PULSE POLIO TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SUPERVISORS OF A BOROUGH IN KOLKATA

A pulse polio training program, in preparation for the 10.01.2010 round was conducted by me for the supervisors of a particular borough in Kolkata, at my ward health unit on 24.12.2009. Twenty three out of forty one supervisors attended the programme. Issues related to supervisory activity, mobility of supervisors, wall markings, revisiting the households, conversion strategy, interpretation of vaccine vial monitor and documentation were discussed and an uniform strategy was adopted for the benefit of the program. The program was attended by my immediate superior officer, one of my doctor colleague and the internal WHO monitor of the borough. Hope the next round of pulse poio programme will be a success in this borough.

IN SEARCH OF THE MOSQUITO LARVA ON 19.12.09

A joint vector control drive arranged by the health department of KMC in one of the wards of east kolkata, adjacent to the circular canal, that is one of the biggest breeding grounds for the mosquitoes. Can this be a scientific procedure to curb the incidence of malaria and other vector borne diseases in the city ?

HAS THE GOVERNMENT DONE ENOUGH FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS OF 26/11 ?

A nation of 1 billion plus people was in mourning a year back, on the fateful day of 26/11. Kasab, an islamic fanatic along with a group of nine other heavily armed gunmen laid seize of Mumbai, resulting in the death of 166 innocent citizens with grave injuries to another 311. The Mumbai police, the NSG, backed by the sentiments of a whole nation fought back with antique weaponry, endangering their own lives. The battle was won but at a terrible cost.

In a spate of empathy, there were announcements regarding compensations to the family members of the deceased and those who have been injured on that fatal day. Our government promised compensations of upto Rs 3 lakhs for persons who have died or were greviously injured, from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. The maharashtra government made announcements of Rs 5 lakhs for death and from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh for the injured. The Railway Claims Tribunal made announcements of Rs 10 lakhs for the deceased and upto Rs 1 lakh for the injured. The Tata Trust made commitments of Rs 5000 per month for a period of one year for the families of the injured and the deceased. Apart from the compensation packages announced by the maharashtra government and the railway ministry, the victims of Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus were also entitled to compensations from Prime Minister’s Relief Fund, The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Railway Claims Tribunal. All these compensation packages announced by the central and state governments, rail ministry and the Tata Trust, were a ray of hope for the affected families.

Today, after a year have passed, if we try and assess the efficacy of the rehabilitation packages, we will be ashamed to know that as per the version of Maharashtra Relief and Rehabilitation Dept out of the 403 people entitled to compensation from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund only 118 have received the same with 206 cases still pending with the PMO’s. The cases of the remaining 79 victims are yet to be forwarded by the maharashtra govt. The rule clearly states that a state proposal for compensation is mandatory for disbursal of money. Compensation package to be provided by the ministry of home affairs, also has a backlog of 161 cases, to whom money is yet to be disbursed.

And how have the many families fared who have received compensation from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund ? Many of them have not received the money even after deposition of the cheque in their accounts and some families have been sent outdated cheques, that have lost its validity !

A FEVER PREFERABLY DIAGNOSED AS MALARIA

HOW THE SLIDE DETECTION CENTER AT 12/1 MEHER ALI LANE BUSTEE FARED !

DATE /SLIDES COLLECTED/P VIVAX/P FALCI

21.11.09/33/02/NIL

22.11.09 SUNDAY - CENTER CLOSED

23.11.09/18/03/NIL

24.11.09/01/01/NIL

25.11.09/05/05/NIL

26.11.09/NIL/NIL/NIL

27.11.09/01/REPORT PENDING

28.11.09 CENTER CLOSED

THE JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS QUIZ

DAY 3

AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND ENTOMOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION IN PROGRESS

TO ESTABLISH THE CAUSE OF DEATHS IN TWO CASES WHERE SYMPTOMS OF FEVER, HEADACHE, CONVULSIONS AND VOMITING WERE PRESENT

Findings :

a. All animals and birds responsibe for harboring the virus are located in the area

b. culex larvae are found in the circular canal

Actions Taken : NIL

Actions that should have been taken ?

a. JE serological tests of blood from animal and bird sources

b. JE serological tests of blood from suspected as well as nonfebrile human cases

c. Clearing of the waterways of debris, depositions and water hyacynths, thereby ensuring free flow of water

d. providing protective netting along the banks to prevent garbage disposal in the waterways

e. If possible, cementing either banks with steps leading to the water level

f. Anti-larval spray throughout the length of the canal, using a water vehicle at intervals of 14 days

g. Release of guppy/gambusia fish in the waterways

h. For surface drains - desilting, release of larvivorous fish, anti-larval spray at 14 days interval

ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE KMC HEALTH AUTHORITY AT 12/1 MEHER ALI LANE

The actions taken by KMC health authority at 12/1 Meher Ali Lane bustee, till 22.11.09, keeping in mind the public sentiment and rationality of investigating such fever deaths, are detailed below.

