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The Parents Write:
I Wish Anand's passing away was not true. We
still have to get used to seeing his empty bedroom,
his wheelchair, now folded away, and no happy
sounds in the morning. He was a happy, carefree
child, imprisoned in a helpless adult body.
His mental powers far exceeded ours. He understood
what was happening to him, and accepted it with
total reserve. He was at peace with himself
and his calmness and cheerfulness transmitted
itself to everyone who met him. People came
to see him our of curiosity, and often with
problems, which to them were intractable. After
talking to him they realized that their own
problems were usually minor compared to his,
and still he managed to cheer them up.
Anand was the dynamo who started up the Goa
Chapter of the Indian Muscular Dystrophy Association
(IMDA). His paintings were printed as greeting
cards and sold far and wide. The proceeds are
the corpus of our funds, together with donations
from friends, relatives and often strangers
who read articles about him published in the
Femina, Times of India, and our local papers.
The funds are invested, and the interest goes
to buying wheelchairs for disabled patients,
published the newsletter "Bridge of the
national headquarters of the IMDA, which we
support, to be sent to thousands of Muscular
Dystrophy patients around the country.
Anand knew that 14th October 1999 was his last
birthday, and this past Diwali was his last.
For the first time in 25 years he asked for
firecrackers and rockets. He knew he was dying
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sent his sister Kavita home to the USA on
28th December 1999, (after she had spent
10 days with us), because |
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he did not want her to see him suffer and die.
He had himself picked up and put into his wheelchair
that morning and saw Kavita off at the door on
her way to the airport. When she had second thoughts
on going away, and wanted to stay, he said, "I'M
OK, you had better go, I have work to do on my
computer". As soon as she was out of sight,
he said "I'm tired, put me back into bed".
That was the last time he got up. Even to the
last, he was cheerful and never complained, even
though he was in great pain, with pleuritis, and
pericarditis.
To us, his parents, it was heart-rending to
witness our only son dying, but at the same
time if filled us with pride to see him bear
his cross with exemplary courage. He died a
hero to the many, many friends around the world
to whom he wrote such lovely encouraging letters.
We both were privileged to be the parents
of a wonderful person, innocent yet wise, saintly
yet mischievous, strong in mind yet helpless
in body, stricken by a fatal illness but totally
courageous. It was only for 30 years that
we had him with us, but he did more to improve
the world around him than most people do in
many lifetimes. We are receiving dozens and
dozens of letters, phone calls, and e-mail messages,
which are a tribute to his charisma and his
impact of his world in such a short life.
-SUSHILA & ARUN RAO,
Goa
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