The Birthday Party: A Puppet Show for Every Child

Bela Joshi is an engineer by profession with a deep passion for art, design, and education for Autism. Her professional journey began in the fields of automation, graphics, and electronics with hands-on experience across Delhi and Mumbai. After moving to Bangalore over two decades ago, Bela’s path took a transformative turn following her son’s autism diagnosis at the age of two. Motivated by personal experience and extensive self-education, she immersed herself in understanding autism and effective intervention strategies.

Over the years, Bela has worked closely with therapists, gaining insights into various techniques that support social, behavioural, and communication development in autistic individuals. Her dedication, along with her husband Sharad Joshi’s support, led to the founding of Colours Learning Education Trust, under which Colours Centre for Learning – an NGO for Autism was established in 2015. As the Managing Trustee, she has completed 10 years in leading the centre, blending her technical background with her lived experience to create a nurturing, skill-building environment for autistic individuals. 

Bela continues to champion education for autism through innovation in pedagogy, art, technology and community support. She recently received the ChangeMaker Award under the Education Category at the Let Us Dream Conference at Christ University, Bangalore, 2023. Colours Centre for Learning was also recently awarded the NGO Leadership Award at the National CSR Leadership Congress & Awards, 2023. The award is India’s highest recognition of leaders and organisations that have a significant and positive impact on the lives of people around them.

Colours Centre for Learning is a Bangalore-based NGO since 2015, dedicated to supporting individuals with autism through a unique, inclusive approach. We believe every autistic person deserves dignity, respect, and the opportunity to thrive.

Our centre offers education and skill development for autistic individuals of all ages, with personalised support and strong family involvement. We also provide ongoing counselling to ensure holistic progress. Committed to inclusion, we support underprivileged autistic children and run a Livelihood Program aimed at building pathways to financial independence.