My daughter was born in 1991. Though she was a normal child during birth, a minor part of her brain got damaged due to convulsions on the second day itself. Doctors declared it as a genetic disease which is of a rarest kind and hardly one out of million people suffer from it. It was really shocking and unbelievable for us since and according to experts, she needed to be on the medicines all her life or else she may not live. Since me and my husband were working, my in laws took the responsibility of giving the medicine doses to her throughout the day. Before my daughter’s birth, two of my brother-in-laws infants had died due to the same disease and we did not want the same to happen to this child in the family. Because of this, my in-law got so attached and possessive for my daughter that they flatly refused to let me even lift, hug, touch or love my own daughter. It was as if they used me just to give a child to their family and then I became useless for them.
My poor and innocent daughter was unaware of these happenings and could never realize the love and craving of her own mother. Nobody in their family could realize this except my self. This went on for almost 14-15 years. Though it was within a distance of half a kilometer from my house, where my daughter stayed, my in-laws did not allow me to take her back home in the evenings after returning from work. I was allowed to see her only for an hour during weekends. This separation from my own child took the life away from me and I missed each and every moment of her childhood as well as her growing years! I went into depression and to top it all I was worried about her health and never asked for her possession thinking that my in-laws would refuse to take care of her. I was also worried about her academic as she was declared as a slow learner by counsellors who advised that she needs to be put in the special school or she will not be able to get through even upto S.S.C! But still my husband continued her schooling in the normal school.
But in May 2006, within a year of doing the Art of Living course, my daughter was given back to me after 14 long years and not because of my demand but because she herself changed and wanted to be only with me and leave my in-laws. In June 2007, my daughter got through the S.S.C. exams from her regular school. Totally against the counselling session which suggested a special school for her and now she has become an arts graduate. Now she is preparing for the competitive exams for government service and consequently we wish to get her married to the right. Since the last 3 years she is without medicines and has become more mature, more healthy and more attached to us and does not go alone to meet my in-laws and wants us to be with her, but we convince her to meet them as they took care of her for 14 years. All this is possible only due to Guruji’s Grace.
JGD
Niharika shirolkar
