by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 3, 2009 | Uncategorized
After many twists and turns, many false starts and many terrible moments, Radha’s mom has finally accepted to come and work at the women centre. We had tried everything to help this little family in every which way possible, even if at moments we were close to giving up. We wanted to find a solution because little Radha is one of a kind. We even got a national TV channel to cover her story but forgot that in our land there is no compassion towards a disabled little girl. Hardly anyone came forward to help this little family in distress.
And yet to me it had sounded so simple: Radha and her mom and three siblings could have easily moved to our women centre and lived a safe and protected life. But once again I was rapped on the knuckles: we had forgotten about the extended family, the one that thought they could use Radha’s terrible condition and extract whatever they could, the typical case of the hen that laid golden eggs and was killed out of greed. And Radha’s mom herself seemed reluctant to come and live in a place that had rules and regulations. The young widow was also a free spirit.
A few days back they lost their sole means of livelihood – a food cart – and even if they retrieved it from the clutches of the police, they would never be able to set it up again: new rules were now in place and food carts were a big no no! Radha’s mom came to us seeking help again. We knew that she would not give up her extended family. She wanted to work but who would give her a job as she had a one year old she could not leave anywhere.
We offered her a job at the women centre. She could bring her baby and leave him at the creche. But there was a rider and that was that she also attend sewing classes. She accepted. Radha’s mom began her job yesterday and even attended her first sewing class. The baby played happily in the creche. I hope she settles down and continues to work with us. Once she has completed her sewing course we will buy her a sewing machine which will enable her to earn some extra money from home.
Radha’s mom will rebuild her life, one day at at time and we hope that she realises where her future truly lies.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jul 1, 2009 | God of lesser beings
Allow children to be happy in their own way, for what better way will they find wrote Samuel Johnson. All gloomy thoughts and worries that had been plaguing me for quite some time lifted in an instant when I saw this picture. I had to stop, get off my dark clouds and celebrate life, at least for the time it took to write this blog.
The picture shows Utpal and Mehar spending some wet moments at an amusement park where they had been taken last week. For a big chunk of the day they decided to call the shots and find their own way of being happy. For a big chunk of the day ugly scars on the body and the soul were cast aside and they were just children having a ball.
For the past six weeks Utpal and Mehar have been housemates at the women centre. Utpal because it was his summer holidays and his mom is again in rehab, and Meher because she is in the midst of complex reconstructive plastic surgery and needed to be kept in a clean environment. And moreover her mum is in the village having another baby. For the past six weeks they have shared every single moment and comforted and cared for each other. Like all children they have also fought and sulked.
Utpal and Meher are soul mates. They are bonded by a similar ordeal they both suffered at a very tender age. They are both third degree burns survivors. Today they carry their scars with courage and grit but have to sometimes bear the hurt of being ogled and laughed at. Utpal more than Meher as boarding schools can sometimes be ruthless. Little Meher wears her new look with her three huge expanders with great aplomb. To us she looks like an adorable real life ET! Utpal the big brother is always at her side to defend her if needed. But at the water park, for a few blissful moments, all was forgotten: the scars, the blemishes and the balloon like expanders. They were just two children having the time of their lives. And boy they did!
The picture made me smile for a long time. Even after I had seen it and shut the computer, I carried it in my heart the whole day and every time I thought of it I could not repress the smile on my face. It also set me thinking at the God of lesser beings and his strange and mysterious ways. Here were two kids who should have never met. They belonged to different faiths, different regions, different roots. What brought them together was a terrible ordeal one would not wish to its worst enemy and yet that is exactly what would change their morrows for the better. Is this God’s way of creating miracles or transforming lives? I do not know. But one has to admit that it is nothing short of extraordinary. Chapeau bas!