1. A vector team was immediately deployed in the area to carry out anti-larval spraying on 20.11.09, 21.11.09 and 22.11.09. Plenty of breeding spots were located in domestic containers and peri-domestic water collections. We involved the local population in our efforts to do anti-larval work in the locality and showed them the containers, receptacles and masonry tanks containing breeding. The local representatives agreed to take immediate remedial measures on their own initiative, but their point of contention remained the acute shortage of water, thereby forcing them to store water in containers that become future breeding places. We have also been successful in discussing with them the issue of resistance met by our field workers in trying to empty such containers, during the course of their regular work.

2. Deployment of a team of fourteen hon health workers for a house to house survey of fever cases for the consequetive two days of 20.11.09 and 21.11.09. A total of 723 households have been surveyed covering approximately 3000 population of the affected area. The number fever cases recorded till 21.11.09 being only 27 (twenty seven) and not in the range of hundreds as stated by the visual media, which is a very rational occurence and does not indicate any grave concern of epidemic proportions.

3. A fever slide collection center has also been opened at Pragati Sangha, a local club at 12/1 Meher Ali Lane, for the benefit of the local populace. The center that has started functioning on 21.11.09 will also function on 23.11.09 and 24.11.09. The fever blood slides collected at this center will be examined at the Ward Health Unit 57 and appropriate medications will be provided to the febrile cases as required.

4. A team of doctors from ID Hospital have visited the affected area on 21.11.09 around 3 pm and have collected 10 (ten) specimens of blood for serological testing from febrile patients of the bustee. The results of these tests will be made available to us by 24.11.09.

5. Though the area has already been visited by the vector control officer of KMC on 21.11.09, an entomologist will visit the area on 23.11.09 as a follow up action, to conduct his relevant investigations to rule out the incidence of japanese encephalitis as a probable cause of the deaths. The presence of the relevant vector culex vishui needs to be proved, to corroborate deaths due to the disease, japanese encephalitis.

6. Lastly the absence of serological test reports of the two death cases, questions the rationale of putting encephalitis/meningoencephalitis as the cause of deaths in the two cases under scrutiny.

LESSON OF THE DAY : Are we on the right track ? If we are talking of a fever with headache, convulsions and vomiting, then probably we are not talking of malaria even dengue or chikengunia.......thus we are more concerned about the occurence of a zoonotic disease, also viral in origin, japanese encephalitis. If that is so, we should concentrate our efforts exclusively in locating the carriers and amplifiers of this virus and the mosquitoes in its larval stages that are responsible for the spread of the disease. Anti-larval spraying as done above may only be a complimentary action and not the sole vector control activity. The real vector control activity lies elsewhere, in the breeding places of culex vishnui or culex tritaeniorhynchus. So we should search for larvae of the culex mosquito in the two canals that runs on either sides of this bustee and also the surface drains of the locality, even open septic tanks instead of the domestic and peri-domestic water collections. Thus we have not addressed the real cause even on the second day !

TWO DEATHS AT 12/1 MEHER ALI LANE BUSTEE, WARD 57

Two young people have died very recently at 12/1 Meher Ali Lane bustee in ward 57.

Mustari Khatoon, daughter of Mhd Rashid, aged about 15 years, was taken to the ID Hospital with fever on the morning of 18.11.09. Mustari was refused admission by the hospital authorities then, but was eventually admitted there at 3.25 pm, in the late afternoon hours with the symptoms of fever, headache, convulsions and vomiting. Mustari expired on the same date at 9.30 pm and the cause of death was recorded in the death certificate as meningoencephalitis.

Sarique Mohammad, son of Shah Mohammad, also a promising young boy of 16 years of age, was admitted to ID Hospital on 5.11.09 at 10.10 am with similar symptoms but he expired on 6.1109 at 10.20 am. The cause of death mentioned in his death certficate was cardiorespiratory failure in a case of encephalitis.

A state hospital of repute has given the cause of deaths as encephalitis/meningoencephalitis in these two cases. This no doubt has to be a clinical diagnosis as Mustari was admitted to the hospital for only 6 hours and Sarique for about 24 hours. I have spoken with representative doctors from ID Hospital about corroborative investigations regarding such claims and have been informed about the absence of crucial investigations of CT / MRI scan of brain or lumbar puncture, required to diagnose such cases. Still talks about a brain fever affecting a sizable section of the local populace has been circulated, leading to an atmosphere of fear, apprehension and anger among them!

