Sharayu: "Ever since Prasad was a child, he was really creative. He loves to sing, even though his health doesn’t permit him today. Every time I taught him a song, he would make up the next line and sing it. When he was 4 years old, his teacher at the Spastic Society had called all the mothers for Mother Day. In front of all the parents she took him in her arms and told all of us that this was the only boy who remembered all the lyrics. Being a teacher I could recognise all his talents and we could arrange for him to learn more music or art. His biggest honour of course was the Balashree award which he won with several children from all over the country who were extremely talented. And completely normal."

Sharayu: "It was 1988. Prasad had just turned one. I had stitched a Krishna costume for Prasad. There was a fancy-dress competition in our building. The judges couldn’t get over the fact that even though he was one year old, he kept moving his hands to the beat of the music and did a small dance sitting on his chair. They immediately gave him the first prize. Since then he’s been on a roll. He’s entered several competitions, along with normal children and has always won something in all of them. Winning awards and prizes means a lot to him.”

I have always wanted to excel, be the best at something. The Balashree was such an opportunity. The Balashree is a very prestigious award – it’s like a Padma Shree for young people. There was a lady, Kanchan Sontakke who has workshops