Best foot forward for boy without arms

By Baldev Chauhan
BBC correspondent in Simla

Rajesh Kumar Rana's beautiful handwriting sets him apart from the other students - but more remarkable is the way he produces it.

Rajesh hopes to do well in his exams and become a teacher

Rajesh has no arms - his handwriting is the work of his left foot.

In a village high in the Indian Himalayas is a story to rival that of the Irish poet, Christy Brown - made famous by Daniel Day Lewis' Oscar-winning performance in the film, My Left Foot.

Many miles from windswept Ireland, there is another left foot working miracles for its owner.

Despite writing with his left foot, Rajesh has the best handwriting in his class School principal Lakshmi Agnihotri

Fifteen-year-old Rajesh has trained his toes to do the work of the arms he was born without.

He uses his foot to perform a number of everyday tasks, from writing to eating.

He has also trained his foot to wield a cricket bat - essential for growing up in a cricket-crazed nation.

Treatment dreams

His teachers are proud.

"Rajesh attends school, like any other boy," says Lakshmi Agnihotri, the principal at his school.

Leg before wicket: Rajesh loves to play cricket against his brothers

"He stands out for his remarkable memory, which should continue to help him in the future, as the Indian education system is so memory-based," she says.

Rajesh is studying for his year 10 exams and is expected to do well, having come second in his class in earlier tests.

"I want to take up teaching as a career," says the son of a retired Indian army soldier, whose teachers say he has the best handwriting in his class, despite his handicap.

His father, who says his son needs help using the toilet and getting dressed, had hoped to get him fitted with a pair of artificial limbs.

"I have shown him to several doctors over the years, all of whom have said artificial arms cannot be attached to his shoulders in India," says Hoshiar Chandra Ram.

It will cost the family roughly 3.5 million rupees (about $77,000) to send him to the US for treatment - money they don't have.

School of hard knocks

Rajesh is obsessed with raising the funds.

Rajesh can perform many daily tasks using his foot

"I read about a girl in a newspaper who was born with my handicap but was successfully treated in the US," he says.

He has carefully preserved the clipping.

Earlier this year, he tried to put his case to India's Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, when he was election campaigning in the nearby town of Simla.

"We weren't allowed anywhere close to the prime minister by his security guards," recalls Rajesh.

Undaunted, he has been dashing off letters to Mr Vajpayee and to Bollywood superstar, Amitabh Bachchan, appealing for help.

Unlike Christy Brown, Rajesh's story hasn't made him famous yet - but his perseverance wins him respect in the schoolyard.

"If he falls while playing, it can be quite painful," says another student, Chetan Singh.

"He obviously isn't able to fall lightly like other people, despite having a lean frame."