Again as the most common cause of encephalitis is viral in origin, there may be the natural inquisitiveness, whether these deaths are at all linked to the dreaded Japanese Encephalitis. We also have information that besides being an area of great uncleanliness, a good proportion of the population are involved in rearing pigs and culling cows and buffaloes. So the rumour may try and attribute these two deaths as caused by the japanese encephalitis virus. As far as my knowledge of public health goes, JE is a zoonotic disease, infecting mainly animals and only incidental in man who is a dead-end host, the disease being primarily limited to the cycle of pigs, cattle, buffaloes - mosquito - pigs, cattle, buffaloes or certain birds/poultry - mosquito - birds/poultry of which pigs are the most important amplifiers, and the culex vishnui complex of mosquitoes responsible for the propagation of the disease is absent in the city of kolkata ( as informed by Dr Debasish Biswas, vector control officer KMC).

Both these deaths have been greatly highlighted by the media as "AJANA JAR" that has affected about 100-150 people and is also on the rise on a daily basis. It has also been reported that the civic services particularly of solid waste disposal being almost absent in the area, is an important responsible factor in such untimely deaths of two young people. True the whole bustee at 12/1 Meher Ali Lane has not been serviced by the solid waste disposal department for a considerable span of time, thereby leading to the accumulation of garbage and plastic materials and containers in huge quantities, leading to a situation hazardous to health. There is truly an urgent necessity to remove these at the earliest, but the question remains whether someone is listening !

Regarding the concept of "ajana jar", all I would like to say, that at any point of time, there may be about 10% of the population who will be suffering from fever and that may be viral in origin or malaria or related to other obvious bacterial causes. Our findings after a house to house survey has corroborated this concept and is not supportive of either the rising trend of fever in a large section of the local populace nor the diagnosis of "encephalitis" or "ajana jar" as tagged by ID health authorities or the visual media.

LESSON OF THE DAY : Though we trust the clinical eye of physicians, hospital authority should have given the cause of death as cardiorespiratory failure in a patient suffering from pyrexia of unknown origin or cardiorespiratory failure in a patient suffering from suspected viral fever. Specific cause should only be given if there are supportive investigations.

A NOTE OF APPRECIATION

I record my happiness and appreciation for my friends who have believed in me and have come forward voluntarily to join the cause and the group, "DOCTORS WHO TREAT THE UNDERPRIVILEDGED".

I also want to highlight the singular instance of a lady who had joined the group with the ulterior motive of projecting her profession of a call girl, in search of would be clients from among the group members and ultimately leading to the revoking of her membership for all times. This incident has been a bitter learning for all of us and I would like to caution my friends to view their friends profiles in details, before inviting them to join the group.

Thanks once again for all the support, leading us from strength to strength. We are now 361 members strong !

A CAUSE AND GROUP NAMED "DOCTORS WHO TREAT THE UNDERPRIVILEDGED"

I have started a cause and a group in the name of "DOCTORS WHO TREAT THE UNDERPRIVILEDGED". The cause is the brains and has a following of 247 members till date. The group is the hands to implement the cause and there are 347 supportive members who have empowered me with their unconditional friendship during the stressful period, when our very first event, the inauguration of a subsidised clinic at Tapuriaghata, got cancelled due to political interference.

I feel the group which is growing very fast indeed, needs to be registered as a non-profit , non-government organisation as early as possible and should have it's own account, 80G affiliation, FCRA, e-mail and website. In view of this thought, I have already circulated a format among the existing members of the group, regarding member qualification and experience and the options of members in involving themselves in the future activities of the group. I have also specifically clarified that the group's activities will not be limited to the health sector alone and will encompass areas like education, formation of self help groups, vocational trainings, sponsorship programs for people living below the poverty line and such activities that will improve the quality of life of the underpriviledged section of the society. I have also raised the issue of forming city chapters of the group, as many of the members are located outside Kolkata and there should be equal scope for them to work for the group in their own communities. I hope that when members submit the filled in formats by 30.11.09, I will be better informed about their wishes and expectations from this group.

I am already in the preparatory phase of applying for registration for the group and hope that this long time consuming process will be not be a frustrating experience for me. Till then let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

FEELS GREAT TO HAVE SO MANY SUPPORTIVE FRIENDS !

