A sureshot against cervical cancer?
Rema Nagarajan, TNN 2 August 2009, 04:21am IST
SEOUL: Despite a vaccine being available against cervical cancer, the most common cancer among women in India, it might be of little help at the prohibitively high current price of $360 (for three doses) or about Rs 16,000 per At a symposium held here by the International Vaccine Institute, an international research organisation devoted to vaccines supported by various governments, companies and foundations, several health experts and policy makers called for the introduction of routine HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccines into national immunisation programmes, even as they expressed concern about its affordability. “Cervical cancer caused by HPV comprises over 34% of cancers among women in India, making it the most common. Of this, 70% of the cancers are said to be caused by two strains of the virus — HPV 16 and HPV 18 — against which a vaccine has been developed,” explained Dr Neerja Bhatla, additional professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the AIIMS. The vaccine is of no use once a person is already infected with the virus. Hence, being a sexually transmitted virus, for the vaccine to be effective it has to be administered before a girl becomes sexually active. In India, this would have to be between 12-18 years as early marriage among girls is prevalent. This would mean vaccinating a population of over 100 million girls at the cost of Rs 16,000 per child. That would amount to thousands of crores of rupees, several times the size of the entire national immunisation programme. Yet another concern is that being a newer vaccine, it is not known how long the vaccine will remain effective. So far, it has been found to be effective for six to seven years. If a booster shot is required to maintain protection, the cost could be even higher. Moreover, the vaccination is to be given as an intramuscular injection in three doses, each dose costing about $120. If the costs of trained manpower required for such an immunization programme and that of safe disposable needles are taken into account, the cost would be even higher. However, Linda Eckert of the World Health Organisation (WHO) explained that WHO had recommended the use of HPV vaccines in immunization programmes as it was programmatically feasible and since sustainable financing could be secured. She claimed it could be made cost effective as the Global Alliance on Vacines and Immunisation (GAVI) could help subsidise the vaccine for the poorest countries and the Unicef could procure it for poor countries by negotiating for lower prices with the vaccine companies. However, she didn’t elaborate by what percentage such efforts could bring down the price of a vaccine costing over Rs 16,000 per child.
Lakshmana Kailash K was jailed after ISP wrongly gave his name to cops looking for man who put up defamatory articles of a historical figure on a social networking site; police detained him for 50 days despite realising mistake
Anand Holla
Almost two years after he was wrongly jailed for 50 days, Lakshmana Kailash K, a Bangalore-based software engineer, has finally seen justice. Criticising the police investigation and the Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) ‘misleading information’ that led to his imprisonment, the State Human Rights Commission has ordered the company to pay Rs 2 lakh to Lakshmana as damages. Lakshmana was arrested from his Bangalore home – in the wee hours of August 31, 2007 – by the Pune police for uploading insulting pictures and text pertaining to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on Orkut, a social networking site. The 28-year-old spent the next 50 days in Pune’s Yerawada jail, for no fault of his. The goof up It all began when investigating officer, ACP Netaji Shinde of the Pune Cyber Crime Branch (now retired), sought help from the ISP, Bharti Airtel, Bangalore, seeking information on the vital IP address. The IP address is a number by which a machine can be identified on the network. The ISP, however, due to a mix-up in the time, handed over the wrong address to the police, thus leading to the arrest of Lakshmana. A bench of Justice Kshitij Vyas and Retired IAS officer Subhash Lalla, took suo-motu cognisance of the case from The Times of India story, and Ketan Tanna, who reported the incident, filed an affidavit ascertaining his story to be authentic. Bharti Airtel, in its defence, pleaded that it provided an incorrect IP address, due to an ‘AM-PM’ goof-up. It said that Shinde – in his communication to the cyber crime unit – didn’t indicate the logging time as “1:11:57 am or pm”, but only “01:11:57 GMT”. “A small change in AM or PM, that is, the time component in the IP address, changed the entire complexion of the information,” the company argued. Claiming that they had no role to play in the violation of Lakshmana’s human rights, Bharti Airtel said that the police acted with negligence. However, the commission held that both Shinde and Airtel ‘tried to prove their innocence and blamed each other’. The ruling The bench noted that if Airtel was confused over the AM and PM, it could have sought particulars instead of providing wrong information. “Airtel officials misled the police by providing wrong information. They did not care to check whether the requested time was AM or PM, and gave details of the victim who had used the same IP address at 01:11:57 am, whereas the derogatory remarks were posted at 01:11:57 pm. The AM, PM discrepancies cannot be a ground to absolve the company. It was expected from the company to take a little care to verify whether it has provided the correct information… We hold that Airtel is responsible for providing false information to the police, which led to Lakshmana’s arrest,” the