For This 'Old Child' In Ranchi, School Is The Biggest Nightmare

Ranchi: Within their modest two room house in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi, it is a normal, playful childhood for eight-year-old Anjali and her 20-month-old brother Keshav. It is when Anajli steps out for school each day that the problems take over.

Both children have a rare genetic disorder called progeria that makes them look five times their age. Their skin is already wrinkled and faces are swollen; their joints pain regularly.

"Other children call me an old woman in school. I do complain to my teachers sometimes, nothing much happens," says Anjali, a class third student at a local school.
 The condition these two kids have is similar to Amitabh Bachchan's National Award winning act in Paa, where he played a 12-year-old affected by progeria.

Anjali and Keshav's parents, Shatrughan Rajak and Rinki Devi earn Rs 4500 each month by washing laundry. Their third daughter, the eldest, does not have the condition. Doctors in Ranchi have told them the condition cannot be cured, but Mr Rajak is not giving up yet.

"We get worried. But that doesn't mean we will abandon the children or anything. We have to face this and we are with the children on this. I wish if the government could help I would take these children to more specialised hospitals from treatment. We are anyway trying."