8 years on, Manjunath gets a kiss from mom

It was a moment Manjunath Kalmani had waited eight painful years for. On Sunday, the paralyzed software techie's eyes welled up when he saw his mother, Vidyawati, at his bedside at Safdarjung Hospital's ICU. She gently ran her hand over his forehead and kissed him. This was their first meeting since Manjunath was terminally crippled in May 2002 and both thanked The Times of India profusely for making it possible.

On March 8, TOI had reported that Manjunath — a techie who was paralyzed neck down in a road accident in the US — was transported back to India on March 5 after his visa had expired and admitted at the Safdarjung Hospital. This newspaper has since been inundated with calls from well-wishers wanting to help the 33-year-old quadriplegic. A Lucknow-based institute has even offered to adopt him.

"I knew his condition was bad. All this while I have consoled myself for not being with him thinking that Manju was getting good medical attention in the US and was fine. But when I was told that he had been brought to India and I saw his photograph on television, I couldn't stop myself," said Vidyawati. Accompanied by her son-in-law Linganagouda Patil, Vidyawati arrived from Koppal in Karnataka at 3.15pm and went straight to meet Manjunath in the hospital from the airport.

The family had long wished for this reunion with fading hope as Manjunath was in the US and the chances of his recovery were grim. In their hour-long meeting, Manjunath spoke to all his family members back home in Karnataka. "He couldn't speak but he heard his father, brother and sister talk to him. He did try to speak as he couldn't stop himself," said Patil.

Vidyawati thanked TOI for highlight Manjunath's story. "I'll always be thankful to TOI for what they have done. Had they not written about my son, I don't know what would have happened to him. If so many people are coming forward to help us it is just because of the newspaper's efforts," she said.

She also appealed to the Karnataka government and the Centre for help. "I appeal to the Indian and Karnataka governments to help us as we can't afford Manjunath's treatment," she said.

Vidyawati got a recent album to show Manjunath the new members of the family — two-year-old Ganesh and seven-year-old Goutami, children of his sister Veena. "He has never seen them. He had spoken to Goutami once. He was very happy to see the pictures of their home and those of other family members," said Vidyawati with tears in her eyes.

After reading about Manjunath's plight in The Times of India and the tremendous response from across the globe, Karnataka government officials met the techie on Sunday. "We have asked Safdarjung Hospital to give us a report of his medical condition. We have been informed about the various medical complications he has. We would be sending the report to our government," said G R Manjesh, resident commissioner, Karnataka Bhawan. The state government has also made arrangement for the family's stay in Delhi.

News Source : Samachar