bench stated. Remarking on Shinde’s investigation as being riddled with ‘serious errors’, the commission said that the ACP should have sought further proof before arresting Lakshmana. The bench, however, did not order any action against the now retired Shinde, but left it to the state government to hold an enquiry against him. Shinde has practically little knowledge and experience of cyber crimes, the commission ruled, recommending that the government “review existing policies and allow only those officers with expertise and knowledge about cyber crimes, to investigate such crimes”. The commission concluded that Lakshmana had to endure a lot of pain and suffering due to the acts of both the company and police authorities. In jail, Lakshmana was given a bowl in which he had to eat and drink, and even take to the loo. As a result of the stress, he lost 12 kilos; his kidney stone problem was aggravated; and his liver got enlarged. However, the commission turned down Lakshmana’s compensation claim of Rs 20 crores, ordering a ‘reasonable token amount’ of Rs 2 lakh to be paid as damages by Airtel. When contacted, Shinde said, “I don’t know anything about the order, and what the commission has observed on me.” An Airtel spokesperson, however, refused to comment on the ruling. |
Wronged, techie gets justice 2 yrs after being jailed Lakshmana Kailash K was jailed after ISP wrongly gave his name to cops looking for man who put up defamatory articles of a historical figure on a social networking site; police detained him for 50 days despite realising mistake By Anand Holla Posted On Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 03:14:45 AM Lakshmana Kailash K has now been awarded a Rs 2 lakh compensation by the State Human Rights Commission Almost two years after he was wrongly jailed for 50 days, Lakshmana Kailash K, a Bangalore-based software engineer, has finally seen justice. Criticising the police investigation and the Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) ‘misleading information’ that led to his imprisonment, the State Human Rights Commission has ordered the company to pay Rs 2 lakh to Lakshmana as damages. Lakshmana was arrested from his Bangalore home – in the wee hours of August 31, 2007 – by the Pune police for uploading insulting pictures and text pertaining to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on Orkut, a social networking site. The 28-year-old spent the next 50 days in Pune’s Yerawada jail, for no fault of his. The goof up It all began when investigating officer, ACP Netaji Shinde of the Pune Cyber Crime Branch (now retired), sought help from the ISP, Bharti Airtel, Bangalore, seeking information on the vital IP address. The IP address is a number by which a machine can be identified on the network. The ISP, however, due to a mix-up in the time, handed over the wrong address to the police, thus leading to the arrest of Lakshmana. A bench of Justice Kshitij Vyas and Retired IAS officer Subhash Lalla, took suo-motu cognisance of the case from The Times of India story, and Ketan Tanna, who reported the incident, filed an affidavit ascertaining his story to be authentic. Bharti Airtel, in its defence, pleaded that it provided an incorrect IP address, due to an ‘AM-PM’ goof-up. It said that Shinde – in his communication to the cyber crime unit – didn’t indicate the logging time as “1:11:57 am or pm”, but only “01:11:57 GMT”. “A small change in AM or PM, that is, the time component in the IP address, changed the entire complexion of the information,” the company argued. Claiming that they had no role to play in the violation of Lakshmana’s human rights, Bharti Airtel said that the police acted with negligence. However, the commission held that both Shinde and Airtel ‘tried to prove their innocence and blamed each other’. The ruling The bench noted that if Airtel was confused over the AM and PM, it could have sought particulars instead of providing wrong information. “Airtel officials misled the police by providing wrong information. They did not care to check whether the requested time was AM or PM, and gave details of the victim who had used the same IP address at 01:11:57 am, whereas the derogatory remarks were posted at 01:11:57 pm. The AM, PM discrepancies cannot be a ground to absolve the company. It was expected from the company to take a little care to verify whether it has provided the correct information… We hold that Airtel is responsible for providing false information to the police, which led to Lakshmana’s arrest,” the bench stated. Remarking on Shinde’s investigation as being riddled with ‘serious errors’, the commission said that the ACP should have sought further proof before arresting Lakshmana. The bench, however, did not order any action against the now retired Shinde, but left it to the state government to hold an enquiry against him. Shinde has practically little knowledge and experience of cyber crimes, the commission ruled, recommending that the government “review existing policies and allow only those officers with expertise and knowledge about cyber crimes, to investigate such crimes”. The commission concluded that Lakshmana had to endure a lot of pain and suffering due to the acts of both the company and police authorities. In jail, Lakshmana was given a bowl in which he had to eat and drink, and even take to the loo. As a result of the stress, he lost 12 kilos; his kidney stone problem was aggravated; and his liver got enlarged. However, the commission turned down Lakshmana’s compensation claim of Rs 20 crores, ordering a ‘reasonable token amount’ of Rs 2 lakh to be paid as damages by Airtel. When contacted, Shinde said, “I don’t know anything about the order, and what the commission has observed on me.” An Airtel spokesperson, however, refused to comment on the ruling.
