabad was apparent when one would hear him speak. He was instrumental in setting up of Sneha Counselling Center and Vishwas Counselling Center in Bangalore as well as  Seva in Hyderabad to name a few. All these societies provide free and confidential counselling services to the community.

He was an international trainer in Organization Development and HR. He trained and mentored many NGOs including Swasti, Shikshan and FAME ACADEMY. Those who had attended any of his workshops would have benefitted from the immense knowledge he transferred from his varied experiences including but not limited to discipline of the armed forces, dynamics of the corporate sector and the sensitivity of the mental health field.

The counselling skills courses/workshops for different groups at all levels for different companies and organizations were always rated very high by the participants. 

His conviction, belief and true nature is apparent from what he used to say- "every person, no matter how emotionally down they are, possess sufficient positive energy to recover and get hold of his/her life". This speaks volumes of his approach to offer barefoot counselling services. He was always of the belief that we, as counsellors, need to help identify and channelize those energies to build resilience. 

Despite having many decades of rich experience in the field, Murthy Sir would still meticulously plan out every session with utmost diligence. His sessions were always skill oriented with full of humour. He was ahead of his time and was extremely in tune with younger generations’ thinking process.  He has trained over 350 people in barefoot counselling at FAME ACADEMY alone. This speaks volume of his legacy being carried forward.

He was always looked upon as role model and many in the field sought him for advice. Mrs. Vani Raipet, from Fame Academy says, “A great friend, guide, mentor and a role model for me and all of us to emulate! If I bring on to the plate 50% of his training skills, I would consider myself worthy to be a trainer.” Mrs. Uma Hrishikesh, Secretary, SERPA and special educator says, “He was one of the most genuine, warm and empathetic human beings I have interacted with. He was that someone who really cares about people, mental health and well-being. He was very witty and could pick up on the subtle nuances of a conversation and respond appropriately and empathetically.”

We, the mental-health professionals will always look back at your philosophies Murthy sir! At the hour of ignorance your kind words and in-depth teachings will guide us further to achieve what you have aspired for. We will feel the loss of the enlightened soul but will use his spirit to move forward to make the goal of positive mental health a reality!     

                                                            serpakarnataka@gmail.com

Introduction of SERPA Board Members

We are happy to introduce you all, our SERPA Board Members.

1. Ms. Uma Hrishikesh- Secretary, SERPA

Uma Hrishikesh is an Educational Therapist (National Institute for Learning Development) with a demonstrated history of working with children with Learning Difficulties. A passionate education professional with a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education focused on Learning Disabilities, Uma believes that the child is the most important factor in the equation and the system and everyone involved is there for the child. After having worked with children from different environments, she has a strong realization of the effort and distance one needs to travel to make every child feel included.


2. Ms. Deepa Krishnananda- Treasurer, SERPA

Ms. Deepa started her career as an financial planner and a tax consultant in the US. She became a Counsellor and a Special Educator on returning to Bangalore. She has a Diploma in Specific Learning Disabilities and Psychological counseling. She has also completed her Master’s in Inclusive Education from the University of Northampton, UK. Deepa has been course coordinator for the Diploma in Specific Learning Disabilities at Karnataka Parents' Association for the Mentally Retarded Citizens  since 2009, where she trains budding educators by sensitising and equipping them to understand children with varied needs for a positive impact. Deepa had also worked as a special educator at Brindavan Education Trust for 4 years. Deepa finds teaching children,  training teachers, conducting workshops, conducting informal education evaluation, participating in seminars, setting resource rooms as rewarding experiences. Children stand for patience, empathy and unbiased thinking, hence Deepa has made it her mission to sensitize people to be empathetic and embrace inclusion as a human right.