The opening of the subsidised clinic at Tapuriaghata on 21.11.09 was cancelled. I guess the real cause was political interference, as kolkata municipal elections are due within approximately six months and politicians are busy making promises of a rosy future, to these underpriviledged section of the society. The club office bearers were more interested in acquiring a free supply of medicines, which we could not principally agree to and thus we backed out of this venture. We indeed lost some money in this effort, but our learning from this development is more important to guide us in our future initiatives. I always believe that there should be some community ownership of a program, as little as it may be, or that program is destined to flounder.

I am definitely not disheartened and will try to establish this chain of subsidised clinics throughout Kolkata and its vicinity, that will solely cater to the health needs of the underpriviledged section of the society. Though our very first initiative has run into troubled waters, I am greatly overwhelmed by the love and support of the members of my group, "DOCTORS WHO TREAT THE UNDERPRIVILEDGED", who have stood by me in my decision to withdraw. I want to categorically mention the names of Onkar, Paramita Prajna, Kanta, Protip, Sudhir, Partha Sarathi, Sandeep Rathod and of course my dear friend Rajibul Islam who have expressed their support, in this time of stress.

All I can say thanks friends, the group will definitely overcome this initial set back and fulfil its mission in the days to come.

CANCELLATION OF THE INAUGURAL PROGRAM OF TAPURIAGHATA CLINIC ON 21.11.09

Dear Members of DOCTORS WHO TREAT THE UNDERPRIVILEDGED,

I bring a piece of bad news on this auspicious CHILDRENS’ DAY. There has been an unexpected and unusual setback for our group. The inauguration of the first " SUBSIDISED HEALTH CLINIC" at Tapuriaghata has been cancelled due to possible intervention by some outsiders ( political ?), who do not want the program to succeed. Today Dr Rajibul Islam, a child specialist and a member of this group, a representative of a pharmaceutical house and myself went to the club to finalise arrangements for the inaugural program on 21.11.09. We were greatly disappointed in finding the club representatives more interested in pressing their demand for uninterrupted supply of free medicines, as a pre-condition for the establishment of the clinic. It is my firm belief, a belief acquired by serving at the grassroot level for more than 22 years, that a free service without community ownership always flounders and thus we had talked about doing relevant investigations at cost price or providing 50% subsidy on medicines from the very beginning. As we could never agree to this unjust clause of theirs, we thought it right to withdraw from the venture, with immediate effect. I request my friends to be patient and supportive, as we are already in talks with other area representatives and our honest intent of setting up a chain of such clinics for the underpriviledged section of the society will definitely materialize. Please accept my sincere apology for the inconvenience I must have caused, unknowingly, but you know there is a Robert Bruce in me…. Till then, be with me my friends

Regards

Subrata

THE DRAINAGE AREA OF THE CLINIC

On one side we have ward 23 of bidhannagar municipality that borders our clinic, seperated by a waterbody. the picture shows the rear portion of the residential quarters of the low scio-economic group of people who will avail the facilities of the clinic. Though this place is about 12 mins walk from the E M bye-pass, the houses do not have any sanitary facilities and the people have constructed these bamboo makeshift latrines for themselves. One may relevantly question the usefulness of a municipality in the heart of greater Kolkata, that fails to provide the minimum civic facilities to its people

The other drainage area of the clinic lies as far as the village of Makhaltala, that starts at the base of "Dhapar Dhipi", the dumping ground of the city of Kolkata. The place is extremely unhygenic, but people have built shanties at the base of this artificial mountain of garbage and have started living a life, an unequal fight of survival with the dogs and pigs that abound the place. The village of Makhaltala has no electricity, no conveyance facility nor is there any govt health infrastructure !

This lone goddess stands on guard on the way (aler pathe) in between the waterbodies that abound the region, between the two villages of Makhaltala and Tapuriaghata. Will she help the people, the poor people of this locality in dire health emergencies ?

One may easily guess the answer and so when I first visited the twin villages on 19.10.09, I made up my mind to set up a health facility, as a part of our group's activity at Tapuriaghata, that may be equally accessed by the people of Makhaltala, Tapuriaghata and ward 23 of bidhannagar municipality.

SETTING UP A FREE WEEKLY CLINIC AT TAPURIAGHATA

This is Tapurighata Boys' Sporting Club at Tapuriaghata, just 2 mins walk from Chingrighata on the E M Byepass. It is my intention to start a free weekly clinic, probably every saturday, for the poor people of the locality.

