Gnanadeepam is all about strong conviction and social values. It is a brief compilation of the spirit and endeavour of one individual wholly committed to keep this flame of conviction and values alive through Gnana Deepam. The School for the disabled children of GOD.

Established in March 1993, this school is a voluntary private organisation run by Gnana Deepam Charitable Trust. Started in a rental accommodation in a small car shed of a house at Pammal, in Pallavaram, the school has grown in size with the voluntary investment of land bought by Mrs.Uma Dhandapani. She was keen to have her Centre at Pammal for unlike in urban cities where there are several such agencies, this place had no facility being interior part of the city and there were several children who required the need for such school

It is the story of those young innocent lives who have been provided with a new meaning for their existence and who can live life like the normal greater gifted children of GOD without the fear of discrimination and ridicule. And most of all, this presentation is a tribute to the handful group of dedicated teachers who share a common vision of seeking a better world to these lesser-gifted children. They undergo the ordeal of continuous struggle to meet ends, and striving to overcome difficulties of infrastructure and working in small cramp rooms without adequate facilities.

Asked the mind "And what is as important as knowledge"

Answered the soul "Caring and seeing with the heart"

The moving spirit behind this venture is a very ordinary and humble person – Mrs.Uma Dhandapani. The urge to serve a cause of the special children did not dawn on her overnight. Uma had a formal college degree and like many conservative Indian families settled down to a married life with her husband working as an engineer in the State Electricity Department. She has two sons Vijay and Jay. She made true the saying "learning knows no age" by acquiring a post graduate degree in special education for the mentally handicapped. Then she started working in hospitals like The Hindu Mission Hospital where she handled such children. This experience convinced her that parents refused to believe and accept that they can get mentally handicapped children. The pride in parents shrouds their child’s deficiency. In India people still believe that only appeasing the Goddesses could cure such mental aberrations. By the time they realise the facilities of school and hospitals that can mend such deformities it is too late.

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