Lakshmana Kailash K has now been awarded a Rs 2 lakh compensation by the State Human Rights Commission
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‘India should take up Baha’is’ concerns with Iran’
9 Jun 2008, 0057 hrs ISTThe five and half million-strong Baha’i community across the world is extremely disturbed over the arrest of their top leadership in Iran. Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations, spoke to Ketan Tanna:
Q: Why is the Baha’i community rattled over the arrest of six Baha’i leaders in Iran?
We have not received any information about where they are being held, nor have they been given access to legal counsel. Their only crime is their practice of the Baha’i faith. These arrests are reminiscent of the previous occasions when the national leadership of the Iranian Baha’i community was arrested in 1980-81 which led to the execution of 17 individuals at that time.
Q: Iranian government says the arrested persons were spies.
Accusations that Baha’is are spies are not new. Such accusations are an effort by the government to stir up suspicion and ill will against the Baha’is within the larger Iranian population. Since the Baha’i faith, through an accident of history, has its headquarters in Israel, the Iranian government often charges Iranian Baha’is with being Zionists and spies.
Baha’is are told they will be released if they agree to recant their faith demonstrating clearly that the real issue is their religious beliefs and practice, the right which is theirs under Article 18 of the International Covenant Civil and Political Rights, to which the govern-ment of Iran is itself a signatory.
Q: What kind of persecution does Baha’i community face in Iran and why?
The 3,00,000-member Iranian Baha’i community is the largest religious minority, and the govern-ment has since 1979 undertaken a systematic persecution against them, solely because of their religious belief. Iranian Baha’is face daily the threat of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. Their young people are denied the right to higher education and the right to make a living. Baha’i homes and properties have been unlawfully seized. And, above all else, they are not free to practise their religion. And the fact that more than 200 Baha’is were killed or executed by the government between 1979 and 1998 keeps Baha’is under a state of constant threat.
Q: India has good relations with Iran. On the other hand, it also has 1.6 million-strong Baha’i community. What can India do in such a situation?
The very fact that India has good relations with Iran and has the largest number of Baha’is gives her a special responsibility to intercede. Given India’s record of upholding the rule of law, religious freedom and affording constitutional protections for all minority religions she is an example that Iran could emulate. The Indian government could take this matter up bilaterally with Iran.
She equips these special ‘kids’ with vocational skills
She equips these special ‘kids’ with vocational skills
22 Jun 2008, 0533 hrs IST, Ketan Tanna,TNNMUMBAI: The incident happened last week. Fifty-one-year-old Bhandup housewife Lata Das was travelling with 27-year-old Chetna and her mother in an autorickshaw on a pothole-riddled suburban road. It was raining and the insides of the vehicle were a little cramped. Suddenly the rickshaw lurched, and Lata, who was near the exit, almost lost her balance.
Then, to everyone’s amazement, Chetna put her hand on Lata’s shoulder and held her tight so that she would not fall out.
To those who wonder at the use of the word ‘amazement’, Chetna is mentally- challenged and incapable of carrying out even normal daily functions like taking a bath and using the toilet. It is rare for such people to exhibit emotions. But that day Lata realised that deep within even the mentally- challenged there are latent sentiments that can surface any time. “I was touched that she cared so much for me. I still can’t get over it,” she says.
