Our Patrons

Playback singer · Padma Shri

Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra, often credited as K. S. Chithra or simply Chithra, is an Indian playback singer from Kerala. She also sings Indian classical, devotional and popular music, and has sung in many Indian languages as well as Urdu, Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese and English.

She has recorded more than 25,000 songs for films and albums, and has received six National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South and 31 state film awards — including all four South Indian state film awards. She was honoured with the Padma Shri civilian award in 2005.

Her song “Kannalane / Kehna Hi Kya” from the film Bombay (1995) was included in The Guardian’s “1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear”. She is affectionately known as Chinna Kuyil (Little Nightingale), Keralathinte Vanambadi (Nightingale of Kerala) and the Nightingale of South India.

Read a note from K. S. Chithra (PDF)

Co-Founder & Chairperson, Down Syndrome Federation of India (Tamil Nadu Chapter)

Dr. Rekha Ramachandran holds an MA (Hons) from Delhi University and a PhD from the University of Madras, where her research focused on cognitive deficits and depression in people with Down syndrome.

Rekha has a daughter with Down syndrome. Through the Down Syndrome Federation of India she has done pioneering work in the rehabilitation of children with Down syndrome, and she is the promoter of Mathru Mandir in Chennai, a long-established day-care centre devoted to their rehabilitation. She has also served in the leadership of Down Syndrome International (DSi), and is our patron and guide.

About the Down Syndrome Federation of India (PDF)