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“My favourite part of the day is when I go horse riding. I want to be a rider when I grow up”

It is 4 p.m. in Geedam, Dantewada in Chhattisgarh’s tribal heartland Bastar, and a small boy from the Gond community is togged up in professional riding attire – equestrian helmet, white shirt and breeches with matching shoes – looking like a little jockey. Prince Yalam (11) is looking forward to spending two hours riding his beloved horse, a chocolate-coloured beauty named Andrea.
 
In a neglected region once linked to Maoist activities, the government prudently set up Education City in 2011. One of its residential institutions is Saksham, where Prince, who has dwarfism, and 94 other disabled children live and learn (Saksham I is for boys and Saksham II, for girls). “Prince is a sweet child, extremely talented,” says Pramod Karma, superintendent of Saksham I. “Seeing his keen interest in sports we encouraged him to take up horse riding. We have 17 horses, and our kids have participated in interstate competitions as well.”
 
Besides getting free education and boarding from Grades 1 to 12 the children benefit from a range of extra-curricular activities depending on their inclination: sports, music, painting, craftwork, and vocational training. The building and its infrastructure have been adapted to serve the accessibility needs of children with different disabilities. Rooms have been named after personalities who represent the activity within: the Shankar Mahadevan room for music, Swami Vivekananda room for social work, Aryabhatta for mathematics, Sachin Tendulkar for sports and so on.
 
Prince tells us his day starts at 5 a.m. with yoga. Classes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and then comes his favourite part of the day. “I like studying but I really love horse riding and I love my horse,” he says, clearly spelling out Andrea’s name for the EGS interviewer. He tells her he came to Saksham when he was seven, he has two younger siblings living with his parents in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, and he last visited them in October during Dussehra. When asked about his unique name he responds: “My chacha (father’s brother) named me Prince but I don’t know the reason why.”
 
Perhaps Prince is still young enough to be viewed merely as “the shortest kid in class”, as Pramod describes him, and not be discriminated against by his mates because of his dwarfism. “Nobody has treated me differently, either here or at home,” he says. “This is a nice place and we get everything we need here. My best friend is Dinesh and I like spending time with him. I like watching Hindi movies and ‘Pushpa’ is my latest favourite.”
 
Pramod, who works with the government’s Department of Education, took charge of Saksham I in 2017. Previously he was working in Mokhpal village, ensuring the smooth conduct of elections. “Once I almost stepped on a landmine!” he says. When the District Collector transferred him he initially refused the appointment. “I told him I had never worked with children or people with disability,” he recalls. “He said, when you can work among landmines you can work anywhere!”
 
After immersing himself in the world of children with disabilities he did his B.Ed in Special Education to understand them better. “Now we share mutual love and respect,” he says. Speaking about Saksham’s new initiatives he says, “We created a bank run and managed entirely by the kids and through this they are learning maths, entrepreneurship, and work ethics. Every month we host a birthday party to celebrate all the birthdays of that month. We have a monthly parent-teacher meeting and dorms for parents to stay in when they visit. Our first batch that graduated from here is doing very well; many have joined the engineering college in Raipur.”
 
The ‘Little Prince’ is clear about his ambition, though. “When I grow up I want to be a horse rider,” he says stoutly. Perhaps we shall see him on some prestigious race course in future, a slight figure mounted on a majestic steed, galloping towards victory.