Chetna may not be able to articulate it, but evidently stores a deep recess of love and gratitude for Lata, a volunteer at the MBA Foundation School in Powai. For over three years, Lata has been volunteering here; she teaches vocational skills to the mentally-challenged, spastics, autistic and even the physically-challenged.
She teaches thrice a week for three hours and has almost become a family member at the school—so much so that on the day she does not go, the inmates of the school feel incomplete, says Robert Aranha, assistant administrator of the school.
The ‘children’ that Lata cares for are not children in the strict sense. Most of them are grown up and anywhere between 18 and 45 years of age. But most appear much younger. “When I first entered the school I could not believe that some of them were my children’s age,” says Lata who has two grown-up sons.
Lata entered the field of voluntary work after her children grew up and she found herself with a lot of time on her hands. She wanted to teach children but with age not on her side, finding a volunteer slot for this was difficult. She then approached SOSVA, an NGO that places various volunteers across different organisations depending on their skill-sets and the requirements of the job. SOSVA asked her if she was willing to teach the special ‘children’ of the MBA Foundation School at Powai.
Lata said yes. But on her first day, she found herself depressed. “When I saw the children, I was saddened. I wondered why God is so unfair. But then I shrugged off the feeling and got to work,” she says. Since then, she has been teaching the kids vocational skills like candle-making; at times she also teaches them meditation, painting and even English-language skills.
The MBA Foundation is an NGO working for integrated care services for persons with disabilities, with two care centres in Chembur and Powai. It was started by the parents and relatives of special children, and currently has 45 children, some of whom are boarders. The idea behind setting up the school was to train the mentally and physically challenged in various vocations and help them earn a living. Fourteen-year-old Krishna is one such child who has a muscular degenerative disease but a razor-sharp mind. “He is the boss of the other children and I have seen him guiding them,” says Lata.
Lata’s family has been very supportive of her voluntary work—she regularly chronicles her experiences at the school and emails them to her elder son who is working abroad. As for the future, Lata says she will continue teaching and taking care of the kids till they need her.
ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com
Help for Parsi women to fight infertility
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Help for Parsi women to fight infertility
13 Jul 2008, 0623 hrs IST, Ketan Tanna,TNNMUMBAI: It was a casual request from Bombay Parsi Punchayet chief Minoo Shroff that resulted in gynaecologist Dr Anahita Pandole taking on the assignment of helping Parsi couples battling infertility problems. Three years down the line, she has handled 200 cases of whom 80 women have conceived. One woman had triplets while 10 others bore twins. Anahita Hakim, 34, is one such woman; she is the mother of twin girls named Katrina and Karina. “I wanted children for the last five years I even thought of adopting children before I came to Dr Pandole, who helped me have Katrina and Karina,” she said. The fertility treatment did not come cheap and Hakim had to spend between Rs 6 and 7 lakh. The initial consultation was free and the treatment tab was picked by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet. For those who could not pay, large-hearted donors within the community offer ed financial help. Pandole’s project is part of a larger United Nations-backed programme called Parzor, headquartered in Delhi. Since 1999, the Parzor project has undertaken research in various fields, working towards the promotion and preservation of the Parsi heritage. The demography project, under the umbrella of Parzor, has thrown up interesting facts about the declining Parsi population. According to the 2001 census, India’s Parsi population had fallen to 69,601 from 76,382 a decade earlier. According to the 2001 census, the child-woman ratio, a key indicator of fertility, is 578 per 1,000 in India. Among the Parsis, it is 85 per 1,000. Meanwhile,a study on Delhi Parsis concentrated on community members married to Parsis, inter-marriages, unmarried and the youth. The demographic profile of the Parsis in Delhi tends to appear more in favour of the 30-50 working group rather than the ageing picture seen elsewhere. In view of the fairly unique position held by the Delhi Parsis, a study was proposed to inquire into their migratory history, their current situation and record their views and attitudes pertaining to various issues and problems facing the community. According to Shernaz Cama, honourary director at Parzor, it was a qualitative study based on interviews. All those interviewed realised that the community was in flux and that “someone had to do something”. However, few were willing to be that someone, the study rued. (ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com) |
Life after near-death
29 Jun 2008, 0024 hrs IST,TNNTimes Review profiles extraordinary people who refused to let life-altering mishaps get them down
MUMBAI
Earlier this month, a 20-year-old girl showed Mumbai an act of incredible courage. Sneha Kale, on her way home after giving an exam, fell off an overcrowded local train; her right leg, which was crushed under the wheels, had to be amputated immediately. The very next day, the spunky girl went to write her next paper. “And why not?” she asks, “I had prepared, and I was confident of doing well.”
