LEAP BEYOND LEPROSY

My heart was still gripped in the thoughts of "Ashadhaan” when the “karmavataar” called me to see another face of reality. The destination this time was a Leprosy Hospital. More than the hospital, it was the location that was keeping me puzzled. The place was addressed, ‘Opposite to the back gate of VJTI’. I had spent four years of my life as an engineering student at VJTI. I knew every good restaurant and cinema house in its vicinity but was never aware of such a hospital until today. This thought pricked the innermost chord of my conscience which was castigating me trying to wake my humanity from its slumber.

Finally, I did manage to locate it and went in. It was in sharp contrast to the sophistications outside. It seemed like a small village contained in itself with all its serenity though there was an air of seriousness around having known that it was a Leprosy Hospital. As soon as I entered, I could see the “karmavataar” already there in his spotless white attire and a ‘forever’ young smile.

With everything ready, we started our journey to serve food to the 7 wards of the hospital with around 180 patients. As I was serving food, I noticed that almost all of the patients were elders discarded by their families. Every eye told me just one story. For them, more then the agony of dying is the fear of living. Though the want for food was always there, but the hunger for affection was far more. What they craved for was a gentle smile.

During my journey, I came across a person whose both legs had been consumed by the disease. I asked him, “Baba, for how long have you been here? Do you have no one?” With a crying voice he replied, “35 years”. He had not seen anything outside the confines of the hospital for the last 35 years, He had a family living in Nanded which visited him once a year. But the visit was always filled with complaints rather than affection. I could hear no more. He greeted me with a ‘crooked’ Namaskar as I bid adieu.

When everything was done, I could not help thinking the disparity in nature. For the first time, I started doubting the justice of “Law of Karma” (explained in Shrimad Bhagwad Gita). I tried a lot but was unable to forgive myself. I had always grumbled that I got too little for all the efforts that I had taken. For the first time, I realized how generous Lord had been to me. While these thoughts were still rolling, my eyes again fell on the “karmavataar”. Just then I remembered a small shloka(verse), I had read in a book by Sudha Murti,

“Shateshu Jayate shoor, sahastreshu panditaa,
Vaakta das sahastreshu, daata bhavati Va Na Va”
(A courageous person is one in a hundred, a scholar one in a thousand,
a good orator one in ten thousand, but a philanthropist may or may not be born.)

How true this ancient wisdom was in the current scenario. My thoughts started rolling again and I thought, ‘Just as we have broken our shackles from the so called “orthodoxy” in our lives, its time we do it once again and prove wrong the above 'shloka’

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Chetan Bhadricha