Celebrating Stammering

International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD) is round the corner.
We thought of starting early the celebrations. Three of us- I, Nathan and
Nashville set out to the capital city Panaji for an outing. The theme of the
outing was – “Celebrating Stammering”.

We all met at the ferryboat point as decided sharp at 10.30
am. We waited for the ferryboat to arrive. We had to cross the River Mandovi
boarding this “ferryboat”. As we boarded the boat and it sailed across the
river, our first activity for the day was about to begin!

The boat was crowded with people (and yes the vehicles!).
The journey across the river was short- about 7 mins. We decided to spread and
try some voluntary stuttering with strangers in the boat. I approached two
people. I could also see Nathan talking to a tall guy with an Enfield. The
response of the people was fabulous. Everybody appreciated the courage for
doing this exercise. The boat hit the dock, and we were on the other side of
the river. As we walked outside the boat, I saw one person (with whom I had
practiced voluntary stuttering) waving goodbye with a big smile on his face.

Our next destination was the Reis Magos fort. We jumped in
Nathan’s car and headed towards the fort. We arrived at the spot, and there it
was- located on a hillock- a magnificent fort, adjacent to a Church. We climbed
up, set to attack the fort with our stammer!

As we walked inside, we stopped by the placards and
practiced reading it aloud. The people and the guards observed us. We entered
the museum and Nathan explained the historical significance and how this fort
was resurrected by doing a research of the architecture of those times. We also
saw some amazing ancient paintings and the famous cartoon collection of the
Nationally Acclaimed Goan Cartoonist- Mario Miranda. We talked to the strangers
too in the museum and art gallery. There were some foreign tourist couple who
discussed with us how they loaded the cannons!

After museum it was straight to a near by restaurant on the
river side. The ambiance of the restaurant was superb and we could hear the
splash of water as we took our seats. We ordered lots of Goan sea food and had
a very nice and long conversation about many things- sharings, our stories, NC
2014, Nashville’s memorable meeting with Nick Vujicic in Bangalore…. and many
more things….

We had a wonderful outing and celebrations of stammering and
ISAD 2014. Indeed, as Nick Vujicic said to Nashville when he met him- “Feel
blessed that you are one of the chosen few who stammer”, we all felt blessed
today!

For pictures of the outing, click here.