An Assamese babu helps patients fight cancer ……Kartikeya I TNN
Mumbai: Rajani Saikia, a carpenter from a remote village in Assam, made distress sales of his land, hut and everything else he owned, to give himself a chance to fight cancer. His last hope was the Tata Memorial Hospital in the city, but his money only lasted him a month. Speaking broken Hindi, Saikia found it difficult to communicate his plight and like hundreds had done before him, he too decided to return to the north-east and surrender to his fate.
But thanks to Assam Bhavan in Vashi and a zealous civil servant who runs it, six months later, Saikia is on the road to recovery, having won his battle against the deadly disease.
Devasish Sharma, an Assamese civil services officer, came to Mumbai in 2003 with a mandate to run the bhavan like any other state government guest house to cater to the needs of ministers and bureaucrats. However, Sharma heard about the plight of poor cancer patients from the Northeast who needed treatment, but could not afford to stay in Mumbai for a long time.
He then asked his government to open the Bhavan to cancer patients. The Assamese diaspora in the city chipped in with support and soon a bus and two other vehicles were provided to drive the patients daily to the hospital for their operations and chemotherapy. Now, after four years, more than a thousand patients, most from the poorest sections of society, have returned home cured.
For instance, a woman suffering from breast cancer who has come to the city without telling her only daughter about it. She is doing so well and is studying at an engineering college. I do not want her to panic and whenever she calls, I pretend to be at home, she said. In any case, I am getting treated and will be fine soon, she added with a smile.
However, things did not get better as soon as the Bhavan was thrown open to patients. Making a trip to Mumbai from the Northeast was a difficult task for most of the underprivileged. So they would wait for too long after the disease struck and the doctors at the Tata hospital would often tell them that they had come in too late, said Sharma.
Unfazed, Sharma found a solution in 2005. He took his official leave and started trekking to villages in Assam. I would play the guitar and famous local singer, Nupur Bordoloi, would entertain the crowds, said Sharma. They would sensitise people about cancer and would tell villagers about the Bhavan in Mumbai where they could stay at a subsidised rate.
Consequently, many more patients started coming to Mumbai, at early stages of the disease and their chances of survival increased. Sadly, Bordoloi himself died of blood cancer last month.
An NGO, Deep Sikha, has been roped in to transport rural patients to the hospital and bridge the language barrier. A database of thousand blood donors, many of them from the Assamese diaspora, has also been created. Similarly, others have pledged money that is asked of them only when a patient needs it, for payment at the hospital.
More than 50 patients come to Assam Bhavan every month to fight their battle against cancer. Now, my only priority is to add two more floors to the building so that we can accommodate more patients, said Sharma.
SUPPORT FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED
Devasish Sharma, an Assamese civil services officer, wanted to help cancer patients from the Northeast. He took his official leave and started trekking to villages in Assam. I would play the guitar and famous local singer, Nupur Bordoloi, would entertain the crowds, said Sharma. They sensitised people about cancer and told villagers about the Bhavan in Mumbai where they could stay at a subsidised rate
SUPPORT FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED
Devasish Sharma, an Assamese civil services officer, wanted to help cancer patients from the Northeast. He took his official leave and started trekking to villages in Assam. I would play the guitar and famous local singer, Nupur Bordoloi, would entertain the crowds, said Sharma. They sensitised people about cancer and told villagers about the Bhavan in Mumbai where they could stay at a subsidised rate
SHELTER IN THE CITY: More than 50 patients come to Assam Bhavan every month for cancer treatment in the city. Three vehicles at the Bhavan ferry them to the Tata hospital for operations and chemotherapy