(Bhopal) “Today we went for boating and then strolled around the boat club while chatting; we had a lot of fun.”
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(Bhopal) “We have been friends since school and were together even during our BCA course. After BCA, two of us continued with our MCA, but today we skipped college to meet and catch up.”
(Bhopal) “Some of my batchmates told me that a very dear friend of mine has met with an accident that but he was okay. I was not told anything beyond that. When I reached the hospital, I saw his parents crying a lot; I had an intuition that something was wrong. Finally, I was told that my friend was in a coma.
Amongst all of our batchmates, he is the youngest. He is 19 now. He was 17 when we joined college. For all of us, he is like a kid. He was never rude to anyone even when someone was rude to him. He is a good human being and everyone in the college knows him for his kindness. I knew him right from the first day of our first year in college. He is my best friend and is like a younger brother to me. So it is difficult to see my younger brother in that place. His parents were obviously in shock to see their child in that condition but they are doing better now as half of our classmates and my friend’s relatives are also in the hospital with his parents. They are stronger.
He is on the ventilator. There is no deterioration or improvement in his condition. We are all mentally prepared that he may take a long time to recover but we want him out of danger and healthy like before. For the time being, we will assume that he is sleeping, taking rest.
He is a very good man and doesn’t deserve this. But I know he will fight till the end. It has been a lesson for the entire college that everyone should take care of certain rules. Please don’t drink and drive. Even if you are taking only a peg or a sip, don’t drive. The one who was driving was physically uninjured, but it is really unfortunate that another friend, who was with them, passed away.”
(Delhi) “As a kid I was very fond of dancing. In those days, TV was not available in every household so I used to watch TV at my neighbour’s house. I also started learning dance and then I went to Bombay where I worked in dance bars. I used the money to send my 7-year old brother to school. I came back to Delhi and continued dancing in a hotel. I was very beautiful and my work was much appreciated.
Another girl, working in the same hotel grew insecure because of my work. She had worked in the hotel for over 4 years and said that her work is being hampered because of me. One day she threatened me that if I don’t leave my job at the hotel, she will throw acid at my face. I filed a complaint against her. In the evening two police officers from the police station came to the hotel where I worked. The police called the owner of the hotel, the other girl and me. She apologized several times in front of the owner and police officers. Everyone asked me to forgive her, and so I forgave her.
One evening as I was leaving for work, her brother was standing at the corner of my house with acid in his hand. The moment I was about to enter an auto-rickshaw, her brother threw acid at me. My face and clothes burnt immediately. I started screaming for help. There were a few people around who poured water and milk to ease my pain. The auto-rickshaw driver gave his shirt to me to cover my body as my clothes had burnt and my chest was bare. I was taken to a hospital, where doctors immediately started my dressing. I was in the ICU for three months, and my treatment went on for a long time.
Not only was my face disfigured, I lost my eyesight too. My nose had melted because of the attack and as a result I couldn’t even breathe. Recently, I spent Rs. 2.5 lakhs on restructuring of my nose. I also went to a lot of hospitals for my eye treatment. I went to hospitals in Delhi, Amritsar, Hyderabad, and they all could not help me in restoring my eyesight. I went to a very reputed hospital in Chennai where they said they could restore my eyesight but I will have to stay there for over 6 months and will have to pay around Rs. 8-10 lakhs for my treatment.
In the court case, I pleaded that I lost my eyesight and don’t have parents to support me and needed life long support. After 7 years in the fast track court, only Rs. 2 lakhs of compensation was granted to me by the court, out of which, I received Rs. 1.4 lakhs. This is the story of our country. The girl and her brother were sentenced for only 5 years of imprisonment. After spending six months in the jail they were released on bail and till date they are out leading a normal life, while I have spent all my savings on my treatment. Today, I am under a debt of Rs. 7 lakhs. My brother left his studies and took a job to support me. I went to national and local leaders and to a lot of other people but have received no help so far. After 12 years of the incident, my case is still pending in High Court. When I go to court, I get just another date and when I go to the leaders, they just write letters and then send me to another person. But no one helps. Under the direction of Supreme Court of India, I was given a job but the salary hardly takes care of any medical needs or any other basic necessity.”
**Dear Friends,
Ms. Anu Mukherji is looking for monetary support for her eye treatment. Anyone interested in contributing can click on the link below for further details:
(Bhopal) “I work for the city Municipal Corporation and collect garbage in the morning and work here after 2 pm. There are a lot of problems in our lives. For instance, my husband and I only get Rs. 3700/- per month. It is difficult to manage in this little amount. I have five children. My children are the reason why I smile all the time.”
