School Life

 He started speaking a little late as compared to other children so we put him in a play school nearby, Shemrock Play School. He was around 2 and a half years old, he learned to interact with other children and gradually he was comfortable and developed his speaking skills. In 2004, we shifted to Pune from Delhi due to Vikas, [Sarthak’s father] job.

For 3 years we enjoyed and had a lot of fun along with Sarthak, taking him to movies, games arcade and visiting Goa, Mahabaleshwar, Mussorie to name a few like any other normal family. Sarthak got admission in DAV in Jr Kg since it was close to our society and our new journey began.

 Whether you call it destiny or our good luck, we came to know about an upcoming school,Vidya Valley School from one of our friends who convinced us to take admission there,giving us very impressive feedback. So in Sr Kg Sarthak got admission in Vidya Valley School, thanks to Principal ma’am, Mrs Nalini Sengupta, an amazing lady with a pleasing personality. After Sarthak’s admission was confirmed, I also applied for a job as a teacher in VVS.

When Sarthak was around 7 years old, I was observing Sarthak for a few days like he was walking with a little limp, not able to climb the school bus in the same way as other children of his age group. My suspicions were confirmed when his sports teacher, Nitin Wagh observed that he is not able to do many physical activities like a normal child. He advised me to show Sarthak to a doctor.

So, I took Sarthak to an orthopedic doctor when I visited Delhi during summer vacation in 2005.  My world turned upside down when a doctor diagnosed Sarthak with a  Muscular Dystrophy, a progressive and genetic disorder at the age of 5 years. In this disorder, our body’s skeletal muscles get weaker with every passing year. He could not bear his body weight on his hands and legs as a result he could not Walk or Run like normal kids. Gradually it also affects the internal organs.

Only male kids get affected with this disease and unfortunately, till date, it is not curable.

 After informing and discussing with all the family members and friends, everyone suggested going to Patanjali Ashram started by Baba Ramdev, a yoga guru who used to propose that through various yoga techniques, even incurable disorders can be cured. We went to Haridwar along with Sarthak where for a few days we  stayed with my husband’s uncle. We used to go to Ashram with Sarthak’s dadaaji who came from Delhi to help us. After a few days we managed to book a room in the Ashram where Sarthak  was given a special massage using milk, some medicines and oils. Here Sarthak’s nanaji helped us and stayed along with us. They prescribed some ayurvedic  medicines also. After almost a month, we returned back to Pune.

Sarthak started going to school as usual with a smiling face and enthusiasm. Luckily I was teaching in the same school so it became a little easier for me to take care of Sarthak.

Sarthak was walking at that time but on his toes, so many times he used to fall and stumble, I used to be very scared about him being hurt or injured. I used to wish that he should stop walking, being a mother it was a tough decision for me, however it was meant to be, I had no choice. Wish it was possible for us to cure him but we realized whatever is destined will happen and we should be ready to accept it graciously.

Life went on as a normal routine.

We were also given full support by our school’s Skill Enhancement department, Ranjana Desai, Preeti Misal, Arpita Gupta and Vidya Chikte ma’am. They all counseled Sarthak from time to time making him confident and self-reliant. Sarthak was also a part of music therapy introduced by Vidya ma’am as a stay back activity for some children and Sarthak used to look forward to it. During his last days he found solace and comfort by having heart to heart talk  with the counsellor Arpita Gupta. So thank you everyone for your constant support and care.