26/11: Looking Back, Looking Ahead 3

Parul Sharma, India Helps core team member is the celebrity author in our team, with her book Bringing Up Vasu out recently. She has been part of the team since the first day we met up, and has provided vital support on the Momina Khatoon case, and the Salma Thackeray case amongst others. Here is what she has to say:

I think I will remember 26/11 and the subsequent days as the darkest I have known in my life. As an Indian who sees tragedies and ill-managed disasters being reported every day from every corner of my country, I thought that somewhere I had developed a thick skin over my conscience. The carnage on 26/11, the unprecedented levels of violence, the systematic way in which innocents were killed, so close to where I was sitting watching my television affected me in a way that I did not think was possible anymore. I mourned the loss of those lives, I wept as the dead bodies were brought out, my heart swelled in pride at the people who laid their lives to protect their fellowmen and a little later when all that was left was a sense of deep loss and grief, I wanted to reach out and help in any way that I could. In other words, I felt as millions of others did.
India Helps was a small representation of those millions, a fragment of the larger whole. Today, I belong to this group with a sense of pride and it has helped me contribute in my own small way to my country and to my fellow Indians.

Parul Sharma
Author

Update on Momina

This fresh in from Aparna:
Yesterday morning after I read the news (of the extortion threats) in the Mumbai Mirror, I immediately spoke to Momina. She was very surprised to know that I had heard of the news. She was not aware that the news had been published in the papers. She was
mentioning to me that since the first of this month there has been media people doing the rounds of her house. The meetings with these people start at 10 and end only by 5 in the evening.

I asked her that if she has been getting threatening calls since three months how come she did not even mentioned it once, she said she was scared and did not want to tell too many people. She has mentioned it to some person close to her house who has also been lending support to her. So I guess from there it reached the media.

Also her money is still with some chacha (Momina has given the compensation amount she received to a relative who has promised her interest) and she will get the money back this month and she is planning to put it in the bank or invest in some property.

I personally feel there is a lot of communication gap, as in, she is not able to communicate her thoughts properly to people and people also understand differently.

Update on Momina Khatoon

This in from Aparna:

Have been in regular touch with Momina. She has been doing fine. But the kids have been falling ill regularly. In fact the younger one has been diagnosed with chicken pox. The elder one has a slight cough and cold and she has been regularly visiting the doctors because of this.

When I spoke to her she requested for financial help for day to day and medical expenses. I will be visiting Momina the week after Diwali.

If anyone would like to help Momina, please do contact us on info@indiahelps.org or indiahelps@gmail.com.

Visit to Momina

This report in over the weekend from Aparna:

Hi All,

I had made a visit to Momina's house today. Saw the baby. The baby is really tiny. The kids were getting ready to go to school when I reached. School was reopening after a week.

Rahul from TISS had also accompanied me. He got her thumb impression on a few papers. He says Taj will start sending the cheques really soon. They will be sending her a fixed amount every month. That should start in a month or so. He also tried talking to her about starting work which she brushed off.

I gave her the money Sangeeta had sent. I asked her about the money to be given to the landlord. She told me that she has not paid rent for two months. Her landlord also dropped in at that point. I told him that I will give him rent for six months and he should give me a receipt. He said he will not give me any such written proof. We tried to reason with him but he just did not agree.

I gave the money to Momina and have taken her signature on a paper which states that she has received the money from Indiahelps to pay the rent for six months. She said that she might be able to convince him give the receipt and also that she has earlier also given him money and he has not created a problem for her. And he never gives her any thing in writing. I will scan the receipt which has Momina's signature and send it across.

Rahul and I also visited the children's school to get a few papers form there. Met the principal and few teachers. She will send across all the papers required by Rahul on Monday.

Momina's baby

Her son is doing okay and is to be discharged today. Thank you for your prayers and goodwill.

Article on Momina's baby in Mumbai Mirror

Read it here:
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20City&sectid=2&contentid=2009080820090808021253890ab14f064

Thank you Anand, for a sensitively written article.

Update on Momina's Baby

This just came in from Orange Jammies:

I received a call from Dr. Gandhi before I could call him and he said the baby is doing well. He is now also off oxygen and breathing on his own. They are likely to start feeds tomorrow onward. It is too early to assess any damage done. He mentioned that if the baby maintains good health, he will be discharged in a few days, so yay! But please keep praying!

