The rally was organised by an NGO, the Association of People with Disability (APD). The children, most of them students of APD-run Shrandhjali Integrated School, did not even know what they had come there for. ``Teacher asked us to come,'' was the common refrain.

The children, most of them polio-affected, walked with the help of crutches and artificial limbs. Of course, ambulances, an Armada jeep and an APD bus followed the rally. The exhausted children waited anxiously to get into the vehicles.

``I'm tired and my legs are paining,'' 11-year-old Prakash said, relieved finally that he got to sit in the Armada, after a long walk.

But, Prema and Ammu seemed to be used to this kind of physical strain. ``There are frequent rallies. Mobility India, another NGO, had one recently. On theDisability Day too they had one,'' they said, getting into the bus.

``They should not be made to walk such long distance,'' a doctor from Mallaya Hospital, who also took part in the rally, said. Why then were they made to walk 14 km? ``They have to walk. Only then can they begin to think about the cause,'' APD general manager Basavraj said.

Children were seen asking passersby for donation. When asked about it, one of the association members said, ``Our association does not get funds from the Government.''