Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (SP)
Kasargod, Jul 3: T Shruti, who has been suffering from physical disability due to the after-affects of insecticide-sum-acaricide, Endosulfan, has remained undaunted by obstacles and challenges she has been facing because of her condition. She continues to fight against odds like poverty and rural base, and has placed a firm step ahead towards realizing her dream of becoming a medical practitioner. She has succeeded in getting admission into a medical college now.
Shruti has drawn support from people like Dr Y S Mohan Kumar, who helped her to come out of the abyss of the physical deformity caused by Endosulfan, and organizations like Punarnava Trust, which work to make such people come up in life. Shruti has passed the medical entrance examination, and has got admission into the government homoeopathic medical college at Bengaluru.
Lives of hundreds of people and small children including those born later, were adversely affected by the Endosulfan spray used by the horticultural department in cashew plantations spread over 11 gram panchayat limits in the district. A still of Shruti when young, suffering untold miseries of the side-affects of this terrible chemical, had made the headlines and drawn the attention of the world towards the harrowing experiences of Endosulfan victims. Shruti's picture, with no mobility in her right leg, split finger in the right hand, and four fingers in her left hand, had reached all the corners of the world through the internet, and introduced to the world the danger of Endosulfan use.
Shruti was three when her mother, Meenakshi, who was also afflicted with dieseases because of the use of Endosulfan, died of cancer. Her father, Taranath Rao, and stepmother, Revati, who lived in a hut in Vaninagara, faced lot of hardships as they found it hard to pool money for Shruti's treatment. The family was mired in multifarious problems.
Dr Y S Mohan Kumar, who took up cudgels on behalf of victims of Endosulfan use, who repeatedly proved that Endosulfan had marred the lives of hundreds of people, duly demolishing theories of successive scientific teams which tried to project Endosulfan as harmless, came to the rescue of Shruti at a critical time of her life. Dr Mohan, who appeared like a Messiah deputed by god, treated Shruti like his own daughter, and looked after her affectionately. He taught her to hold pen and pencil with her four left fingers and write in Kannada. He also forced the family to admit her into school. He also arranged to provide her a prosthetic leg below her knee to help her to be mobile. The way Shruti has emerged from the challenges she faced, and determination with which she studied, and became eligible to be a doctor is nothing less than a miracle.
Shruti was admitted into the first standard at Padre school when she was eight. She walked through the hilly terrain of malnad for eight km every day to school with the help of her artificial leg. Whenever he had no work, her father used to accompany her to school. Shruti was inspired to become a doctor after observing the way Dr Mohan Kumar served the poor people. She also has a burning desire to serve the poor and the downtrodden. In SSLC, Shruti passed three subjects with A grade. On that occasion, several organizations and institutions had extended help to her.
Shruti passed plus two from the government vocational higher secondary school at Mulleriya. Endosulfan Victims Sports Aid Group helped her in preparing for medical entrance examination. Shruti now lives with husband, Jagadish, a bus employee, at Kuntaru in Mulleria. She will be travelling to Bengaluru shortly to get admitted into medical college.
Shruti could somehow pool enough money for paying fee for the first semester at the college. Shruti has already approached the district collector with request for financial help to pursue the rest of her course.