<p>The brothers live at a charity home in Kolkata, where their caretakers hide them from the painful and uncomfortable stares of onlookers. People think they are some kind of aliens, their father Bisul Khan says. <br /><br />Progeria is a rare disorder passed to a child at birth by parents carrying the defective gene. One in about eight million people suffers from it. The affected child develops the look of a bird with an oversized bald head on a dwarfed body. The child also ages three times faster than does a normal human being.<br /><br />Ikramul and Ali are probably the only example in the world where more than one member of a family suffers from the disorder, also called the rapid ageing or Hutchinson-Gilford projeria syndrome.<br /><br />Ikramul and Ali were born to Bisul Khan and Razia Khatoon from Bihar. <br /><br />They were seven siblings in all, five of whom had the full-blown condition. Of them Guriya, Rehana and Robina died when they turned 17, 24 and 13 respectively. Ikramul and Ali lived on. <br /><br />In fact, Ikramul’s resilience has surprised even his doctor. Ikramul is 23 now. His pediatrician Chandan Chattopadhyay says those affected by progeria usually do not live beyond 17.<br /><br />The two brothers are, however, full of life. They probably do not know of Amitabh Bachchan yet, and the bond that he has struck with them through Paa.<br /><br />They, however, have gotten to know and adore Salman Khan from his film Wanted, which they went to see at an upmarket theatre in Kolkata. <br /></p>
<p>The brothers live at a charity home in Kolkata, where their caretakers hide them from the painful and uncomfortable stares of onlookers. People think they are some kind of aliens, their father Bisul Khan says. <br /><br />Progeria is a rare disorder passed to a child at birth by parents carrying the defective gene. One in about eight million people suffers from it. The affected child develops the look of a bird with an oversized bald head on a dwarfed body. The child also ages three times faster than does a normal human being.<br /><br />Ikramul and Ali are probably the only example in the world where more than one member of a family suffers from the disorder, also called the rapid ageing or Hutchinson-Gilford projeria syndrome.<br /><br />Ikramul and Ali were born to Bisul Khan and Razia Khatoon from Bihar. <br /><br />They were seven siblings in all, five of whom had the full-blown condition. Of them Guriya, Rehana and Robina died when they turned 17, 24 and 13 respectively. Ikramul and Ali lived on. <br /><br />In fact, Ikramul’s resilience has surprised even his doctor. Ikramul is 23 now. His pediatrician Chandan Chattopadhyay says those affected by progeria usually do not live beyond 17.<br /><br />The two brothers are, however, full of life. They probably do not know of Amitabh Bachchan yet, and the bond that he has struck with them through Paa.<br /><br />They, however, have gotten to know and adore Salman Khan from his film Wanted, which they went to see at an upmarket theatre in Kolkata. <br /></p>