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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Asha ki Kiran

n January 20, 2014, her

seventeenth birthday,
Kiran Soomro flew
from Karachi to
Bangalore on with
her parents. They
left with hope in
their hearts and
a prayer on their
lips, expecting
that Dr. Devi
Shetty at the
Narayana Health
hospital would be
able to surgically
close the hole in
Kirans heart.
Five days later, they learnt
that her condition is inoperable by
now. It would have been a fairly simple operation had it been looked
into and treated earlier. Doctors initially discussed a heart-and-lung
transplant. Dr. Balakrishnan, a wellknown surgeon from Chennai drove
down on his own initiative to examine Kiran in Bangalore.
The medical consensus is that
for now she should continue on the
medicines that she was prescribed
in Delhi six months earlier. These
have already greatly improved her
quality of life and with proper care
and continued medication, she can
continue to live a reasonably normal
life.
Kiran and her family have shown
dignity and courage in dealing with
their troubles. And so many across
borders, boundaries and religious
divides showed the power of love
and humanity in their effort to make
Kiran comfortable.
Word about her needs spread
through the Aman ki Asha network.
There were many financial contributions, amounts ranging from thirty
to a thousand dollars, including
from non-Sindhi Indians. PIA donated the tickets for the KarachiMumbai-Karachi flight. In Karachi,
Haresh Jiwnani and Dr Birma Jesrani went to see
them off at the airport, and to receive
them when they returned on Feb 3.
Narayan Health is
located far from
Bangalore city, but
so many in India
generously shared
their precious
time and resources, making
the trip to spend
time with her and
make her feel at
home.
Kirans journey got off to a
rocky start, as
the
KarachiMumbai flight
was delayed by
five hours. Waiting at Mumbai airport with rebooked tickets to Bangalore was
Nitu Jiwnani, 26, a dancer who met

By Beena Sarwar

Found to be
inoperable in
Bangalore, young
Kiran Soomro won
over scores of
hearts and has
returned to
Pakistan with a
priceless gift of
love and
homemade
Singhar mithai

Kiran and Nitu:

At Haji Alis Dargah

them in Delhi last May. Connected

by their common language, Sindhi,
she adopted Kiran as her younger
sister and refers to Kirans father as
Abbu and mother as Ammee.
Kiran became special for me, she
says.
Kiran, red-eyed, exhausted clung
to Nitu and wept. She didnt want to
get on another plane. Nitu comforted and cajoled her, then took
them in a taxi to the domestic terminal some distance away. Fortified by
a snack and a cold drink, and a pep
talk from Nitu, Kiran felt able to
tackle the journey ahead.
Landing in Bangalore past midnight, first they were unable to locate the vehicle that was picking
them. When they reached the hotel
they found that their room had been
given away as they were no longer
expected. Another room was arranged but the kitchen was closed,
so no dinner.
They spent the next day completing the formalities of reporting
at the Foreigners' Registration office, as Indian and Pakistani visitors
to each others countries are re-

whom Kiran took to calling Nanaji

(grandfather).
He was with the family during
the subsequent transport delays that
day and when they moved to a
guesthouse closer to the hospital.
The new room was distressingly
sparse and small; the staff had expected Kiran and her mother to stay
at the hospital. Besides the moral
support his presence provided, they
were able to use his cell phone to
make some calls to try and sort out
the situation.
Aman ki Asha volunteers went
into action to arrange better accommodation, researching and making
bookings. From Delhi, Samir Gupta
woke up his sister Shikha in Bangalore at 6 am to cook for Kiran. The
working mother happily did so, and
packed daal, bhindi and green chutney for them before leaving for office that morning. Young Aman
Alam and Siddharth Manu went by
on a motorbike to pick it up and
take it to Kiran. The gesture moved
Kirans mother to tears. Siddharth
and Aman spent all morning
with the Soomros, helping