3. Ms. Santhi Karamcheti- President, SERPA

Santhi holds Master’s degree in Human Genetics and Bachelor's degree in Special Education. Santhi worked with various International schools in the beginning of her career and later started her own school for special needs children, called EDventure Academy. Her experience provided her opportunity to work across disabilities and age groups. Her work mainly comprises on increasing children’s capacities in essential areas like personality development, socio-communication skills, self-esteem, self-belief, academics, activities of daily living, vocational and pre-vocational skills. Mainstreaming children and young adults into schools and employment are her mission in life and she intends to further her aim by making inclusion a smoother process. Santhi has conducted several workshops and training for teachers, corporates, parents, educators, therapists etc on various special needs topic, especially on showing inclusion as an attainable concept. She volunteers in other organisations to empower the staff, so that they can render better quality of service. 

4. Ms. Kalpana Srinath- Executive Member, SERPA

Kalpana’s journey into the field of special education started after her son was diagnosed with Learning Difficulties and Sensory Integration Disorder with the comorbid of Dysgraphia and ADHD. A desire to help her child, led her to get a professional qualification in Learning Difficulties at Brindavan, Bangalore. She has also completed Master’s in Inclusion and Special Education from the University of Northampton, a course, as per her has been very beneficial to her personally and professionally. Kalpana started working at Brindavan on completion of her course in the year 2009. She strongly feels that the children she had the opportunity to work with have also helped further her knowledge in this field. 




5. Ms. Jayasree Venkatesh-- Executive Member, SERPA

Jayasree was a Molecular Biologist by qualification. However, she found her true calling in working with children with different needs 20 years back in Mumbai. After completing her Post-Grad Diploma in Special  Education, she has worked in mainstream and special schools in various parts of India. Practising as an Educational Therapist , Consultant and Coach for the last many years has helped in reaching out to many  children and empower teachers as well. She also practices from her centre, Svasti centre for learning in North Bangalore. She constantly upgrades her knowledge and skills in this field and keeps herself enriched and updated. 


6. Ms. Sharmila Jois Vellal- Executive Member, SERPA

With the Masters' Degree from Bangalore university (Child Guidance) and University of Northampton (Inclusive Education) and Diploma from KPAMRC (Learning Disability), Sharmila has experience of working in both Inclusive and Exclusive institutes for over 12 years now. This has broadened her understanding of varied perspectives when it comes to working with children with various Disabilities. She firmly believes that for inclusion to become a reality in educational institutes, organisations as well as in society; parents, educators, Special educators and child with disability need to work in coherence with each other, this means taking realistic measures that are attainable, affordable and accessible. 




7. Dr. Inayath Ulla- Executive Member, SERPA 

Inayath Ulla N, worked as Senior Paediatric Physiotherapist and Sensory Integration Therapist at the Spastics Society of Karnataka. He has Masters in Physiotherapy from M.S.Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore. He has also completed the course 1 and 4 of the Sensory Integration Therapy Certification Program from The University of Southern California and Aquatic Therapy Foundation course by ATNI. He has been working with children with ASD, ADHD and learning disabilities for the past 10 years. Inayat has received the 'Young Achiever Award' in year 2014 from the Bangalore Physiotherapists Network for his outstanding achievement in Physiotherapy professional practice.



8. Ms. Sonal S Raja- Executive Member, SERPA

Ms. Sonal S. Raja has been working in the area of child well-being for past eighteen years. She is a trained Clinical Psychologist, from USA, and a Special Educator. She has worked in settings like International Schools in Bangalore and NCR; Rural government schools with Azim Premji Foundation, Apollo Hospitals, & also Children psychiatric hospital in the USA. At present, she practices as an independent consultant to different schools, where she provides counselling services for behavioural, academic and emotional issues of children such as Depression and Anxiety. She conducts workshops on study skills, adolescent issues and life skills to help children in developing positive & desirable skills. She does assessments for identifying children with special needs and does remediation for learning disabilities like dyslexia, attention deficit and hyperactivity. She conducts teacher workshops to help teachers in supporting students in their overall growth and academic achievements. Her passion is to work extensively with parents to help them understand their child’s emotional and academic needs by building a loving and nurturing atmosphere for their children.

Introduction to SERPA-The Story, The Vision and The Mission

More soon!

Best Regards,
Team SERPA.