NEW VISION, NEW LIFE.

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“Eight months ago, one evening I was returning home from work, and suddenly I was gripped with a never-before-felt pain in my head. I also started vomiting. After few minutes, the pain did stop, only to recur after 10 days,” says the thirty-eight year old Varanasi Sarwesvar Sharma.

“I am a farmer,” continues the frail-looking father of three daughters aged eleven, eight and five years. “I did not have the time to go to the hospital; I cannot afford to go; I cannot wait long hours as it generally happens in any hospital. So I started taking Homeopathy pills, but as days passed my condition only got worse. For some inexplicable reason, my vision started deteriorating, and I had to start wearing spectacles,” Sarweswar recalls the troublesome days of his trauma. But this was only the beginning.

The Terrible Trauma On January 29, 2007, at 10:30 PM when he was lying on his bed, Sarweswar says, “I got a wake up call - an excruciating headache which lasted for four long hours, and thereafter I could not open my right eye lid at all! I lost vision in my left eye.” It was the most dreadful day of his life. He felt utterly helpless and was worried like never before. His brother immediately took him to a private hospital in Kakinada, a town in the East Godavari District in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The doctors there promptly advised a Radiology examination. What the CT scan revealed, devastated Sarweswar and his family. He had a brain tumour. The hospital in Kakinada was ill-equipped to handle such cases and the doctors referred him to the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), a reputed Government medical university located in the capital city of Hyderabad. But Sarweswar was too worried. He knew it would cost a fortune and for a farmer like him it was unthinkable. It was at this time that destiny decided to come to his rescue in form of a kind hearted nurse. The gentle lady seeing his plight intervened and informed Sarweswar of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences at Whitefield. The moment he heard that it was free hospital which specializes in Brain Surgery, Sarweswar wasted no time.

		On February 1 st, 2007 Sarwesvar arrived at Bhagavan’s Hospital with his brother for a checkup and was immediately admitted. A series of blood test and radiological investigations followed. The doctors’ impression of the scan read: “It is a well defined rim enhancing heterogeneous intensity lesion, widening the sellar and suprasellar region, measuring 3.4 x 3 x 4.3cms. It is compressing the optic chiasma and displacing the right internal carotid artery (ICA) around it. Areas of different hemorrhages are seen within the lesion. In simple words, it meant, it was Pituitary tumor (abnormal growth of the cells in the Pituitary gland located at the base of the brain) accompanied with bleeding. This condition caused an increase in pressure leading to compression of the optic nerve resulting in visual deterioration and drowsiness and finally blindness.
Sarweswar's life was a sorry state...

The Gift of Sight

On the very next day of his arrival into Swami’s hospital (that is, February 2, 2007), he was wheeled into the operation theatre and the doctors explored trans-nasally and the tumor was decompressed. It was a smooth surgery; Lord’s Grace on Sarweswar was abundant. On the 8th day after the surgery, Sarweswar began to see again. His joy knew no bounds! It was like being reborn again, and this precious gift of new life was offered to him absolutely free and with lots of love in a world which everyday exemplifies that ‘there is no free lunch’.

Just like a lotus in a sordid pond, this Hospital right from its inception has been ‘out of this world’ by living and demonstrating principles which are considered utopian by the modern man. It is a testimony to the power of selfless love. Bhagavan Baba says, “Love does not watch through the eyes; it knows the heart. Love does not hear through the ears; it listens with peace. Love does not talk with words; it talks with compassion.” And right from its inception in January 19, 2001, this ‘Temple of Healing” has done only this.

Three months later when Sarweswar walked into the Neuro Out-Patient Department with a big smile on his face, a Sai Volunteer working at the hospital asked him, “How are you?” He joyfully said, ‘Fit and Fine’. And Sarweswar is just one of the many that walk into this hallowed hospital every day irrespective of religion, region, caste or class differences. To quote another instance, here is the case of Rajkumar, who is nearly half of Sarweswar’s age, in the prime of his youth.

