Special kid gets collector's pat, pens

Erode: The plus-2 boy, Mehesh had a surprise waiting for him when he hobbled into the public examination hall. Namakkal district collector, V. Dakshinamurthy received the boy with a shawl, bag, book, pen and pencils.

For Mehesh is a special kid who can write the exam only with the toes of his left leg. Deccan Chronicle had reported the poignant but inspiring tale of Mehesh, who had lost his parents at a young age and braved his disability and poverty to continue his education.

As both his arms are disabled, he can write, only clutching the pen between his toes. Brought up by his poor grandmother, Mehesh is now studying in Nehru Memorial Sampoorani Ammal Higher Secondary school for the differently-abled.

On Friday, he was allowed to sit on the floor in the examination hall and given an additional one hour to complete the lanugage paper. “I have written my language paper well. Hope to do well in the other papers too,” he grins, after “toeing” his exam papers.

The boy was taken by a pleasant surprise on Friday morning when the district collector came visiting him with a shawl and a lot of gifts including pen, pencils, books and notebooks.