The world may be dark for him but Nyonyok shines like a light in every activity he pursues, from music to sports and academics.
Winner of the award for courage at the first edition of the IIHM Presents The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2018 powered by Sister Nivedita University and held at the ITA Pragjyoti Centre for Performing Arts here on Saturday, visually challenged Nyonyok Talom is a true fighter and has emerged on top in fields as diverse as football, singing, extempore speech, debate and studies.
The award, administered by The Telegraph Education Foundation, was first launched in Calcutta in 1996.
Nyonyok is a student of class IX in Montfort Higher Secondary School at 10th Mile, on the outskirts of the city. He was born blind and the absence of eyeballs will not allow him to regain sight.
The teenager was adjudged the runner-up in the Arunachal Disabled Idol reality show and second runner-up in the Arunachal Young Singing Star competition. Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma reality show has invited Nyonyok to participate in the auditions in Itanagar or Guwahati. He can play the guitar, tabla and keyboard like a true professional.
Young Nyonyok is captain of the state blind football team. He has undergone special football training in Kerala, imparted by Society for Rehabilitation of Visually Challenged, two years back.
In addition to being visually challenged, Nyonyok comes from a very poor family. His father Takum Talom is a daily wage labourer in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, while his mother, Yahen Talom, works as a domestic help in Alo, 300km away from Pasighat. But poverty has not stopped the Taloms from educating their three children.
Nyonyok’s elder sister Anu is studying in class XII at Naharlagun while his younger brother Apimibing is a class VIII student at St Francis school at Alo.
Takum Talom told The Telegraph, “We are working for the education of our children. Nyonyok was born blind and we took him to various doctors but there is no hope of his regaining sight. In spite of that, he has emerged as a singing star and football captain. He is also good in studies, extempore speech and debating. I am proud of him.”
Nyonyok is also adept in studies, scoring nearly 82 per cent in the class VIII annual exams.
He is set to participate in a Northeast regional blind football competition organised by Indian Blind Football Federation (IBFF) as captain in December. His teachers lauded him for his diligence and achievements on the stage and in the field.
Despite being sightless, Nyonyok has reached for the stars and touched them.