Fairy Tale Endings

In 2005,the handsome Yuvraj Shivraj Singh of Marwar-Jodhpur fell off a horse during a polo game and couldn’t get up again. Not only those in elite circles who knew him,but the entire country watched as his pained father,Maharaja Gaj Singh II,explained the injury. Shivraj,34,is still bed-ridden,but on March 10 this year,he became betrothed to Rajkumari Gayatri from Askot in Uttarakhand. They will marry in November this year. Shivraj’s rehabilitation is slow but steady. “He is fully conscious of what’s going on around him,” his father says. “He needs somebody in the room with him but he doesn’t need support when walking. He is still on physiotherapy,memory exercises and speech therapy as he speaks very softly,but he even goes swimming some days.”

Gaj Singh is also elated with his pet project: the Royal Rajasthan Gala,a fundraiser that aids the Indian Head Injury Foundation that he started after his son’s accident. The gala is in its second year and will take place at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace & Tower on June 18. Last year,the venue was the Whitehall in London,and had Sir Bob Geldof,Sarah Ferguson,Sigourney Weaver and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent attending. They raised over one lakh pounds for the Foundation.

This year,Weaver,Goldie Hawn,Elisabeth van Merkensteijn,Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan,Mukesh and Nita Ambani,Anil and Tina Ambani,Adi Godrej,Ajit Gulabchand and Sunil Gavaskar are on the guest list. Norah Jones has been invited to perform and is expected to accept,provided her schedule permits. And a Rajasthani bazaar and silent auction have been organised. “The main idea is to create a core group of supporters to generate awareness,” explains Gaj Singh. “In India,a lot of help is still required,right from the government down to the last person. We need research and to build better facilities,and this requires a lot of putting together.”

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