Update on Momina's baby

From Orange Jammies, who spoke to the doctor.

Just finished speaking with Dr. Manish Gandhi at Shishu and here's what he told me:

Momina delivered at Vikas Nursing Home, 10 minutes away from Shishu Hospital in Ghatkopar. At the time of delivery, the baby cried only a little and then stopped. Dr. Gandhi said this does happen in certain cases, where respiration does not occur fully and normally (e.g. baby is stressed during delivery or does not realize s/he is out and has to respond appropriately) and due to this the baby was transferred to the NICU of their hospital within an hour of birth. He was apparently deprived of oxygen for about ten minutes immediately after birth.

He has been put on the ventilator and has responded adequately to the oxygen given, heart rate is also normalized, however we do not know what the long-term repurcussions of early oxygen deprivation are going to be. He will have to be under observation for 48 hours before any conclusion can be reached.

Momina is obviously not with her child, but there is one person with her, according to the doctor. He is aware of the financial constraints involving Momina's case and said they will do their best to minimize NICU costs, but cannot provide even a ballpark figure right now. I asked him if it was okay to call back for updates and he said I was welcome to do that.

So we'll have to wait and watch for the next 48 hours.

Momina's child in NICU

Latest from Aparna:

I just got a call from the doctor again.

She says the kid was fine as soon as he was born. He cried properly, but now he seems to have developed some complications and they have shifted the child to NICU. The problem is none of her relatives accompanied the child to NICU and the Doctors there have gone along.

She said the bill for the NICU she will not be able to take care. That is something we might have to bear. She will let me know shortly how much it will come to.

Momina Khatoon has a boy

For all those of you who have been following this blog, and the heartwrenching case of Momina Khatoon, who lost her husband in the Vile Parle taxi blast (he was the cab driver), the latest update is that she just delivered a baby boy this morning. This is her fourth child.
Mother and son are both healthy and doing fine, and a big thank you to Dr Manju who has been treating her pro bono through her pregnancy and delivery.
If anyone would like to send in clothes and things for the newborn, please do mail in at indiahelps@gmail.com or info@indiahelps.org.

Update on Momina

This just in from Aparna:

Status Update on Momina

Things at Momina's end have still not changed. She still requires a lot of support. Two of her kids are attending school regularly. The third one is at home with her. She should be delivering the fourth baby soon. The baby is expected anytime now. Luckily the doctor treating her is not charging her any money, she has also agreed to do the delivery free of cost for her. She is finding it increasingly difficult to travel from her house to the hospital because of the rains. Also she doesn't keep too well these days. Her sister is around to take care of her and the kids which is a huge help.

The only help coming to her is now from our end. Looks like we will have to continue helping her for at least another 6-7 months. Before we can even expect her to get on her feet.

Edited to add: If anyone would like to help Momina Khatoon, please do write in at indiahelps@gmail.com.




--
www.indiahelps.blogspot.com
www.indiahelps.org
Whom have you helped today?

Find purpose. The means will follow.
Mahatma Gandhi

Update on Momina

This from Aparna:

Visited Momina today...
Did not spend too much time because she was not feeling too well.... She has completed 8 months and 2 days of pregnancy. She had visited the doctor yesterday. She is looking very weak...

Her kids join school tomorrow. The second one also starts school tomorrow.. I gave her the Rs 4,500 which Parul had transferred.. Looks like she needed the money with the admissions and delivery all round the corner....

She actually did not expect me to come back after the last visit (our last visit was with Rahul from TISS). Her phone was not working so was not able to call her also all this while.

Have requested her to call me every week or at least once in two weeks so I know how she is feeling. I don't know when I can go next because once the rains start, going there would be really difficult.

Hopefully by next month the Taj/TISS cheques should start reaching her...

Update on Momina

This just came in from Aparna, about Momina Khatoon. As regular readers might recall, Aparna had made a joint visit to Momina Khatoon with Rahul, a social worker from TISS, which is helping the Taj trust with their groundwork to clear a case of mistaken identity:

Hi,

Rahul from TISS had messaged me. TISS has agreed for a sum of Rs 10,000 (not sure for how long) to be given to Momina Khatoon.

The money will go to her within two weeks. They also want to provide her some psycho social help. for which the faculty of TISS will be visiting her.