Sneha is casual about her decision to not wallow in self-pity. “My parents are the emotional kind,” she says. “If I am not brave, they’ll break down. In any case, I need to live and to work. And in order to work, I need to get on with life. It is as simple as that.”
—Ketan Tanna
NEW DELHI
Joginder Singh Saluja, aka Bittoo, has won the Mr India national title in body-building and power-lifting pageants for three consecutive years. The fact that his powerful biceps completely obscure his lifeless lower limbs comes as a reassurance to many that nothing is impossible.
When he was barely ten months old, Bittoo contracted polio which left both his legs damaged. “I underwent 10 operations till the age of 14, after which I hit the gym,” he says. “People made fun of me when I held the dumbbells for the first time. The more they laughed, the more motivated I felt. I can now lift about 150 kg bench-press. Assi ta cheetein haan, kise toh nahi darde (I am as tough as a cheetah. I fear nothing). Just try really hard, and you can get what you want in life,” says Bittoo who now wants to set up a gym for the physically handicapped.
—Neha Pushkarna
BANGALORE
On September 3, 1996, 22-year-old Rathi Menon was thrown off a long-distance train when she was washing her face at the basin near the door. “I tried to grab the iron railings but my hands slipped. I fell right under the wheels,” she recounts.
Rathi’s spinal cord was ruptured when the wheels of the train ran over her right arm, severing it from her shoulder. And as she lay there unable to move, she saw another train approaching on the same track. “Unable to move, I couldn’t do a thing even as I saw it running over my leg,” she says. After the train passed, another train driver shunting an engine spotted her and shifted her to hospital.
“I had just finished writing my income-tax exams then. The doctors had given up hope, and said I would remain bedridden all my life. I don’t know if you can call it a miracle, but a few months after the surgery I actually recovered and began to live like everybody else.”
Menon acquired an artificial leg, and switched to using her left hand. Initially it was difficult, but she overcame every difficulty with her sheer grit—she wrote three exams after the accident, topped in all and went on to become inspector of income-tax.
—Prashant G N
BANGALORE
Shruti has had to undergo 39 operations in the last six years. All because she rejected the advances of a ‘suitor’ called Rajesh.
The day is still etched vividly in the 22-year-old’s memory. “It happened on August 12, 2002,” she says. “Rajesh was my neighbour and I had rejected his advances. I was on my way to school when he threw acid on me. It burnt my face, head and chest. I lost my eye and ear in the attack.” The expense of Shruti’s surgeries almost crippled her father, a tailor, but they got by with funds from NGOs. She then worked with a bank as a telemarketer for a while but is now looking for a job.
Shruthi discontinued her studies because of her medical problems but managed to pass her tenth-standard exam with the help of her parents. “Initially I found it tough and used to be very upset but thanks to my family I have managed to deal with whatever came my way. Now I feel I am normal. All I can say is one should live in the present,” she says.
—Ketan Tanna
MUMBAI
Forty-year-old Iva Athavia lost both her arms in an accident while attempting to cross a railway track on her way to college in Jharkand. She moped for a while, but her brother’s threat to deposit her in an ashram worked. With the help of prosthetic arms, Eva went on to do her post-graduation and a Masters in Social Work from TISS when she moved to Mumbai. Despite her physical limitations, Eva joined the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) in 1995, opened CPAA counselling centres and a network with eight city hospitals. She trains volunteers and coordinates all counselling-related work for cancer-afflicted patients.
“I remember when I was wheeled into the operation theatre I was hoping I wouldn’t come out alive,” she says. “I just didn’t want to live. But God had other plans for me.”
