Tripura Boy Defeats Disability As He Writes Class 10 Board Exams With His Feet

While growing up and nearing the much-dreaded board exams, most of us were made to feel guilty for not studying enough. Parents would play the ‘privilege card’ and remind us how a girl in a distant village is studying beside a flaming candle because she doesn’t have electricity in the house. And we would suddenly find ourselves tripping on guilt and studying harder.

But now I realise how much of an inspiration those kids are. They do not worry about their backgrounds or disabilities but instead work towards catching there dreams like everyone else!

A differently abled 17-year old Tripura boy is appearing for his board exams which he will be writing not with his hands, but with his feet.

Pralaya Dey was born with both his hands twisted behind his body in a most “inexplicable way”.

His mother, who worked as Anganwadi helper and ran the family with her mere wages, fainted when she first saw him. His father thought that he would grow up to be helpless.

But soon, his mother started to teach him and she found that Pralaya was a quick learner.

Pralaya has grown up with small hands with even smaller wrists, with one finger on each hand.

“As a growing child, it must have been tough for him. So, I decided against leaving him at any child care home and took care of him myself. Today, I am confident I was right,” said his mother.

Pralaya soon had the idea of writing with his feet and he could write English and Bengali alphabets by the time he was 3 years old. English came easier to him and now he has developed a knack for it. He can also paint extremely well with his feet.

After scoring a whopping 80% in his selection exams, Pralaya is appearing for his Madhyamik board exams.

Chandrapur Higher Secondary School, under the Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE), is witnessing something new this year!

Pralaya couldn’t write on benches. So, headmaster Badal Chakraborty arranged a wooden platform for him to sit and write on and has arranged a special invigilator.

“His pace of writing and intellect is worth mentioning. I stood beside him on the first day of his Madhyamik examination for 30 minutes and saw him write. This student may be challenged but he is brilliant and beats his condition with courage and success”, said the headmaster.

“I feel no shortcoming. My mother and my teachers have taught me well. I am trying to give my best. I practice writing with my feet at least two hours a day. I am comfortable writing with my feet”, Pralaya said.

The boy has won several state and national awards in painting, and on other days he likes to indulge in a little singing! He wants to take up Humanities and dreams of becoming a professor of English.

While most of us are lazying around, scrolling through our phones, pushing deadlines, and making excuses, there are others with far less privilege and opportunities moving ahead of us without complaints.

If this doesn’t get you off the couch, I don’t know what will!