This clinic will be the first of a series of such clinics throughout Kolkata, meant for the poor and underpriviledged section of the society. The group "DOCTORS WHO TREAT THE UNDERPRIVILEDGED", created by me in sept 2009, will be the driving force behind this unique venture. Kolkata Municipal Corporation does have a chain of primary health care facilities in this city and provide for free consultation by in-service doctors, malaria detection, TB and leprosy treatment and free medicines, but this chain of clinics will differ in the respect that the doctors attending these clinics will provide voluntary service, all relevant investigations will be available to the poor people at cost price and there will be provision of supply of prescribed medicines at 50% discount. I have plans in the future to introduce package treatment facilities related to general surgery, orthopedics, eye, ent and gen medicine cases, requiring hospital admission, for the poor section of the society.

The group will be instrumental in running these clinics as a non-profit venture. In the mean time we are seriously thinking of registering the group as a NGO as early as possible and applying for 80G affiliation.

PUSHING BACK THE HISTORY OF MAN BY ONE MILLION YEARS !!??

Remember Lucy ? The fossils of "Lucy" or "australopithecus afarensis", our earliest known ancestor who walked on foot, were discovered in Ethopia in the African Subcontinent, almost thirty five years ago in 1974 and scientists after much thought, hard work and research concluded that "Lucy" lived on this earth about 3.4 million years ago.

Then in 1992, another international research team headed by paleoanthropologist Tim White, found a singular molar tooth embeded in the ancient sediments in the Afar Triangle, a desert region of Ethopia abundant in fossils. Over the next two years, White and his colleagues found 110 more fragments, including a partial skeleton with skull, hands, feet, limbs and pelvis in a jungle, 125 kms from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethopia. The fossils were then arranged to give shape to 32 human-like forms of varying age groups. The team of forty seven scientists of University of California, Berkeley, started studying the specimens and after a prolonged period of 15 years, during which span of time, the fossils were subjected to innumerable examinations, comparitive studies and rigorous analysis at Ethopia's National Museum, it was concluded, that the species in question "ardipithecus ramidus" or "Ardi" was more than a million years older than "Lucy". So scientists now started believing that the ancestor of man walked on this earth, 4.4 million years ago !!

And how did that ancestor look like ?

Scientists also say that "Ardi", was about four feet or 1.2 meters tall, weighing about 50 kgs, a mosaic species possessing traits of both the human and the chimpanzee and also walked on two feet. The head was small compared to the powerful muscular body, that remained erect. On one hand, the shape of the hands and feet hinted beyond doubt that "Ardi" was accustomed in climbing trees, but again the structures of the pelvis, buttocks and knees showed that he was equally comfortable in walking. Scientists have also assured that Ardi was not the famous "missing link", as that creature was even more prehistoric than "Ardi" and probably inhabited this earth about 6-7 million years ago.

Our forefathers have inhabited this earth for millions of years and though we have continuously transformed ourselves and thereby survived, have we been able to reach a humane destination or are we in the process of becoming a "Lucy", "Ardi" or the "Missing Link", destined to vanish from the face of the earth in due course of time.

WHAT IS THE DIAGNOSIS ?

ALL IS NOT WELL WITH PALA

My name is Pala Mondal. I am about 24 years of age (DOB : 08.08.85), hindu and my mother tongue is Bengali. I have come to NIJOLOY from CHILD CARE HOME.

I used to stay with my parents, an elder brother and my grandfather at a small village in Andhra Pradesh. My mother committed suicide by jumping from a running train in front of my brother and myself. A lady traveling on the same train took charge of us and brought us to Midnapore, where I was appointed in a shop as a child labour. My elder brother also got a job in a hotel in Canning. Thus we were separated from each other at a very tender age.

I worked in that shop for almost ten years and then left that place to go and meet my brother at Canning. My brother got me married to a local boy, but I fled from there on the day after the marriage and boarded a train to come back to Kolkata. On my way back, I met a lady on the same train who having listened to my plight offered me a job in the city. As I was urgently in need of a job and with no place to go to, I gratefully accepted the offer.

The lady took me to the Khidirpore red light area where I was forced to enter the flesh trade. I had no other option but to entertain clients daily. I had to bear this inhuman existence for about a year before I could manage to flee from there too. The police got hold of me on the way and I was sent to the LILUAH HOME (Govt Home), from where I was sent to CHILD CARE HOME. After staying at this home for a considerable amount of time, I was shifted to NIJOLOY on 14.02.06

The mental and physical traumas in my life, starting with my mother’s suicide, working as a child labour, getting into a married relationship at a tender age and finally becoming a part of the flesh trade have all affected my brain and made me very stubborn and foul mouthed. I do occasionally pick up quarrels with other inmates of this home and even the house mothers. I sometimes do understand that I am quite helpless about the prevailing situation and behave without any control over myself. I have undergone several psychiatric and neurological checkups and allied investigations at govt/private institutions after been diagnosed with Bipolar Mood Disorder about five years ago.

