You don’t have to go far to find happiness…

He was my co passenger in the train from Bhubaneshwar to Delhi. His story seemed to come directly from the pages of RD (Reader’s Digest).

When I first saw him he appeared like one of those special children. He lacked movement in his legs, his eyes will not focus. He even had difficulty grabbing things in his right hand. He needed support for sitting too. He was with his parents. Initially what amazed me was the amount of love and care the parents had for the child and how the kid was laughing and chatting with his parents in spite of all his physical difficulties. His face reflected pure happiness. Then I heard his parents updating each other on daily activities, I was a little curious, and I am sure it was the same for the other co passengers too. Someone asked the dad “Is he like this from birth?” The dad responded “Oh no, he was a perfectly normal child at birth” and started narrating his son’s story.

Anand was born as a perfectly normal child or rather a healthy child; he even started walking at the age of 11monthes. At the age of 13 months he developed diarrhea and had to be admitted to a local hospital. It was night Anand was put on saline and the doctor left for home after instructing the nurse. Soon Anand started to develop temperature. His parents started to get worried and when the temp reached 104º F, they rushed to the doctor’s home and woke him up. But by the time the doctor reached the hospital it was late and Anand had already slipped into coma. His parents took Anand to a bigger hospital but the hospital refused to admit him as according to the doctors nothing was left, Anand was as good as dead. His parents went from hospital to hospital without any success. Finally they come across a senior doctor whom the medical fraternity referred as mad man. He was ready to admit the child but had a few conditions

• 1. His parents will have to sign a contract which says - the doctor will not be responsible in case anything happens to Anand, or in case he does not show any improvement.
• 2. No one will ask any question for the next three days.

Anand was finally admitted. During the next three days he came out of coma a few times, but then he would slip back to coma within a few minutes. This pattern went on for 20 days. His little body started to swell and there was not a single nerve to be seen for the doctors to pierce a needle and give saline. The doctors assembled together for a discussion. They discussed feeding, but it was not an option as it would have made Anand’s body swell and could have put his life in danger. Once again the same senior doctor came to his rescue. He made a statement which horrified the others - “अगर खाना नहीं दिया तो बच्चा यूँ भी मर जाएगा, जब मारना ही है, तो भूखा क्यूँ मारते हो, खिला पिला के मारो” (If you don’t feed, the child will die anyway, when you have to kill why kill him with hunger; let him die with a full stomach). The discussion went on for a long time and finally it was decided if the parents say yes the child will be fed. Anand was fed. He was kept under observation for the next 24 hour. He finally came out of coma but by then it was too late, he had turned into a vegetable. He had no vision, no hearing power, no speech and no movement in his limbs. The investigation said –the saline bottle was contaminated and has infected his brain. Probably the damage would have been less if he had received immediate medical help as soon as the temperature started. What was done was done and could not be redone.

It’s been 7 years since this incident happened. A panel of 7 doctors is treating him. Every three months his parents bring him to the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre for his regular checkup and treatment. In these 7years he has shown a lot of improvement, he has got back his speech and hearing power, he has normal weight, he gained full movement in his left hand and partial movement his right hand, he still can’t focus his eyes but he manages to see, he recognizes people. God knows how he manages see without his eye’s being focused, even his doctors are perplexed.

All this haven’t come easy. Behind these improvements, in addition to the treatment goes his parent’s endless patience, his extreme love for life and six hours of daily exercise. His parents had to take up jobs in two different cities to pay for the charges of physiotherapist, and meet only once in 15 days.

Within the short span of the journey Anand made friends with all his co passengers, he shared his toys, told stories, recited poems and chanted Sanskrit Slokas. And all he wanted in return was claps. Every time we clapped he gave a huge smile. His joy was infectious. He made me realize – how easy it is to find joy in life; we just have to look out for the little things. God bless him.

Whoever has kept his name- there couldn’t have been a more suitable name for this little angel. Lets all pray for Anand that he could soon go to a normal school with normal children and play with them.