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“I like solving Maths problems. I want to start a business when I am older”

Kosa Ram Mandavi (44) is a daily wage farm labourer and his wife Pande Mandavi (39) a domestic cook in Patelpara village in Chhattisgarh. Ordinarily, their daughter Simran (16) would have found it hard to attend school because of her locomotor disability (she is pigeon-toed i.e. both feet are turned inward). But unlike her older sister Rashi, who is in Class 12, or her younger brother Sagar, in Class 3, and who both study in the local government schools, Simran is fortunate that Saksham, a residential institution for children with disabilities, is nearby.
 
EGS readers might recall the story of Prince Yalam in Saksham, which is part of the state government’s Education City in Dantewada in the tribal region of Bastar. Besides free schooling and boarding, a range of extra-curricular activities is made available to the children. The buildings and infrastructure of Saksham I for boys and Saksham II for girls are accessible to children with different disabilities.
 
Simran, who is in Class 11, stays at Saksham during the week although it is just 2 km away, and goes home on weekends. “I have never been treated differently because of my disability,” she tells us. But when asked who her friends were she named only Rashi: “She is not just my sister but also my best friend.” She loves studying. “Maths is my favourite subject,” she says. “I find it interesting and I like solving problems.” When she is at home she helps with household chores such as cleaning, cutting vegetables and cooking. “I want to get a job once I finish my studies,” she says. “I want to be a businesswoman and do something related to agriculture.”
 
Looking after the girls in Saksham II with abiding care and affection is the warden, Rama Karma. Her mother was also a hostel warden and her father a soldier. She grew up in Dantewada and was a bright student, even getting a good rank in the competitive exams. She could have got a dental seat but her parents couldn’t afford medical college fees since they were already paying for her brother’s education. Therefore she did her Bachelors in Education. She was appointed warden by the government in 2014, relieved in 2017 when an NGO took over Saksham, and reinstated by the government when it resumed charge in 2021.
 
Rama’s life changed drastically in 2020 when Covid-19 claimed her husband Deepak (who is incidentally the brother of Pramod Karma, the warden of Saksham I). “During my first stint at Saksham I was treating it as just a job,” she narrates. “But after my husband died, this place changed me. I was severely depressed but these kids would sweetly come to me and say, ‘Why are you sad ma’am? We are here for you.’ They gave me hope and courage. I love them very much and they mean the world to me.”
 
Rama prefers to stay in the hostel although she has been given government accommodation nearby, which is where her children Ayush (15) and Ayushi (13) stay with her mother. “I do miss my kids but then I feel that they have family to take care of them, whereas these children need me more.” She recounts how a student, Meena, who has dwarfism, was afflicted by hyperthyroidism. She took her to the local doctor and then to the district hospital for better care. Rama stayed over in the hospital for three days and after Meena was discharged, went to meet her parents and explained how they should meticulously give her medicines without skipping a single dose. “When she returned three months later she looked so pretty and happy!” Rama recalls. “Sometimes I wonder how different the children’s lives would have been if they had received timely and correct medical care.” Her wish is to see them go out into the world as confident and self-reliant children, learning a skill that could one day make them financially independent.