by Anuradha Bakshi | Feb 27, 2006 | girl child
We just heard that it is too late for nandini… she cannot have corrective surgery.. one feels terible as this child deserved to have her dreams come true.. and maybe we can help her.. so her dreams are now ours to fulfill
10-3-06
nandini was born with a hole in her heart.. she lived 9 long years where in spite of her debilitating ailment she grew up into a lovely girl, went to school where she did everyone proud.. like every child she had dreams, dreams of one day being a doctor..
had she been born in a rich family, simple corrective surgery would have taken care of her problem.. but that was not to be and it took many years before she could get the needed medical attention..
today the doctors reviewed her case and felt that it was too late, the damage was to severe.. and surgery would prove difficult.. it will take them another week to take a final decision..
now one need not be to a rocket scientist to understand what this means: no operation means a truncated life where an overworked heart will give up sooner than later..
we wait for the final verdict.. and all dreams are on hold…
by Anuradha Bakshi | Feb 9, 2006 | girl child
We could not save Chetna.. but someone up there seems to think that our heartFix venture is worthwhile.. and out of the blue landed Nandini from a remote village in Bihar. She is 9 and needs heart surgery to repair a hole in her heart..
In spite of her exhausting medical condition, and the factt that she lives in a small village, Nandini is in class V and even speaks English. She loves maths and wants to be a doctor. We asked her to come to class till her surgery and as you can see she has not only made friends but is even helping others .says a lot about rural India!
Her father is a small farmer who toild all day long and barely feeds his family. Nandini has two brothers and one sister. She is a lovely girl and her family is fighting for her life, but needs some help and support.. She has come with her gradmother and uncle.. It is heartwarming to see a small family with limited means trying to save this lovely girl child.
In spite of laws that promise treatment for the poor in private hospitals, little children like Nandini will fall out of the net, as it will be proved that the income of the family is more than the BPL rs 2000/ a month.
So Nandini’s heart is for our heartFix Hotel!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Feb 1, 2006 | girl child
Chetna
November 2005 – 1 february 2006
Chetna left this world a few hours ago.. leaving us stunned.. everything had been set for her heart surgery
I was instantly drawn to this little pixie girl when I first met her a few days back in ward no 18 of Safdarjung hospital. Her wide eyes were filled with an incomprehensible dolefulness for one so young..
She had a defective heart and could barely breathe.. though she tried as best she could.. the family had ben given the verdict: open heart surgery, something so remote for them as the cost was prohibitive.. We knew what we had to do and set out to do it.. but she had decided otherwise… shortly after the angiography she gave up and left this world for another…
The questions will remain unanswered, the whys and ifs that will come to mind.. but tonight spare a thought for the young grieving mother who lost her second child.
The words of Robert Hepburn have always helped me at such moments.. I share them here:
Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow, I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush,
Of quiet birds circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jan 30, 2006 | girl child
When Sitaram walked into our little office almost three years go, he had hobbled for six years on his good leg from the proverbial pillar to post seeking the funds required for his son Raju’s operation. His determination and courage compelled us to act… Arun had to wait 14 years before fate conjured the right moment and brought this dalit family to our doorsstep.. one look at Arun’s smile and we knew we had to do something..
It was Sitaram again who brought Babli and her broken heart to project why.. no one had done anything for her for 6 long years as she was just a girl…and it was the look in little Chetna’s mother’s eye as she held on to her imperfect child after having lost her first born that made us act… and two days from mow she will have her angiography!
Many may wonder why an organisation whose main activity is education is busy being a heartFix hotel.. one does not have a logical answer.. maybe it is the conviction that if something comes our way, it happens for a reason.. just as Manu’s heart wrenching howls led to setting up pwhy’s first classroom..
Maybe it is the belief that every child has a right to live or is it the unfair reality that the miracles of modern medecine are only for the chosen ones.. I would like to believe that it is my friend the god of lesser children’s way of redressing torts..
And in running our heartFix hotel one has come to realise that indubitable fact that people tend to be more generous when asked to help in such cases.. so somewhere the why ruse is at work too…
Or to quote the now famous rang de basanti, it is not being able to remain silent when something is terribly wrong!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jan 23, 2006 | girl child
This picture was taken minutes before scared little braveBabli’s angiography.
Take a moment to look at it:
You have Babli being tended to by Sophie with love and tenderness, while her father looks on probably wondering why all this fuss about a girl!
Watching is Sitaram eyes filled with love and concern, remembering his own angst when his Raju was in the same situation and probably praying for Babli’s well being
And in a corner is little Arzoo who is terribly perplexed as she senses something is not quite the same as usual. Remember Babli is Arzoo’s mother figure at home..
So much has been caught on camera in this picture.. from human relationships which know no frontiers, to the realities of India’s girl child.. to the invisible and touching synergies that make pwhy what it is..
by Anuradha Bakshi | Jan 20, 2006 | girl child
Babli has a new heart.. one that does not have holes.. one that will allow her to breathe easily, to run, to play, to eat all the thing she wants , to do all a kid her age should do, one that will enable her to sleep through the night without feeling breathless.. in one word to be a normal spirited nine year old..
For this day she had to wait long years because her parents were very poor but most of all because she was a girl, somewhat a lesser child.. a disturbing reality in our land.. but no one knew that this child wanted to live and fight for her life.. from the time I met Babli – who should be called bubbly – I was surprised by the energy and zest this child showed in everything she did: her perky ways, her sparkling eyes, her cheerful chatter, every part of her spelt l-i-f-e.. so live she had to..
Sometimes one gets amazed at the ways the god of lesser beings operates and how he makes everything conspire to make small simple miracles.. Babli came to pwhy via S our now veteran heart craftsman; her simple poignant tale touched many hearts the world over and a great network of supporters helped us meet the financial requirements; G and D charmed the doctors and before we knew it the operation was over… the whole operation seemed to have been touched by the Babli’s almost cheeky spirit..
Even through the complex set of invasive and sometimes difficult medical tests, Babli found ways to call everyone to order when needed: a touching smile in the lift, an almost cocky look into the camera at the height of a painful moment, a furtive caress, a hand held.. simple ways of reassuring us all when we needed it most..
And this time even mr god did not do too badly: a series of investigations on a holiday when the waiting time is short, a quick admission and even prompter surgery and voila.. and through it all a dad by proxy, to see her through and make up for one that was not up to the job, as Gary was there all the way..
This post would not be complete without a mention for the team of caring and great surgeons and doctors, a bunch of proud Indians with a heart, who perform miracles every day.. and whom we salute!
So to teamBabli which crosses all frontiers and sees with its heart a big thank you…