Dance of the Melancholy Ladies
Ketan
Tanna
discovers a fellowship that knows how to cheer up women
She is dressed in jeans and a cotton top. And she looks stern. She has been suffering from depression for nearly 10 years. After losing her mother at a young age she had to take care of her father and three sisters. She often sought refuge in sleep. Sometimes she would walk out of her house, and keep walking for kilometres. Once she walked from Andheri to Mahim, lost in her depression. “The walks were my last refuge. I was alone with my thoughts. I would compose poems. I composed a poem for Jesus too which was shortlisted by an internet site for an award. Since I did not have $50 to pay the entrance fee, I did not enter the contest even though I was shortlisted,” says Susan. “Susan, let’s hear your poem,” says Madhu, the coordinator of the group. Susan converts her poem into a song—“You are a star when Jesus is not far/ He loves and cares for you/ He knows you by your name, years before you came/ You think that he is not there and that gives you a scare/ But he is always there.”
As Susan wipes her tears and bows her head after reciting the poem, the other women in the group nod. Some clap. They wait for the sadness to pass. In one corner of the room, 56-yearold Madhuri sits with a benign smile on her pretty face. Madhuri’s husband expired two years ago. “I don’t think I fell ill after that but my daughters felt so. I am alright now,” says Madhuri. “My husband used to pamper me a lot. Without him, I was lost.”
The women are sitting on thick mattresses. In the breeze that animates the wind chimes, the women, about a dozen of them, chat about their lives and times.
They meditate, and celebrate too. Last week, they danced to Mauja Hi Mauja from Jab We Met. Sometimes the group has cooking competitions.
Presently, they are absorbed in a contest that challenges them to prepare low calorie and nutritious food. Some days, they have fancy dress competitions too.
“I was dressed as Saira Banu in one of the fancy dress competitions,” says Meena, a 46-year-old woman who belongs to an upper middle class Gujarati family.
Meena is not comfortable discussing her depression or her personal problems. It has been over two years since she became a member of the group. She has been under medication for “a few years,” and says that the lesson she learnt from the group is that when a problem arises, one should not run away.
“I was a coward. I would flee when a problem arose. But I realised that the problem is in me and I need to address it,” she says.
The door opens, and a pretty woman enters. Dressed in a black Punjabi suit, 37-year-old Neetu Ghosh stands out here. Her life could have been part of an Ekta Kapoor tear jerker—two children and an abusive husband before she turned 22.
A divorce followed but that did not hurt her as much as the attitude of an enamoured distant relative who declared that he loved her, wanted to marry her and then kept her hanging for three years before he finally said that his mother would not accept a divorcee.
That is when Neetu had a breakdown. But she soon found joy when an acquaintance fell in love with her, and married her. Her four and a half years with Sujoy Ghosh, who accepted her and her two children with open arms, were the best period of her life. Then Sujoy passed away due to food poisoning. As her life crumbled again, this group resurrected her. “Now I live for others because I realised when you help others, some of the happiness comes back to you. I truly believe this and am not mouthing any platitude,” she says.
The group has both the young and the aging. Tina, a shy 20-yearold says, “I get depressed if I don’t attend this meeting. I attempted suicide when a relationship went wrong.” Another woman says, “I am Reema and I am 46-years-old. I suffer from anxiety attacks. Earlier, I could not bear the shrill noise made by my pressure cooker and I would feel that it would burst. I am fine now though I still have panic attacks when I wash my hair. I have all sorts of negative thoughts. My family has been supportive and this group is my lifeline. I telephone them when I have such attacks,” she says, smiling for the first time during the meeting. TNN
When thoughts become your enemy
Tanna meets a group of people who meet to collectively combat a sapping mental disorder In a room on the first floor of a building near Lalbaug police chowki, Mumbai’s first OCD support group is in session. Victims of the disorder meet on the first Saturday of every month and share their experiences and progress reports.
Nagma was labelled mad by her family who could not understand her obsessive need to be clean. Her illness brought the Khajuraho denizen to Mumbai in search of a solution. Doing the rounds of the psychiatry units of public hospitals did not really help, but a chance meeting with someone who knew of the OCD support group has brought a semblance of hope into her life. Though she acknowledges that she still has a problem, it is under control. “Now I wash myself only three to four times a day,” she says cheerfully.
