Creativity knows no hindrance. Some 100 special children reaffirmed it when they not only took part in a painting competition along with their normal counterparts, but also came up with beautiful drawings that were a reflection of their inner strength.

The event was the 10th edition of the state-level on-the-spot painting competition held at Raj Bhavan's Birsa Mandap on Friday.

Organised by Jharkhand State Council for Child Welfare, the competition saw participation from 214 special and normal children from the districts of Ranchi, Sahebganj, Dumka, Simdega, Latehar, Chatra, Hazaribagh, Gumla and Ramgarh, among others.

A highlight of this year's contest was the huge response from differently abled children. Most of these special participants stole the show with their zeal to overcome the challenges that life has thrown at them, letting the brush do the talking for them.

Such examples were numerous. Fifteen-year-old Arvind Kumar, a ninth grader of an unaided private school meant for special children, Ashalata, in Bokaro, held the paint brush with his polio-affected hands to draw a park with children enjoying rides and boating amid lush greenery.

"My hands have been crippled by polio since childhood. When I was four, I developed interest in painting and started taking part in school-level competitions and won prizes. This is my first state-level competition," Arvind smiled.

Visually challenged Mangra Oraon (12), a Class VI student of Awasiya Vidyalaya at Ramgarh, depicted a scenery though he never saw one. "I visualise the mountains, rivers and forests in my mind."

Subhranshu Ghosh (14), an autistic child who studies in Class VI at a government middle school in Ratu block, depicted his concern about conserving water. "My son had won the first prize in the state-level competition last year," said proud mother Itu Ghosh.

Judges like artists Praween Karmakar and Dinesh Singh were floored. "These special children are equally talented as their normal counterparts. All they need is some guidance," Karmakar said.

The organisers had created four groups - yellow (5-10 years) and red (11-18 years) for differently abled children (spastic, mentally, physically and mentally challenged) and green and white (5-11 years) and blue (13-16 years) for normal participants.

Topics for normal students were Republic Day, Saving Water, Beauty of Nature, Travelling in Train, Saving Wildlife and Bicycling.

For special children, the subjects included My House, Flowers, Trees, Birds, Sunrise (cerebral palsy), Draw What You Like (mentally challenged); My School, Rainy Season, Flowers in My Garden and My Favourite Festival (visually impaired); and My Neighbourhood, Kite Flying and Having Fun at Playground (speech/hearing impaired).

The winners received prizes from Governor Droupadi Murmu.

"This year, we had 100 special children out of total 214 participants. Parents and organisations working for special children are coming forward to register names of children," said Jyoti Bajaj, joint Secretary of Jharkhand State Council for Child Welfare.