Tea with lovely Nandita Das: Sunday in Mumbai

She is a girl with an incuits.
domitable will with a zest to live and
This India-Pakistan thing is
fulfill her unrealised dreams, he
purely psychological. We are human
observed. A profile in courage.
beings, arent we? said Hunaid.
As Sikander Ali draped a
Sadiqua was thrilled to be able to
farewell gift, an ajrak from Hydertake Kiran and her parents out for
abad, Sindh, around Pais shoulders
dinner and coffee a couple of times.
on their last day in Bangalore, Pai
She wanted to go for a long
got a lump in his throat.
drive, so we took her along the elevated highway. Shahrukh Khans
music
was
itu met them at the airport in
playing in the
Mumbai the following aftercar,
which
noon, Saturday. They took a
made Kiran
taxi to her one-bedroom rental.
very happy,
They made the most of their time in
said Sadiqua.
the city before taking the flight
She
also
back on Monday. They visited
took them shopLokhandwala Market and ate out.
ping to buy gifts
The girls bought matching banjara
for the other
pants and black t-shirts to wear the
children, espefollowing day. They had to take care
cially
the
of the police registration and say a
youngest, sixprayer and eat a meal at Haji Alis
year old Hina, for
dargah.
whom
they
And since it is after all Mumbai,
bought a big pink
how could they not touch the enterteddy bear.
tainment world? Nitu introduced
When the docthem to some television actor
tors pronounced
friends who are finalists in the Nach
Kiran to be inoperable, Pai
Baliye contest.
went over to find Kiran red
Well-known film star Nandita
faced from sobbing, and her
Das found time to invite them over
parents downcast but slowly
for tea and a chat on Sunday afterreconciling to the situation.
noon. She was touched by the close
Kiran too slowly came to
relationship between Kiran and Nitu
terms with the reality. Sikanand they were moved by her downdar Ali, a simple, humble
to-earth interaction.
man with a golden heart, was
The visit ended with the sweettrying his best to keep his
ness of homemade mithai. Bhavana
daughter in good humour,
Makhija dropped off several boxes
of the internationally packaged
Above: Nanaji Konchadhi Vasant make her laugh and eat in the
Pai in his new ajrak from Sikander: restaurant and sip Sprite, her
Mothers Touch Singhar Mithai that
Friendship is a precious gift
favourite cold drink. Later, they sat
she deals on behalf of Raju and
in the garden in the sun. Kiran
Suman Chhabria Parwani; they are
A pink teddy for Hina:
talked about Bollywood, whether
members of the Facebook group
Kiran and Sadiqua
Shilpa Shetty is from Bangalore, the
Sindh Aman ji Asha (where Nitu is
names of the playback singers of
an administrator). Suman Parwani
whom she knew more than me,
makes the mithai that they wanted
says Pai.
dandaramiah and his wife visited,
to send back to Pakistan.
Inspite of having dropped out
wanting to make a personal finanThe India trip did not turn out as
from school, I found her very intelcial contribution. But there was no
Kiran and her family had hoped.
ligent and more computer savvy
need so many had already doBut they have returned with the
than me.
nated.
precious gift of love and hopes and
Kiran cheered up further when
After Ruchhita Kazaria in
prayers for Kirans health and wellPai let her use his iPad to Skype
Kolkata contacted the Bangalore
being echoed by many more hearts
with her siblings in Karachi.
chapter of her St. Xaviers College
across the globe.
Calcutta Alumni Association, Xaverians Hunaid and Sadiqua went over
The writer is Editor, Aman ki Asha.
with biryani, chocolates and bisEmail: beena.sarwar@amankiasha.com
but was unable to due to the delay
in the reports. The Soomros managed to see the gardens another day,
hiring a taxi for the trip.
AKA volunteers coordinated to
ensure that they had enough cash
for their expenses. Ex-Commissioner of Police Bangalore and former Member of Parliament Mr P. Ko-

Kiran and Nitu in Mumbai: This is Aman ki Asha

quired to do in each city they visit,
within 24 hours of arrival and departure. The visa-granting authorities can waive this requirement, but
had not done so in this case.
AKA volunteer Konchadi Vasanth
Pai, 82, went to visit the Soomros
several times. At his age, changing
three buses for a two-hour long
journey, and with severe ankle
arthritis, this couldnt have been
easy. He shrugged it off: My difficulties pale into insignificance compared to Kiran and her family's.
The first time he went, Kiran had
started undergoing her medical
tests. He found the family as they
were going to the International Patients' OPD. Kiran looked tired but
climbed the stairs easily, preferring
not to take the elevator, said Pai,

shift them to a roomier, cleaner facility nearby.

