Charan Tej is fourteen years old. His father passed away when he was very young and his mother Lalitha is a person with multiple disabilities.

“I have seen my mother throughout, I clearly understand what having a disability feels like,” says Charan. Mother and son have their own unique communication. “We have our own way of communicating, I would signal her and she understands,” explains Charan

Though he does not have any disabilities, he is a student at RDT’s High School for Inclusive Education. “For me all my classmates are equal and everyone is my friend,” says Charan Tej. “They have become my family now.”

Unfortunately, Charan Tej’s school was forced to close during the lockdown. “I really wish, the school would re-open soon because I feel online classes are not affective as offline classes,” says Charan Tej.

“When the lockdown began, before the online classes, I did some informal works in the village to earn some income,” explains Charan Tej. “It had become very tough for us financially. After the work I would play Kabaddi and Cricket with my friends in the village ground.”

Before the tablets were distributed, he got a smartphone for himself to attend online classes.

“I didn’t want to miss out on classes which is why we decided to buy a smartphone. I am very happy because now my education and classes are going on hassle free,” says Charan Tej. “I want to pursue engineering and become an engineer that is my dream. After this months and having work at  the construction site, I realized that education is very important,” he says.