Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Aadhar ..... Hats Off !!!

Was a regular day .. evenin a lil shoppin wid mom at one of mah fav stores - Fab India. And then a visit to mah eye specialist - Dr.(Ms.) R. Kulkarni to get Daadi's eye checked after a cataract she had to undergo a cpl of months ago. Now Dr. Kulkarni is dis really warm person to talk to. She'd treated me once for a major eye infection and eva since i'v been kinda fond of her. Daadi's visits for check-ups n all only strengthened d bond me n Dr. Kulkarni share. And dat resulted in a recent conversation where she completely shook mah being.
Dr, Kulkarni started a trust (NGO) for children battling cancer called 'AADHAR' in 1998. I only got to know of it a cpl of months ago though. Aadhar ensures that no child wid cancer remains widout treatment due to lack of funds. More than 25lacs have been raised n spent on d treatment of child cancer patients since the inception of d trust. Its unbelievable how d trust has helped so many children and cured some. I was so moved when Aunty showed me d list of kids who were being treated and who have been cured.
2nd Dec.2005, there was a fund raising event by Nikhil Mawkin and people like Joshua Grant (drummer) who happens to be one d best in Delhi music scene, dat Aadhar put up. Nikhil sang all Elvis no.s so brilliantly.. Everyone saw Elvis come alive. And ofcourse d show turned out a huge success. Hats Off to d trust agn.

Anyways coming back to what really really shook me... dis visit.. i was enquirin how d trust is shaping up n how can i help more.. n stuff like dat .. and then dis one picture of a child in d Aadhar magazine, wid a tumor in his eye sent shivers down mah spine. And i snapped a weird question to aunty askin if at all she sumtimes feels gross or sumthing treatin sumthing like dat and she said initially she did.. now she doesnt. And then some more questions n queries her away dat she answered politely until i asked her why on earth did she think of a trust to help 'cancer patients'? She smiled .. and said 'I am a cancer survivor myself, its been 10 yrs and i still go for check-ups'. .... I cud feel d ground beneath mah feet shake. I jst stood there 'stunned'. Dr. Kulkarni - a cancer survivor ... and wid a thud i landed on d chair and stared at her blank while she jst smiled.
It takes a lot for a doc to confess it to one of her patients. I didnt know how to react to it. I just asked for her permission to leave coz i cudnt believe wat i had jst heard and it was impossible to sit there. I left wid a solemn promise to return and help her wid d cause. And driving back home dat evening seemed like d toughest thing to do wid dat lump in mah throat. And i thought mah life was difficult. Was cursing mah fate for every damn thing dat went wrong wid me. Kept wonderin if life is still worth living?... What a fool i was ... *sigh*

Hats Off Aadhar !!! Hats Off !!!

P.S. If anyone of u is keen on helpin Aadhar in anyway or donating money, plz get in touch wid d trust @ +91-9212034435 or +91-11-25264435. Ask for Dr. R. Kulkarni.