Rotary took care of the costs incurred by the Soomros stay and
hospital fees in Bangalore. Rotarian
O.P. Khanna visited them several
times, met with doctors, and sent
regular reports and updates. Kiran
is the 36th Pakistani patient whose
medical care he has coordinated.
Journalist Zakeer Hussain took
over a big parcel of food, making an
effort to include meat dishes. Businessman Mansoor Chetlu took over
his laptop so that they could Skype
with the children in Pakistan. He
went again the next day, waiting
with them till the doctors reports
came in. He had planned to take
them the Lal Bagh (royal botanical
garden completed by Tipu Sultan)

Unforgettable Kalam moments

he third edition of the

Kolkata Literary Meet
(Kalam), held at the iconic
Victoria Memorial Hall last
week, featured an array of celebrated
writers and speakers who took Kolkata by
storm.
At his session on Saadat Hasan Manto,
actor Naseeruddin Shah read from
Mantos iconic short story Toba Tek
Singh and shared his thoughts on IndiaPakistan relations.
He termed the much-hyped film
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag as harmful and
false, saying, It is a film that
thrives on feeding the visceral hatred
of Pakistan. Why make the denouement of
the movie, a victory over a Pakistani runner?
I had felt the same way after seeing this
film. That it has been such a big success in
India says something about the Indian
mind-set.
The different re-

By Ruchhita Kazaria

Farida Khanum with Saira

Shah Halim and entrepreneur
Satnam Singh Ahluwalia

At the Kolkata
Literary Meet,
Naseeruddin Shah
voices his love for
Pakistan and
Farida Khanum
voices hers for
India

Farida Khanum signing

her CD

sponses to his latest play "A Walk in

the Woods", staged recently both in India
and Pakistan illustrate this mindset. The
play revolves around an Indian diplomat

and a Pakistani diplomat. At

one point the Indian says he
has thought about wiping out
Pakistan by missiles. This line,
Shah remarked, had the Indian audience applauding
frantically something he found most disturbing.
In Pakistan, the same line was met with
absolute silence. However, after a pause,
the Indian diplomat continues saying that

aane ki khawaaish tou ek zamaane se

he cannot afford to think
thi."
like this again. Phew! The
Reminiscing about Kolkata's Ripon
Pakistani audience apStreet where she lived before Partition,
plauded after the continuaFarida Khanum termed the city as the
tion following the pregnant
Holy land of music by virtue of many
pause.
venerated artistes being born there.
When Shah asked,
She recounted a low voice her first
How many of us have a
hand experience of the sad
friend in Pakistan? I
was elated to see several hands go up in
the crowd. As a member of the Aman ki
Asha
Facebook
group where Ive
made many friends
across the border, I
couldn't help but
beam in delight.
Shah
talked
about the importance of forming
one-to-one connections with Pakistanis. Pakistanis
meet Indians very
warmly and with tremendous fasci- Naseeruddin Shah at
Kalam. Photo: IANS
nation but in India, we don't reciprocate this feeling. We instead bestory of partition.
have condescendingly, he observed. The
Humein laga tha angrezon ka koi
exception proves the rule.
masla hai (we thought it was some issue
"I will continue going to Pakistan, keep
of the British). But we never
performing and keep participating in their
imagined that there would be a
activities, declared Shah. And
permanent break We never
for that, if I am called unpatriotic
thought that we would be un... So, yes I am unpatriotic!
able to return home. We were
nother Kalam session feadisplaced. We did not know
tured two prominent Pakistaanyone in Lahore. Lahore
nis: Malika-e-Ghazal Farida
was just a shopping destinaKhanum in discussion with writer Ali
tion for us before the Partition.
Sethi. The Calcutta-born singer said
She fondly spoke about Faiz Ahmed
that this visit was like coming home for her.
Faiz the influential left-wing poet. Meeting
She had long wanted to visit it - "Calcutta
him changed her life. She was a child when

she sang Faizs poem, Tufan badil hai,

har koi dildaar dekhna, at a college festival in Karachi.
Sadly, she had been unable to obtain a
no-objection certificate to visit India when
Satyajit Ray asked her to sing for Shatranj
Ke Khilari. Afsos hota hai ki kaash woh
no-objection certificate dete aur mein
Satyajit Ray ki film mein gaa paati.
Naseeb mein nahin tha woh
The
evening
ended with a standing
ovation for the 79
year old ghazal queen.
Although jet lagged
and suffering from a
sore throat, she
obliged the audience
by singing five ghazals,
signing autographs,
posing
for
photographs, giving interviews and more.
Calcutta is the place
where I was born and
where I received my initial training in music.
Today I am back and
performing, I am so
happy. Inshallah, aapse phir mulakaat
hogi
Personally speaking: I was in the august company of my friend Saira Shah
Halim, the niece of Naseeruddin Shah, for
both sessions. She helps me understand
Shahs love for Pakistan better. Farida
Khanum autographed her music CD for me
making it priceless. Im eternally grateful
to Beena Sarwar for gifting it to me.
The writer is a former journalist
with The Asian Age and Education
Times, The Times of India.
ruchhita.kazaria@aarcee.co.in

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