Mirra Charitable Trust unveiled the sixth edition of its annual student-designed calendar at Gandhi Nagar Ladies Club on November 25, celebrating the march of neurodivergent young adults into pursuits largely viewed as the preserves of the neurotypical.
Thirteen final-year students in the age group of 15 to 30 years pursuing a digital literacy course, Unnati, were involved in this calendar project, giving inputs on the layout and design that shape each of the pages.
Students worked with Photoshop, Illustrator, Canva and AI-enabled tools. This year’s calendar theme, digitalisation, was brought to life through months of exploration, design and careful refinement, all done in the classroom in Velachery where the Trust offers classes to empower individuals with special needs.
During the launch event
Digitisation is one of the pillars of Mirra, so it was only natural that a calendar project had this as the theme. Last year’s theme was inclusion.
“What digitisation can do for individuals with disabilities is immense, especially for those who are non-verbal. It can be a big support system to them,” says Lakshmi Satish, co-founder and trustee.
The calendar project is a big step for this 17-year-old non-profit towards getting students to learn and create and live with dignity.
Selling calendars is not the ultimate aim of this initiative.
“The calendar project is a way of advocacy for us — it underlines who these students are, what they do and what should be the role of society in creating this ecosystem. Every page in the calendar is a reminder of the role each of us can play to make society more inclusive,” says Lakshmi, adding that it is sent to the homes of people as a New Year gift.
Starting with wall calendars to desk calendar, this project has evolved based on the feedback of well-wishers. This year, it consists of a calendar-cum-organiser.
This annual project has seen many success stories as well.
A group of students and parents from the first batch of the calendar project got together and formed an enterprise in graphic designing.
“We incubated that company for a year, teaching them what a startup does; how to market their products; at what stage should parents step out of the way. Now for the last three years that company is running independently,” says Lakshmi.
Another batch also went on to start a similar enterprise and some even went in for open employment.
For details, visit http://www.mirract.com
The launch event
The calendar was released by Nitin M. Nagarkar, Pro Vice-Chancellor (MHS), SRM Institute of Science and Technology and Prof. T. S. Veeragoudhaman, Dean, SRM College of Physiotherapy. Both guests described the launch as “a memorable day,” acknowledging the dedication of students, facilitators and families, says a press release.
Speaking about Mirra’s digital literacy programme, Unnati, Nagarkar noted that “the structured programme has helped the students develop their skills, confidence and become employable.”
Each page reflects collaboration, attention to colour, layout, narrative and a joyful ownership of the creative process, the release adds.
Published – November 29, 2025 11:11 am IST
