Sheltering The Storm

Vaishi, a mentally-ill housewife and mother from Songadh of Medha village in Surat, Gujarat, was given up for dead by her family. She was reunited with them 18 years after she went missing. u Ramkumari from Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh was separated from her family when a flash flood struck their village. Eight years later, her mental problems controlled by medicines, she was reunited with her family and reached home in time to watch her daughter get married. u When Maramma, a Lombadi woman from Hyderabad was taken back home seven years after she had wandered off, the entire community celebrated in thanksgiving.

Moving force behind each of these cases, The Banyan has been dedicated to the empowerment of mentally-ill destitute women, ever since it was founded in 1993. This Chennai-based NGO is spearheaded by two young women just out of college — Vandana Gopikumar and Vaishnavi Jayakumar. What precipitated matters was the callousness and indifference of onlookers that they encountered when they chanced to find a mentally ill woman, sitting stark naked, laughing and muttering to herself on one of Chennai’s busy roads. Angered by the behaviour of the crowd they covered her nakedness as best they could and took the woman to an institution for the mentally ill. But a few days later she was back on the streets. The experiment was repeated; with the same result. That was when Vandana and Vaishnavi decided that something needed to be done to help such women.

Today, seven years later they can look back with satisfaction. Over 300 such mentally ill destitute women have been cared for, successfully treated and rehabilitated with their families, not only in Tamil Nadu and neighboring states but as far away as West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. What is more these women are followed up and free medicines are sent to them by post so that they continue to keep well. Should symptoms recur the families can contact The Banyan and necessary help and guidance is promptly provided.

The rescued women stay at Adaikalam, a rented house where they are administered tender loving care: dirty nails are cut, hair is combed, the women are bathed and dressed in clean clothes, and fed, and finally assessed by The Banyan’s doctors. As Dr Seshadri Harihar, a senior consultant psychiatrist at Apollo hospital, Chennai, who doubles as one of The Banyan’s psychiatrists as well, says, ‘‘Treating these women is a totally different ball-game. Generally patients with serious psychiatric problems are brought in by their families; we have their previous records to guide us. Here we only have the patient’s behaviour to go by.’’ Nevertheless a continuous assessment and treatment programme is begun. They then go through delousing and deworming, scabies is rampant, all are checked for tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases etc. As they get better, the Banyan staff and volunteers engage them in a variety of activities — music, dance, bhajans, drawing, cooking.... And their lives gradually come back to ‘‘normal’’.

This is when investigations begin; trying to piece together the pieces of the jigsaw and determining where the woman comes from. The women often divulge details to their doctors so the check-up sessions turn into information-gathering sessions. The Ban-yan’s language team chips in too; volunteers who speak the same language as the patients chat with them and get more details. Once the NGO’s medical team declares the woman medically fit the rehabilitation team swings into action. To make rehab trips more cost-effective the journeys are planned once five to six women from one geographical area are ready for rehab. On an average, it costs Rs 8,000 to take each woman back to her home in the northern part of India.

Initially Vandana and Vaishnavi used to lead the trips. But nowadays volunteers do it. These trips are stuff of which thrillers are made: travelling unreserved, sleeping rough on platforms, traversing the length and breadth of India to little-known places. Often a leader has to make snap decisions and change plans, as it happened recently when Dr Anbudurai, a psychiatrist working for The Banyan led a North Indian rehab trip. They were on their way to Sithod in Gujarat which it was presumed was Nandu Bai’s home. But as they journeyed social worker Dhivya realised that there was something very Rajasthani about Na-ndu Bai. Working on her hunch they journeyed to ‘Sithodgad’ (Chittorgarh) in Rajasthan. There Nandu Bai mentioned a place — Malgadl. The nearest to Sithodgad was Mandalgad; which was where they headed. There at the local thana, officials helped. They surmised after talking to Nandu Bai that she most likely belonged to Damania village nearby. Once at Damania, Nandu Bai led the way; she ran home.

Even now, nearly a 100 women await rehabilitation. Adaikalam is bursting at its seams, ‘‘We just can’t afford to continue to be a homeless organisation for the homeless,’’ groans Vandana as Gopi, the social worker brings in yet another patient. Chitra Manoranjani is her name; head-shaven and ill- nourished she looks like a waif but as she rants and raves in impeccable English while in the grip of mania we realise that she has upper-class origins. Indian? Pakistani? Arab? We wonder. But Dr Seshadri’s guess is right; he sings the Byla whereupon she joins in and dances happily. She is Sinhalese. For now even Chitra must squeeze in at Adaikalam.

The Banyan’s own building is slowly coming up on land allotted by the Government during J. Jayalalitha’s time. With the number of residents increasing, raising funds to keep the women fed, clothed and housed, buying medicines and keeping the building fund alive takes up all of Vandana’s and Vaishnavi’s time, energy and ingenuity. Locally a lot of help has come in; for the transparency with which they function, the encouragement they give to community participation in Banyan activities and their sincerity have endeared them to the people of Chennai.

Individuals, local corporate houses, the neighbourhood newspaper,the neighbourhood community hospital — all have been chipping in with help in cash and kind. A regular fund-raiser is Show Cause; a movie is screened once a month and the proceeds go to The Banyan.

Vandana and Vaishnavi see the Banyan as a transit home for mentally ill destitute women where they are treated and empowered with skills to enable them face life in the community; and not as an institution or home where they are dumped. Besides, with every successful rehabilitation the message that mental illness is treatable is clearly sent out; to the family and the community. Awareness and a positive attitude to mental illness is being created in the community at large. In fact, because of The Banyan, an attitude of fear, disgust and helplessness has been replaced by an increasingly positive interest in the mentally ill and a willingness to help.

And it is all because of Vandana and Vaishnavi who, with their idealism, cheer, optimism and disarming openness bring with them a breath of fresh air in this insensitive world of today.

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