Vasant Raote plans to be a painter, like M F Husain.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: “Dream big my friend and never give up. We all make mistakes, but none of us are mistakes. Take one day at a time. Embrace the positive attitudes, perspectives, principles and truths I share, and you too will overcome, ’’ these are lines from Nick Vujicic, who was born without limbs but now has travelled 44-countries to give inspiring talks rightly applies to another brave Indian.
And so what if you are born without hands but count your blessings; you have legs at least. This seems to be the overriding attitude of a very courageous 16-year old boy from a remote village in Maharashtra who wrote the tenth standard exams holding pencil with his toes and passed, scoring a remarkable 54%.
He refused the use of another writer, an entitlement given by the exam board, but instead settled for the grittier option of writing with his toes. The exam board gave him an extra time of 90 minutes to complete his paper.
The boy, Vasant Raote of Nandore village, came to school each day in an autorickshaw, magnanimously provided by his village school, accompanied by his bosom buddy Jayant Dumade.
And it is a foregone conclusion that if you can write you can paint too…with your feet!
Next, Raote has already made up his mind to become a painter just like his hero and alter ego M F Hussain. For this, the brave lad has set his eyes on the famous J J School of Art in Mumbai where he plans to make a splash after his school. He is already learning how to paint with his feet from his school teacher.
Although there are no proven causes for such a congenital problem, some doctors say that the condition phocomelia (born without any limbs) is a very rare condition, but sometimes linked to taking a banned drug called Thalidomide, for stopping vomiting during pregnancy.