I was not able to visit her this weekend, also her phone is not reachable

Update on Momina

This report in on Momina from Aparna:

I had gone to see Momina this Saturday. I was accompanied by Rahul
form TISS who is hopeful about helping out. (Edited to add: Rahul is
associated with the team from the Taj Public Welfare Trust, which is
handling 26/11 relief work and had accompanied Aparna to clarify a
case of mistaken identities.) Things seem to be just going bad to
worse with her. The entire family was unwell and she was mentioning
that the younger son had to be taken to the hospital so she has spend
about Rs 3000-5000 for that. She also looked very unwell and in fact,
at a point, said that she doesn't know how long she will live.

Rahul was asking her a lot of questions regarding how she got to know
about her husband death and what are the amounts she has got as
compensation.

Also she has given an amount of Rs 9,000 to some random guy who has
promised to get her birth certificates of her children. She needed the
birth certificate because some one want to open a Jeevan Bheema for
her kids.

Rahul has said he will try and help. Lets see what happens in that front.

Update on Momina

This came in from Parul today:

Hello All,

Aparna and I went to meet Momina. The three kids were there and her sister has arrived from her village to help her out for a few months. I must say Momina was looking quite well and Aparna too mentioned that she is looking better with every visit. The older kids were getting ready to go to school.



Aparna handed her the cheque.



I tried talking to her several times about her future and how she should try to take care of her children. It cannot be easy. It's a tiny room that she stays in and with three kids running all over the place and the fourth one on the way, the sewing machine cannot be a sustainable source of livelihood. However, and this is the important thing, she does not seem willing to give it a shot either. There seems to be no urge to seek any sort of indepedence. It is a deep-set mindset and I don't think it can or will change. She kept circumventing the topic every time I brought it up.



Aparna has given her her mobile number and we have told Momina that she should call us in case she needs any help at all.



That's it, folks. Have a nice weekend.







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Update on Momina

Hello everybody,



Shyaam and I visited Momina's place yesterday. From our first meeting to date, she has started looking so much better. She has accepted life and is at least making an effort to move on. She was glad to see us. Shyaam bought chocolates for the kids and it was a delight to see them. They ran around the entire house expressing their happiness.



We gave her the cheques of Rs 9000 (thanks Divya) and Rs 2000 (thanks Sunayana) each.



She also told us that now her doctor is not taking any consultation fee from her. And the doctor had asked her to tell this to anyone who comes and asks about her medical expenses.



Right now she has her sister staying with her to help her with work and the kids. One thing we have noticed every time we go to her place is that even though the house is small, it is spick and span.



While leaving we also met her eldest son. He has done well in his exams and is regular to school tuitions and his Arabic classes. She expressed her desire to teach him so that he does well in life.



Aparna



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Update on Momina

This report on Momina from Aparna:





Visited Momina this Saturday. I had gone along with a journalist who wanted to do an article on Momina.



Momina looked better and happier today. She was more then willing to talk and share stuff. It felt nice that our efforts are paying off. I handed her the cheque for Rs 9000/- for six months rent which had come in from one of our readers, Divya. Thanks Divya!!!



I asked her if she is receiving money from any other source to which she said no. But she did mention a lady who has bought her a sewing machine and a mobile.



We were there for a about an hour and she spoke about everything from her kids to her husband to her in-laws to her family. Right now her parents are staying with her but they will leave in week after which her sister will come to down to be with her.



She also gave me the details of the doctor she visits. I spoke to the doctor. Her name is Manju and she works at a hospital in Govandi called Vikas Nursing Home. The doctor said she was willing to treat Momina free of charge. But she had an issue that Momina doesn't visit her regularly or take the medicines regularly. She said all her complaints are because she is not eating healthily. We could take Momina for a second opinion but I wouldn't suggest changing the doctor, as she seems comfortable with her. The doctor mentioned that we could perhaps pay for the delivery at a later stage.



While we were leaving, Momina asked us to come back to meet her.







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Follow up report on Momina Khatoon

This from Aparna:
Visit to Momina's house on Saturday 10th January 2008. This was my third visit to the place. She looked glad to see me. She was just playing with the little one. The other two kids were not at home.