I have also undergone several counseling sessions at NIJOLOY. This has helped me to gain partial control over my anger and frustration but I still need medications to tide over the frequent headaches and the manic episodes that punctuate my life. At times I refuse to take the medications and feel that the doctors have not diagnosed my case properly and as such the medicines are not benefiting me in anyway. I feel very sorry about such occasional turn of events and pass through a lot of stress, strain and agitation before relenting to accept the medications as advised. I was also diagnosed with bilateral axillary lipoma in May 2007 and had a left ear tympanoplasty operation in Nov 2007, for which I was hospitalized.

Inspite of all these problems, I try to remain calm and take an active interest in cooking and other cooking related activities.

(Presently Pala has left the home and gone to her brother's place. She has also married.)

RESHMI TELLS HER STORY

I am Reshmi Roy, 17 years old, hindu. I have read upto class III, my mother tongue is telegu and I was sent to NIJOLOY from Sukanya home in March 2006.

My father Sudharanjan was a government bus driver and we lived at Khera, Rudrapur near Bilaspur. My father suddenly resigned his job and took to drinking. My mother, Sabita had no other alternative but to work as a labourer at construction sites. My father whom I miss very much, ultimately left my mother for another woman. My mother who also had a son by a previous marriage asked him to come and stay with the family.

My elder step-brother thus came to stay with us and that decision had a disastrous consequence on me. He used to beat me frequently and was occasionally bold enough to sexually assault me.
I started working as a maid servant at Udham Singh Nagar, Dineshpur, which was just adjacent to Khera. I avoided coming back home, as he had repeatedly raped me on several occasions.

I was in such a mental state that one day I fled from home, took a train from Rudrapur station and reached Delhi after an overnight journey. I knew no one in Delhi. I was repeatedly raped on two separate occasions by unknown people who had struck up acquaintances with me. I was much afraid to ask for help but help soon arrived. I was rescued by the police and sent to a local home called Prayas.

I did not like the home and fled from there with another girl. We took a train to Kolkata, reached the girl’s house. I stayed at my friend’s place for three months (details of this friend is not available).

I was later rescued by the police and sent to Cini Asha. I was then sent to Sukanya Home (Govt Home) where I stayed for two months before being finally sent to NIJOLOY for vocational training and rehabilitation.

I have gone through such multiple traumatic phases in my small life that I am quite astonished that I still want to enjoy life. My counseling sessions in the later part of 2006 helped me to find a new meaning in life. I want to stay at NIJOLOY as I have found my best friend in Naina Biswas at NIJOLOY.

Shall I tell you a secret ? I have met Naina’s brother, who works in Delhi. I like him very much. I am going to marry her brother some day.

Nowadays I am quite calm. My irritation and aggressiveness have lessened to a great extent. I have grown stronger both physically and mentally. I have grown taller and gained five kgs in the last three years. I also have a great appetite. I am also into non formal studies as well as dancing, tailoring and block printing. I hope to do best of both. Though my mother tongue is telegu, I can read and write Bengali very well !

DEAR RAJU.................

............There was great apprehension (my wife not formally dressed for the auspicious day of Id) in our hearts as we neared Taratola, on our way to your home. The road condition was so treacherous that Piku and myself almost felt that the possibility of the visit going off well may be quite limited. But I really wanted to meet you - a much awaited meeting after a span of almost 27 years, leaving aside the two batch get-togethers and your visit to my mother's sraddha ceremony. I really wanted to rediscover you in your own surroundings and on reaching your place and as we warmed up to the coffee, I found the apprehension gone and we just started talking like old times.

Raju, I would say the informality of the whole visit was its real charm. Myself on the jhula, Piku and you on the sofa and your wife, Ruma on the carpet....... just talking and talking without any measures, inhibitions....... guidelines. It was pure talk (like pure deshi ghee) that rarely has a place in the modern civil society.

No doubt your wife is an excellent cook, the biriyani was too good but what really touched our hearts was the love and care with which Ruma packed the food for our son. I believe that such cranky behaviour is only acceptable from the wife of a dear friend of mine............

PRIYA NARRATES HER STORY

I'm Priya Sarkar, aged about 17 years and hindu by birth. I come from a family consisting of my father Sambhu Sarkar, my mother Saraswati Sarkar, three brothers and one sister. We lived in the village Jaitara in 24 parganas(N). I was the youngest among my brothers and sisters. My father had a collective earning from a cycle spare-parts shop, five generators on hire and monthly rents from three other shops besides the family business of puffed rice. My father left for Mumbai when I was only three years old, in search for a better job and better prospects.

