Ritam?s parents in his study on Wednesday. Picture by UB Photos

April 20: Ritam is not with them any more, but his parents want to keep his memory alive as an inspiration for children challenged by disorders.

Ritam Deka, despite being incapacitated by a rare neuro-muscular disorder called duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), had stunned everybody by coming out with flying colours in the High School Leaving Certificate examination in 2003.

He died yesterday following a cardiac arrest. ?He is no more, but we have decided to keep his memory alive by compiling all the write-ups and articles on him in the form of a book. We hope this will inspire children like him and their parents,? Ritam?s father Jyotish Chandra Deka said today.

The proposed book will be an attempt to describe how the boy faced life with courage and determination. It will also be a fitting tribute to Ritam, who was very fond of reading.

Ritam?s parents believe that physically-challenged persons can overcome their disability with moral support from their parents.

?Many parents think that disabled children are inferior to others, which is not true at all. With a little bit of encouragement they can do better than their normal peers and I am happy that Ritam proved it,? Deka said.

Ritam could not even lift a pen without help, but he outshone most of his peers by scoring letter marks in six subjects. The only concession he got was an extra 20 minutes. But it wasn?t enough as he had to depend on someone to turn the pages, draw margins and hold the compass and protractor. He could not complete most of the papers but yet scored over 80 per cent.

?He appeared in the higher secondary examination this year and was satisfied with his performance even though he could not complete the political science paper. We only regret that he passed away before the results were out,? Deka said.

?Ritam always wanted to do his higher secondary in science, but had to take humanities as he could not do the practicals,? he said.

It is important that family members lead a normal life and adopt a practical attitude to help such children pull through, Deka said.

Hundreds of Ritam?s friends and well-wishers, including chief minister Tarun Gogoi and forest minister Pradyut Bordoloi, condoled his death. Teams participating in the all-Assam prize money invitational school cricket tournament at the Nehru Stadium observed one minute?s silence.

Gogoi had invited Ritam for breakfast after his performance in matriculation and offered financial help for his treatment. Filmmaker Altaf Mazid bagged the best director award at the State Films Award this year for his documentary, Jibon (Life), based on Ritam?s life. It also won laurels at an international film festival in North Korea.