I gave her the cheque and the warm clothes and she seemed glad to receive it. But I also noticed that she looked very weak and fragile. Her health is deteriorating day by day. I asked her to eat well and take good care of herself. I also enquired if she would need anything else. But she did not say anything specific.
Every time I go there, I can't help thinking of how can we help her better. I had taken my brother along with me. He thought giving her money is not going to help her. When I explained she was pregnant, he too had no answer to give or suggestions to make. He also agreed that what we are doing is the best we could under the circumstances.

Thank you for that report Aparna. It is truly heartbreaking. Any suggestions on how we could help her better? Every suggestion is welcome.

Report from Govandi

And this report from Shyaam and Aparna

Dear All,

We had gone to Memoon Khatoon's house yesterday (wife of cab driver who died in the Vile Parle blast). We gave her the amount (Rs. 2500/-) and we also told her that we are ready to help her out if she is keen on attending talioring classes.But she told us that she is pregnant (2 months) and she will not be in a position to do any kind of work now and in the coming months. We told her that in case she feels that she will be able to do something she can let us know so that we may be able to make necessary arrangements.The issue is she will have to be supported for the coming months. She will be a mother of 4 children at the end of this year. Thankfully her eldest son's school fees for the year has been paid. We will need to figure out a solution for her other worries in life. She was also complaining about having constant chest pains for which she is taking medicines.
It looks like she will need support for another 2 years this seems to be a long term affair. I think we should may be try speaking to cooperates who might be willing to do so. Or any other suggestions?
We had also gone to Ganesh's house (son of Sitaram who died in CST firing) to collect the bio-data and he was thrilled to see us. He really expects us to get him a good job. We told him that he may get only a job such as delivery boy/office assitant now and he should while working also pursue his studies and finish his 12th so that he will be better qualified and will get a better job once he finishes his 12th. He also showed his certificates and gold medals which he earned for karate (he has earned black belt in sub-junior level).

Two issues here: Long term support from Memoona Khatoon.

And

A job for the boy.

If anyone can help out do email me at indiahelps@gmail.com or just leave me a comment here with your email id and will get in touch with you.

From Govandi

And this report from Govandi, from team member Aparna and her friend Shyam. Thanks Aparna for the trek undertaken on your weekly off:

We visited two of the victims on Sunday morning.

Both the addresses allotted to me were in Govandi (2 stations before Vashi.)

First we made a visit to the house of Late Mohammad Umar Singh. He was taxi driver who was killed in the Vile Parle blast. Since Kiran had given me the exact address, I did not face any difficulty in finding the place. But there were comments galore in the street when I was asking the way to his house. "angrez aa gaye" the comment could have been because I wearing capris. We have decided that next time I'll go in salwar kameez only. We also heard comments such as, "5 lakh bag mein le kar aayi hai".

The house was inside a small gali with a dirty nala right in front. Its actually a room with an attached bathroom. The house does not have a door and is covered with a curtain. His wife and 2 of his children were there along with the wife's brother (who is taking care of the family presently). There was also a lady who has been brought from the village for help as the wife is not in a mental state of mind to do any work.

There are totally 4 members in the family. (Wife and 3 children.) The children are aged 6, 3 and 1.5. The eldest child is going to school. This lady is not qualified and therefor is not going for any work. She wants to educate her children. But most importantly she wants the government to allot a house in her name. They are currently staying in a rented place, (paying a rent of about Rs. 1500) The Government aid of Rs. 5 lakhs has reached them. And it has been put into a bank close by that and it is a co-operative bank. She is presently living on the money people give her when they visit her and the money received from Government.

To summarise, her immediate priorities are:

1. House in her name
2. Educate her children

The second family we visited also living in an area close by. Here the head of the family (Sitaram Malape) was shot down at the attack in CST. The family that consists of the deceased the wife and 2 sons aged 19 and 14 years respectively were on their way for a relatives marriage at Sholapur, when the firing happened. The elder son was also shot at in his hand. He still visits the government hospital for his dressing. They seemed relatively better off they had a house of their own. The kids were going to school. The elder son is in 12th but now he doesn't want to study ahead. He wants to start working he is expecting an income of about 7000-8000. We tried convincing him to try and finish is 12th but he was adamant on finding a job as soon as possible.

This family also has all its relatives starting close by and has been able to fend for themselves. The only concern seems to be to get this boy a job.

They had also received the compensation form the governmental and the railways.

The immediate priority for this family is getting the elder son a job.



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