Forty years ago Radha Shetty* (65) was married to an alcoholic wife-beater. Soon after, she left him and returned to stay at her maternal home. Her husband died a few years later. Things were going pretty well at home – the family was huge, with her parents, three brothers and their families living together. Radha worked as a labourer at a mill nearby.
At the turn of the millennium, disaster struck. In quick succession over the next decade, Radha lost both her parents and two of her three brothers. She also lost her job when the mill shut shop. The onus of managing the entire family came upon the sole surviving brother and his elder son; they jointly ran a retail store. To help her brother who now had three widows to take care of, Radha gave him her life savings. He in turn, promised her a sum of Rs.1,000 every month for her medical and personal expenses.
It is hard to say if it was the pressure of supporting a large family or the authority of being the sole breadwinner that corrupted Radha's brother, but he soon became verbally abusive and stopped giving Radha money. They quarrelled often. Meanwhile, Radha's osteoarthritis rendered her homebound.
Her case came to fore during one of Shield’s regular community outreach programmes. While addressing a group of elderly Tamil people, Radha's brother informed us about her problems. Immediate intervention included arranging for medicines and protein powder. Doctors from the departments of physiotherapy, and preventive and social medicine (PSM) did home visits to help Radha. With counselling and regular follow-ups, she started moving around and attending physiotherapy sessions at the Urban Health Centre (UHC).
While her physical health improved, relations at home soured. Even though her brother was a member of a local NGO and himself participated in physiotherapy sessions, his relationship with his sister was stressful. Radha would recount his verbal abuses when she came to the Shield Centre.
When a social worker intervened it was found that everyone in the house was afraid of the brother, who was unresponsive to counselling by the social worker. The widowed wife of the younger brother showed some sympathy for Radha and took up the responsibility of giving her medicines and assisting her in getting to the common toilets in the community.
In her sorrow, Radha spent longer time at the Shield Centre where she was discovered to be good with crochet designs and woollen weaving. Since support was not coming from home, Shield provided her with the material to keep her engaged. Soon, students from the adolescents’ project asked her to take classes for them. Meanwhile, Radha started showing problems with her blood pressure and her asthma flared up. However, medical intervention gave her relief.
One day, there was an instance of domestic violence at Radha's house when her brother hit her. She stopped taking food and her health deteriorated. She had to be admitted to a hospital. As a part of crisis intervention, her brother was threatened by the legal implications of the case. His son was mature enough to understand the situation and through counselling, peace was restored at home.
After this instance, Radha started spending most of her day at the Shield Centre making mobile covers, sweaters and table clothes. Shield marketed her goods at NGO fairs whenever they came by. Since then, she has had a cataract operation in one eye which was conducted free of cost at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General (LTMG) Hospital at the behest of Shield. But she soon lost sight in the other eye due to complications after a case of retinal detachment.
These episodes, coupled with regular counselling and family visits by Shield’s field workers have brought some stability to the household. Radha has accepted her condition and complains less. She has found support in her nephew and her younger brother’s widowed wife. The Reddy family (Radha had kept her married surname) has since shifted to Dombivali but keep in touch with Shield. Her brother often volunteers for programmes and gives news about Radha.
Last heard from, she is doing fine.
*Actual name withheld for privacy.
At the turn of the millennium, disaster struck. In quick succession over the next decade, Radha lost both her parents and two of her three brothers. She also lost her job when the mill shut shop. The onus of managing the entire family came upon the sole surviving brother and his elder son; they jointly ran a retail store. To help her brother who now had three widows to take care of, Radha gave him her life savings. He in turn, promised her a sum of Rs.1,000 every month for her medical and personal expenses.
It is hard to say if it was the pressure of supporting a large family or the authority of being the sole breadwinner that corrupted Radha's brother, but he soon became verbally abusive and stopped giving Radha money. They quarrelled often. Meanwhile, Radha's osteoarthritis rendered her homebound.
Her case came to fore during one of Shield’s regular community outreach programmes. While addressing a group of elderly Tamil people, Radha's brother informed us about her problems. Immediate intervention included arranging for medicines and protein powder. Doctors from the departments of physiotherapy, and preventive and social medicine (PSM) did home visits to help Radha. With counselling and regular follow-ups, she started moving around and attending physiotherapy sessions at the Urban Health Centre (UHC).
While her physical health improved, relations at home soured. Even though her brother was a member of a local NGO and himself participated in physiotherapy sessions, his relationship with his sister was stressful. Radha would recount his verbal abuses when she came to the Shield Centre.
When a social worker intervened it was found that everyone in the house was afraid of the brother, who was unresponsive to counselling by the social worker. The widowed wife of the younger brother showed some sympathy for Radha and took up the responsibility of giving her medicines and assisting her in getting to the common toilets in the community.
In her sorrow, Radha spent longer time at the Shield Centre where she was discovered to be good with crochet designs and woollen weaving. Since support was not coming from home, Shield provided her with the material to keep her engaged. Soon, students from the adolescents’ project asked her to take classes for them. Meanwhile, Radha started showing problems with her blood pressure and her asthma flared up. However, medical intervention gave her relief.
One day, there was an instance of domestic violence at Radha's house when her brother hit her. She stopped taking food and her health deteriorated. She had to be admitted to a hospital. As a part of crisis intervention, her brother was threatened by the legal implications of the case. His son was mature enough to understand the situation and through counselling, peace was restored at home.
After this instance, Radha started spending most of her day at the Shield Centre making mobile covers, sweaters and table clothes. Shield marketed her goods at NGO fairs whenever they came by. Since then, she has had a cataract operation in one eye which was conducted free of cost at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General (LTMG) Hospital at the behest of Shield. But she soon lost sight in the other eye due to complications after a case of retinal detachment.
These episodes, coupled with regular counselling and family visits by Shield’s field workers have brought some stability to the household. Radha has accepted her condition and complains less. She has found support in her nephew and her younger brother’s widowed wife. The Reddy family (Radha had kept her married surname) has since shifted to Dombivali but keep in touch with Shield. Her brother often volunteers for programmes and gives news about Radha.
Last heard from, she is doing fine.
*Actual name withheld for privacy.
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