Rajkumar – His Father’s Prince A young handsome boy, Rajkumar S. Korale, is his father’s favourite son doing his second year in the Industrial Training Institute, in Bijapur, a city which is also the district headquarters of the eponymous district in the state of Karnataka. Nothing gave more happiness to Mr. Korale than seeing his son blossom into a qualified young man. He spent all his earnings from working in the fields in his village in educating his son. And Rajkumar too responded beautifully by being an earnest student. Every afternoon he would return from college, have his lunch and diligently settle down on his favourite spot on the terrace of the house with his books. It did the same few months ago on March 1, 2007 too but what followed next on this fateful day was very disturbing. From Delight to Depression He felt a sudden throbbing in his head and started to vomit. Hearing his screams his father, mother and sister ran up to the terrace and to their horror he was lying there unconscious. The distraught family carried him to the nearby government hospital in their village. The doctors there administered some drug and he recovered soon. The family was relieved and returned home, their hearts lightened and minds calm.

But their peace would not last long. After twenty days, on April 21, 2007, Rajkumar had a second episode of this mysterious headache and vomiting. This time his father took him to a private hospital in Kolapur, a prosperous city in the neighboring state of Maharastra.

A CT scan of the brain done here revealed a blood vessel abnormality called ‘Aneurysm’. The family sunk in despair. Aneurysm, in layman terms, is a bleb or bulge inthe artery. A cerebral aneurysm is a bulge in the artery in the brain.It can be fatal if the ‘bulge’ in the blood vessel ruptures causing a brain hemorrhage. The doctor did not mince words, he said, “Your son’s life is poised on a razor’s edge. He needs to undergo immediate surgery which is both expensive and complicated.”

When the doctor mentioned to Rajkumar’s father the approximate cost of the surgery (about Rs 1 – 1.5 lakh), he stood motionless. He was too shocked to even think. When he regained composure, he knew he has only one option or rather actually no option left. He cried out within, “Dear God, why do You want to take him so early, when he wants to live? You know I have spent all my earnings all these years in trying to put him in college and get a decent education, now where do I go for this huge amount. Please have mercy on me. Please let him live.” His predicament was heart-breaking to say the least. It was like somebody was now mercilessly taking away from him the very inspiration of his life, the dream for which he had toiled nights and days converting his blood into sweat.

The Divine Steps in

Whether it was an amazing coincidence or the inscrutable ways of the divine, that same day a friend who visited them said, “There is no need to worry. Haven’t you heard of Sri Sathya Super Specialty Hospital (SSSIHMS) in Whitefield? They treat such cases and it will be done all free.”

	Sri Sathya Super Specialty Hospital (SSSIHMS) in Whitefield

Next week the father made the 530 kilometer journey and landed in Swami’s Hospital with his son. At first sight, he was awestruck to see such a big and beautiful building. He could not believe it was a Hospital. The atmosphere was so serene, the vibrations so uplifting.

The doctors in Swami’s Hospital, after seeing his CT scan reports, immediately admitted Rajkumar in the emergency ward. Routine blood test, urine test, MRI and an angiogram were done and the doctors confirmed that it was “Left ICA (Internal Carotid Artery) bifurcation aneurysm”, meaning, a bulge at a junction point inside the brain where the artery bifurcates into two.

On May 4, 2007, the Neuro Surgeons operated on Rajkumar. The surgery “Left Pterional Craniotomy”, wherein the brain is explored by opening the top left portion of the skull. The surgery lasted six hours and the aneurysm was successfully clipped using a Titanium implant.

“Now I know God is very loving” – Rajkumar’s Father

		The surgery, like every other done at this Hospital by Swami’s dedicated surgeons, was a success and Rajkumar recovered remarkably. While walking out of the Hospital after few days of stay, the emotional father said, “Thanks to God and the Medical Team that saved my son’s life. I have always believed in God, but now I know that He is very loving”. For the hospital staff there is no other greater joy than seeing Rajkumar, now with his rediscovered youthful exuberance and his father’s faith in the almighty more strengthened now than ever. Such miracles of pure love are everyday phenomenon in this Temple of Healing. Dear reader, we brought you only two of such moving tales and there are happening in hundreds every single day. The whole magazine would not be sufficient to track the patients who have found hope, love and light in just one day of the hospital. What is happening here is phenomenal and it is best we leave it your blissful imagination! The power of selfless love is limitless, we know it. But here, you can see it every day, dawn till dusk.
Rajkumar and his father are now dreaming again

- Heart2Heart Team

We are grateful to Mrs. Poornima Shirale without whose contribution and active support this article would not have been possible.

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