My mother developed a relationship with one of my father's friends during his absence. Her marriage which was already under much strain broke up. My father remarried after three/four months and had two sons by this second marriage.

My father's cousin sister then took me away to the Andamans, citing better study prospects but she actually made me work in her home there as a maid servant for the next five years. I was then only nine years old and disillusioned as I was, I ultimately convinced my aunt to send me back to my father. On reaching my parental place, I once again got admitted to school and continued my studies till class V.

I was around 14 years and very immature and my step-mother would always physically abuse me. Oneday, one of my friend's mother took pity on me and offered me a job in Kolkata. I thus left my father's place only to be sold by that helping lady to another woman in Kestopur, a suburb of the city of Kolkata. That woman married me off to her impotent son, Dipankar Sarkar, who worked as a labourer with a local marble contractor. I had to live a life of torture and shame for the next two years.

Unable to tolerate the intense physical abuse, I ran away to my natal place but my father sent me back to my in-laws. I once again returned to my father's place and this time for good. My father in the meanwhile had built a house at Jaguli, 24 parganas(N) and I was much relieved to secure the work of a house maid in that area.

But fate had other strange things in store for me. My step-mother decded on a match for me with a 40 year old man who had already been married twice before and had a four year old daughter too. I ran away again to Hanspur on the pretext of visiting a mela. My elder brother brought me back from Hanspur but father was in no mood to give me shelter and threw me out of the home. I had no other alternative but to start looking for a domestic help job.

Nirapada Mondal, an elderly neighbour promised me to find a nurse's job in Kolkata. I trusted "Nirapada kaku" and his wife "Radha kaki" and accompanied him to his sister-in-law, Amala's house at Sovabazar, a famous red light area in the city of Kolkata, where I was sold again. I was thus forced into the sex trade from the very first day and had to entertain four to five clients each day. I stayed at the brothel for twelve to thirteen days, during which time I managed to build up a friendship with the cook who helped me to escape from that place. I managed to reach Habra station and ultimately join my home at Jaitara. Women's Interlink Foundation intervened at this point and with the help of the local police at Gaighata, brought me to NIJOLOY on 22.04.06.

The stay at NIJOLOY has been beneficial for me. I have managed to overcome my initial depression and tried to pursue my studies with renewed interest after the many counseling sessions during these three years.

I have been recently been promoted to class VIII. My interest in the finer arts, particularly dancing have culminated in successful stage performances with my friends under the guidance of "Shyamal Sir", our favourite dance teacher. I have also won prizes in recitation and sports at my school.

21% CRAZY !!! THAT'S WHAT I AM

Very recently, I took this particular test on the net that showed I'm 21% crazy. I do agree that probably it is a very conservative estimate of my self and have thus endeavoured to find 21 such situations / items that do definitely influence and shape my life for good or bad.

My list includes.....................

1. Going out without my handkerchief

2. Unpolished shoes

3. Banians that are not really safed

4. The times I carry an umbrella and it refuses to rain

5. It always rains if I wear a certain shirt

6. PROFUSE SWEATING

7. Doing things I don't like

8. My living space in disarray

9. Cleaning my father's room / bathroom

10. When my wife dumps her clothes anywhere and everywhere

11. Unable to locate important documents / telephone numbers

12. Unable to fix a simple gadget like the telephone

13. When internet bills are never within my budget

14. When banks charge irrationally and I put in innumerable reminders

15. PEOPLE WHO ARE DECEITFUL / PEOPLE WHO LIE

16. People who stand in very close proximity in public conveyances

17. People who occupy ladies seats / seats for senior citizens and the disabled in public

conveyances and feign ignorance

18. People who don't keep words / People who don't deliver

19. When forced to work under an incompetent superior

20. The nagging pain in my left leg

21. MY REPEATED FAILURES TO BREAK THE SHACKLES OF CHAIN-SMOKING

..............................and the craziest part of the story is that I'm such a person who sweats a lot, has been chain-smoking for the last 33 years and is forced to interact with people who are full of deceit and lie at almost every possible opportunity.

I DO NOT THROW AWAY MY OLD CLOTHES

I am very particular that old and discarded clothes belonging to me and my family members that are not torn or damaged in any way, are stored in the staircase-room of my house. I have always believed that in our country where clothing material is a costly commodity, these can be used by that section of the populace who don't have the means to buy the same.

The belief has grown within me like an epidemic and with increasing age, I keep sincerely collecting the clothes and have personally carried off such items to a care home located along the E M Bye Pass, in big luggage cases and oversized carry bags, when the collection becomes too large to be retained any longer. It gives me immense satisfaction and happiness to see the girl inmates of this particular care home accepting my meagre and insignificant gift with great gutso and use the same in all their eagerness.