(Bhopal) “I am a labourer. I have four children. Life is smooth, there is no special reason to be happy or sad.”
(Bhopal) “We all are from one family. Currently, we work as day labourers but are looking for some home-based work. We live in a rented accommodation; none of us has a house. Also, we do not have a ration card. We applied for a ration card and we even gave money whenever somebody asked, but we could never get it.”
(Delhi) “I have a few concepts twirling in my mind, as soon as they crystallize, I shall begin my new book. My last book ‘The Curse of Nalanda’ was released in February 2016. Earlier I worked with Doordarshan, which was the only channel available then. The highest TRP grosser was ‘Saptahiki’ as it provided glimpses of the movie to be shown on Sunday evening and clips of film songs for Chitrahaar. I was lucky to be compering this programme. People still remember Mahabharat serial. I was assigned the interview of its most popular character Krishna; the interview was a huge hit. That was the peak of my career with Doordarshan, as I lost my voice after working there for 13-14 years. I was unable to speak, and used paper and pen to convey what I had to say. Doctors, Homeopaths, Vaid, Hakim, speech therapist were all consulted, but there was no improvement. Someone suggested music therapy, yoga and Pranayam. This suggestion was helpful. I started learning music and slowly my voice started coming back; people are able to understand what I say now, but still at times it goes off completely.
My professional career was over. I used to be a regular child artist with All India Radio, Patna. My voice was my biggest asset right from the beginning; to lose it at the peak of my career was traumatic. Those days if anybody said, “Sorry, what did you say?”, something would stiffen inside me and I would stop talking. I went into a shell, shunned company, and was totally depressed. Gradually, I began reasoning with myself, “Okay fine, one profession is over, but that does not mean the end of life.” I resolved that no matter what, I would continue with my creativity. Creativity has been like life and meditation for me. I started painting, and had a number of successful exhibitions, where a number of my paintings were sold. I understood and felt the pain of handicapped people. I realised that there is a world of pent up emotions inside all of us, waiting to explode. I started penning my thoughts. People have given positive feedback on my books that encourages me to write more. Now I feel comfortable even with my distorted voice. I have been an optimistic person, and God has been very kind to me. If one door closes, the other is sure to open up. If you have faltered, gone through a bad experience or have some serious ailment, your life does not end there. Make disabilities your strength by focusing on areas under your control. If you decide not to stay pessimistic, you will pull through. One thing I strongly believe in is to never run after name, fame and money. True success is in dealing with everyday life situations. If you are able to adjust with your life and people around you, you have achieved tremendous success.”
(Bhopal) “Over the past several years, my students and I have organised talks, round table discussions, essay competitions and national seminars on issues related to gender justice. I have also organised legal literacy camps for women in surrounding villages so that my students could get an experience of working with women who are living without any knowledge of their own rights. We also worked as a service provider under the domestic violence law. The Gender Justice Cell, created by my students and me, had contributions from both boys and girls. My students also conduct field studies on the impact of the law that they are going to practise some day. These students are going to be the Lawyers and Judges of the future, and so if they are free from societal biases, which are actually responsible for the suffering of women, it will serve society well.
I consider my students to be my children. I not only have a duty to teach them, but also to help them become humane individuals. Whether they become a Lawyer, Judge or even join corporate firms, they should be understanding, sensible, forthcoming and should empathise with the vulnerable. My students know what they want to do in their lives; they are adults, and they know what path they want to take. I just try to give some kind of direction and provide an open forum where they can speak to me anytime about any issue. I talk to them as a teacher and as a friend. I am strict as an administrator but I am not an arbitrator. I don’t impose my will on them, and there is always an open dialogue. If their rights are ever violated, I am here to help them.” (2/2)
(Bhopal) “I am a teacher. I teach Political Science, Law, Women & Human Rights, and International Space Law. Both my parents died almost at the same time, while I was still pursuing my education. Things were quite difficult for my siblings and me but we stayed together and cared for each other. We all worked together for each other’s success and helped one another in taking important decisions. The circumstances had put us in a tight spot but we overcame all problems. I was able to pursue my higher studies and get a job.In India, the society generally prompts us towards gender-related work. If you are a woman, the kind of treatment you are given at all levels, be it family or society or formal institutions, makes you feel that you are a secondary consideration in society. Also, the status of women in India is highly dependent on their marital status. Oftentimes their individual talent and persona is disregarded. Furthermore, a girl’s parents are always thinking that they have to get their daughter married- a process that begins from the birth of a daughter. I always wanted to set my parents free from this thought process but could not do it until the time of their death. Instead of entering the institution of marriage, I decided to study law so that I could not only stand up for myself but also to help those women who want to stand up for themselves and fight for their rights. (1/2)
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