Radhika suffers from Polydactyly

Radhika is a beautiful 5 years old child. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that she is a ‘miracle’ girl who stands apart from most of the children her age. Immensely loved by her mother and grand-father, this innocent child, sadly has no school to go to and no friends to play with.

Her uniqueness is what has left her rejected from experiencing happiness that most kids her age take for granted. Radhika suffers from a rare condition called Polydactyly and because of it she has a total of 32 fingers/toes on her hands/legs instead of 20. Plus underdevelopment of her cleft palate (upper portion inside the mouth), has impaired her speech.

However her deformity has not dampened her spirits in any sorts. She is apparently very talkative, helps her mother in house-hold chores and loves to eat fish. But proper education is what she requires the most at this young age. Radhika’s mother Anita Dhangar who works a maid barely earning Rs. 2000 a month, along with her father has taken care of Radhika since birth. Krishna, an auto rickshaw distanced himself from his daughter because of her physical defect.

Anita approached tons of schools in Mumbai city for her daughter’s admission but was turned down by all of them. Making life even more miserable for young Radhika is the fact that no child wants to play with her and therefore her mother takes her along with her to work, to avoid being teased by neighbors.

Dr Suresh Shah, a pediatrician said that Polydactyly is a result of a defect that occurs during pregnancy. In such cases, there is the possibility of the child having kidney problems, which can be detected only after a sonography. However their physical deformity can be corrected with Plastic Surgery.

But I guess it’s all easy said than done in Radhika’s case, whose mother under no-circumstances can afford to be the costs of expensive Plastic Surgery.

Me around 6 years old

I in some-ways can relate to Radhika’s feelings of being rejected and teased by other kids when I was around same age as her. I too suffered from a rare condition whereby I had six-fingers in each hand. The tiny extra fingers were in a shape of rugby ball with no bones but with nails and use to hang from my palm like a bell. I use to get teased at school and in my housing society by my friends and even adults at times. It’s truly shocking to see that young children cause of their lack of ignorance can be so crude at times.

But thankfully my parents were always there to remind me that there was nothing wrong with me, the fault lies with others because they are simply jealous of the fact that I am different, I am lucky. And with time people accepted me the way I was.

All I can say for Radhika is that her future now rests in the hands of us Mumbaikars who should come forward and help her gain proper education and support that every child deserves.