Giving a New Life

After


Before

Reporter's Notebook

Recently, I read a wonderful piece in Hindustan Times' Sunday Sentiments by celebrity Indian TV journalist Karan Thapar . He drew an analogy between media and medicine. The question is: Can media, like medicine, save lives? Mr. Thapar, in that piece, seemed defeated in his premise. But, here I am providing an epitome of such life-giving phenomenon.

Few months ago, I did a story on an epileptic patient chained for five years. She was senseless; could not speak, didn't feel and just could cry aimlessly. Her peasant parents were having hellish life. A brief news was published in a daily and I hastened to probe beneath the layers. I told to myself, "A precious life is being wasted." And, we embarked on a life-saving journey. The story was presented from the point of view of her parents who were a suffering lot.I was pleasantly surprised when the story grabbed the attention of a lady doc who refused to be mentioned in the Nepal Magazine follow up reporting. She provided all the expenditure for the 19 year old Laxmi Tamang's treatment. Laxmi lives in Mangaltar VDC, Kavre, five hour drive from Kathmandu.

And, lo and behold, she is now freed from chain. I came to know that she's also cured from epilepsy. The before and after pics tell you a lot. Here, I would like to thank Dr. Aruna Uprety and Rural Health and Education Service Trust (RHEST) for being Good Samaritans.Hats off to you. I am also thankful to blogger and The Katmandu Post reporter Ujjwal Acharya and photojournalist Bikas Karki for accompanying me to the place. They didn't complain when I had less-than-enough money to support the travel expenditure.