Journalism of Courage
“Can you not cure and help me?”
He was 76 years old, and it was a complicated spine surgery. But when Bapu Sutar asked reluctant doctors in Pune this question last month, they simply couldn’t refuse. For, Sutar had told them he had to be fit to look after his three visually impaired sons, one of whom is also mentally challenged.
It’s been a life of eternal struggle for Bapu and his wife Tara at Shirpur in Maharashtra’s Dhule district, 375 km from Pune, especially after relatives and friends started avoiding them when three of their four children were born blind.
And yet, as the world marks Father’s Day on June 21, Bapu and his wife can look back with pride at what they, and their children, have achieved.
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Rajendra, 50, has acquired an MA and a B Ed from North Maharashtra University, and teaches history at the Sane Guruji school in Shirpur. Gopal, the youngest at 37, has completed his BA and obtained a diploma in education, and teaches at a school for the blind at Malegaon.
Somnath, the second son, is visually impaired and mentally challenged, and stays at home, while their daughter Lata is married and stays with her husband in Pune.
Bapu and Tara had initially admitted Rajendra and Gopal to a school for the blind but moved them to regular schools where their grades improved.
”We just don’t know why our three sons were born blind. We went to several doctors but in vain. Yet, we were determined that our sons would study,” said Tara, 67.
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And so started the struggle that continues, starting a few minutes before 7 am when Bapu kicks-starts his scooter.
Then, he gets Gopal to a bus stop from where he travels for three hours to teach at a school for the blind in Malegaon.
At 11 am, Bapu gets Rajendra to another bus stop from where he travels 12 km to teach at the Shirpur school run by the Kisan Vidya Prasarak Sansthan.
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On their return, the brothers call their father to the bus stand to take them home — separately.
Tara’s day, meanwhile, begins at 5 am when she starts preparing food for the family. “Somnath cannot do much due to his disabilities and I have to brush his teeth, bathe him and keep him occupied at home,” she said.
However, just when life appeared to have finally smoothened out, Bapu’s back gave up.
While most doctors refused to operate on the spine due to his age, the persistent father reached Pune to consult Dr Ketan Khurjekar, the chief spine surgeon at Sancheti Hospital.
“I advised rest and medicines to treat the back pain. But he insisted on a surgery, which was a complicated one. His spinal canal had narrowed so much that the spinal cord and the nerves were not able to ‘breathe’ properly. There was no normal flow of electric signals. This problem is not uncommon. But given his age, we advised a change in lifestyle, medicines and exercises,” Dr Khurjekar said.
But after hearing Sutar’s story, Dr Khurjekar’s team decided to do their best with a microscope-assisted surgery. Three days later, Sutar started walking although Dr Khurjekar said he would have to take it easy for a few months.
In Pune, Lata, her husband Prakash and their son Prafulla have helped Bapu recover. “We have also told our uncles to shift to Pune. But they say their life is in Shirpur,” said Prafulla.
The Sunday Express spoke to Rajendra and Gopal over the phone, and they said there was no place for people who are visually impaired “in our society”.
”Do we not have a right to be even slightly happy?” asked Rajendra.
”Can you find some nice girl who would like to marry us? She can have any deformity, it’s OK even if she is partially blind,” said Gopal.
