Neni Devi takes a deep breath as we ask her about her childhood in Satur, a nondescript village in Rajashthan. “I thought I was the only vikalanga (disabled) in the world. My brother and mother had to drop me to the government school where I studied. My memories are filled with disappointments - of classmates walking away to play leaving me alone in the classroom, holding my urge to use the toilet and waiting for someone to lift me if I fell,” says 26-year-old Devi, who came to Sucheta Kriplani Shiksha Niketan (SKSN), a boarding school (see box) for differently-abled children in Manaklao, on the outskirts of Jodhpur, nine years ago. Today she is a hostel warden at SKSN, a proud worker and not embarrassed about her condition any more.