As Nagma talks, the others nod in agreement, and then embark on their own OCD tales. Twenty-two-year-old Vishal, a serious-looking bespectacled youngster from a small town in Maharashtra, reveals unhesitantly that his OCD revolves around masturbation and sexual thoughts that almost ruined his life. “My OCD started acting up when I enrolled in engineering college,’’ he says. “My parents could not comprehend what was happening to me. Both, my studies and my health suffered.’’ It was only after Vishal came to Mumbai, consulted doctors and enrolled in the OCD support group that things began to change. It’s been a few months since he has begun dealing with his OCD, and there has been a decline in the potency of the medicines he takes.
Vishal’s problem evokes much sympathy from the parents of 15-year-old Justin D’souza. For over two years, this Borivili resident was a bundle of nerves, prone to vomiting and crying at the drop of the hat. Justin hated travelling by bus and train because he believed that touching something or someone would give him germs. His thought process was tortured. “I’d imagine that I would not be able to give exams or flunk because I could not concentrate. I would then envision myself being thrown out of school and not being able to fulfil my dream of becoming a software engineer,’’ says Justin, explaining how his mind played tricks on him, impairing his judgment. His parents initially thought it was just stress but a friend of Justin, who also had OCD, realised that there was more to Justin’s emotional problems.
Justin’s parents say they were fortunate enough to realise that their son suffered from an illness. “There’s a very thin line between being obsessed with something and suffering from OCD. In Justin’s case, his tension and obsession overwhelmed his personality. He would suddenly burst into tears and it was difficult for him to even finish his exams,’’ says his father. Things have improved, however, and despite not completing a portion of his board exam papers, Justin scored 70 per cent.
While doctors are the ones who can diagnose and treat OCD, a support group is invaluable. As ‘Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders’, a book edited by Eric Hollander and Dan J Stein explains, those suffering from OCD often have a fear that others will discover their secret obsessions or observe their rituals and label them mad. As a result of this, they have poor social networks, and OCD support groups are a good vehicle for decreasing the social isolation they feel.
Often, as evidenced by this particular group in Mumbai, a support group serves as the doorway to treatment and the starting point on the path to recovery. Hollander and Stein explain that the dooropening function is extremely important because it is estimated that less than 20 per cent of those suffering from neurobiological disorders such as OCD are in treatment. In India, that figure would be even less.
The Mumbai group comprises people from a spectrum of backgrounds. Ali Akbar, a 20-year-old youngster from the powerloom town of Bhiwandi, who for years had imagined that he was mentally and physically weak, went through a series of tests, medicines and doctors before he finally realised that he suffered from OCD. Shekhar Kulkarni, a 33-year-old graphic artist sits quietly even though he is supposed to be the most vocal one in the group. But he lights up when the group talks of its experiences in combating the illness.
Shekhar’s problem was that he simply could not travel alone in a bus or train, and often felt claustrophobic in enclosed spaces. Once when he was on his way from Pune to Mumbai in a bus, he started getting panic attacks midway. “My stomach started hurting and I felt it would burst and I would collapse. I just got off the bus.’’ His aging mother did travel with him for a while but that could not carry on. The OCD support group has helped him, says Shekhar, and his dependency on people has lessened.
Shirin Mistry, who started suffering from a cleanliness OCD after her marriage, went through endless rounds of drugs and treatment. Her husband, Rohinton, who often accompanies her to the OCD meetings says that very often general physicians or family doctors are unable to diagnose the disorder and often give symptomatic medicines without realising the gravity of the problem.
There are bizarre cases of OCD as well. A man attended some of the meetings wearing dark glasses which he wouldn’t remove for a second. He refused to remove them because he believed that those around him would be able to look into his eyes and read his mind.
The OCD group is free for all those seeking help, and runs under the aegis of the Samaritans. Dr Fabian Almeida, who supervises the meetings, says the classic symptoms of OCD are that thoughts are intrusive, automatic and seem to be out of one’s control.
“Diagnosing the disorder helps to outline specific treatment and involves a combination of behaviour therapy techniques as well as pharmacotherapy and a host of self-help methods,’’ he says. And then sums up the motto of the group in three succinct words: “Thinking without sinking.’’ TNN