BARE BUT BEAUTIFUL

What is more important in life ? Roots or Branches ?

IF ITS RAINING, IT MUST BE MY BOOTS !

The weakest part of my outfit are my shoes. Surely there must be adequate reason behind such claim. I have gradually developed a great phobia about footwear. Nothing seems to suit my feet. I have tried out cheap ones, expensive ones, designer ones, trendy ones, hardy ones, nameless ones - but all meet the same fate and I have to discard these within months. This reminds me of a visit to my opticians, who once told me that my eyebrows are also not at the same level ! It seems that from head to foot, I have problems.........designer problems.

No matter how carefully I walk, my new shoes will develop wide horizontal stretch marks within days of use. These marks gradually widen and I am unable to hide these even with my vigorous shoe polishing (I love to polish shoes and always end up polishing my father's, son's and my wife's shoes and chappals besides my own) activity and that naturally demoralise me. So it is just a matter of time before my new shoe starts resembling an older one.

And if its raining, God help me. All the mud will be at the tip of my shoes, like the one in the picture. I polish my shoes half-heartedly and soon if it rains the shoes go back to their previous state. I feel disgusted and angry. I have observed that no other humans suffer from this peculiar plight. Perhaps they know how to walk...............how to walk in the rain !!

WHEN THE LITERARY BUG BIT ME

1981 was an eventful year. A group of medicos of the CNMC 1978 batch, Debadipta Das, Gautam Pal Chowdhury, Swapan Mukhopadhyay and myself brought out this 21 page little bi-lingual literary and cultural magazine "KAHLAR", meaning a lotus. It was a dream come true. I was throughly involved in designing the coverpage, editing the english section, honing my writing skills, proof reading at the New Alipore press and of course raising funds from our batchmates to meet the printing expenses. I had even carefully kept the wooden block of "KAHLAR" as a memento for a great period of time, but had eventually misplaced it somewhere.

My writing efforts cuminated in prose pieces like "Palkee-Palkee-Palkee" and "Sekaler Bigyapane Ajab Kolkata", the last named article written in the bengali in the second and last issue of the magazine. I also wrote "Loneliness" under the pen-name of Munmun Roy. I was also instrumental in taking an interview of the noted poet, Mr Arun Mitra.

The next year (1982) we brought out the college literary magazine, where I was responsible for editing the english section and in designing the coverpage of the magazine. I still feel we did an excellent job. The cover picture was taken by our friend, Sanmoy Ganguly. It was here I wrote an essay titled "The History Of Young Mr Charnock" and a poem called "A Wish". In the mean time the bengali cultural mag ORCHID, published my poem "Chanda"

The 1983 SANKALAN published my small story, "The Perfect Salesgirl". I graduated the same year and became so much involved with my internship that it put a temporary stop to my literary spurt.

FORMATION OF THE GROUP - "DOCTORS WHO TREAT THE UNDERPRIVILEDGED"

Joining FACEBOOK on 21.08.09 on a hunch has proved to be an eventful experience in my life. Till date I have forty eight friends across the globe, irrespective of gender, age group, education and profession with whom I will be networking in the future. The list of friends will keep on growing with the passage of time and emboldened by this inevitability, I have gathered strenghth enough to reorganise some of my ideas that have long struggled to see the the light of the day into new constructive formats that may be shared with my new friend circle. Thus my own blog space - lemmeemptymymind.blogspot.com and the new group of "DOCTORS WHO TREAT THE UNDERPRIVILEDGED" have been born.

I am much indebted to Jahanara, who has believed in me and has been the first person to show courage and join this group (besides me as its creator) on the very first day of its existence. I expect the group will appeal to all like-minded people who will help me to build it up through their long association, constructive support and active participation.

Long live the GROUP.

THE DURGA PUJA IS JUST THREE WEEKS AWAY !

The Durga Puja is only just three weeks away ! Today while returning home in the late afternoon hours, I was stranded, jostling for space under the narrow shade of a closed tea shop. The murky sky above had suddenly disintegrated into an outburst of shower but I had enough time to click this picture of an upcoming pandal near the "Karunamoyee Kali Bari".

I was returning from a visit to CHILD CARE HOME, one of the two care homes run by Women's Interlink Foundation. On my way out I ran into Sandhya , an older inmate of the home who came in to show the salwar suit she was tailoring for a younger member of the place. There was a big smile of satisfaction on her face. She was happy, the puja was almost there.................... The same happiness flooded my heart and ignoring the weather I walked towards my home in the drizzle.