M A I N   N E W S

Haryana boy lives on — with wires that nearly killed him
Geetanjali Gayatri/TNS

Tale of despair and hope Two years ago, Raman accidentally touched a low-lying 11 KV transmission line passing over the terrace of his house in Sanauli Khurd village in Panipat. It cost him his arms and one leg (they had to be amputated). Recently, the Punjab and Haryana HC awarded a compensation of `60 lakh in Raman’s case The “killer” wire that caused the accident, however, is yet to be “shifted” by the Power Department Despite odds attacked against him, Raman seems to be unfettered. His uncanny zest for life and strong spirit keeps him going

Panipat, July 8
A whirring toy pigeon hanging by a string over Raman’s cot keeps him company. The harder he kicks it, the farther it flies, eliciting frenzied cheers from the boy. The laughter from the room rings all the way down a narrow flight of stairs that leads to Manoj Sharma’s small auto spare parts shop. But it doesn’t make him smile. It opens floodgates of pain and tears.

Two years back, Raman, his only son, accidentally touched an 11 KV transmission line passing over their terrace in Sanauli Khurd village. It cost him his arms and one leg (they had to be amputated) when he was just four.

Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court awarded a compensation of Rs 60 lakh in Raman’s case. The “killer” wire that caused the accident, however, is yet to be “shifted” by the Power Department while the family has incurred lakhs as debt on the boy’s treatment. The biggest tragedy is the parents’ trauma of watching their son struggle to live with the odds stacked against him. But Raman’s zest for doing the undoable is as contagious as his smile. His disability doesn’t deter him to live his life to the full. Visitors excite him. As he rattles out his likes --- his dad’s mobile, watching cartoons, munching chips and more --- he rolls over from one bed to the other to pick up his “leashed pet tiger” with his mouth, grunts a rough sound to scare everybody and then bursts into laughter.

Ask him if he goes to school and he nods in the assertive. “Only for two hours, twice a week. Papaji drops me and picks me up. I have two best friends. They pick me up and take me downstairs to play,” says the boy, as his father tries to blink back his tears.

Raman has fuzzy memories of the day he nearly died. While his mother was cooking food, he sneaked up to the terrace and touched the wire. The impact of the shock was so severe that it flung him to the neighbour’s terrace. “The burnt skin of his hands stuck to the terrace floor. It was horror watching the burnt limbs hanging from his little frame,” says Manoj. “We just prayed for his life. It was a difficult period. We borrowed money and went on shifting him from one hospital to another. Finally, doctors at the Safdarjung hospital came to our rescue. Thankfully, he survived,” recounts Manoj as Raman fiddles with his father’s mobile using his toes. By the time the conversation gets over, he’s even shot a video of it.

Unfortunately, the family can’t even explore the possibility of prosthetics for Raman. “We consulted some experts at Gurgaon.

They told us that he needed at least one hand to be able to operate the limb,” says Bina, Raman’s mother.

While the compensation has promised the boy a secure future, the family is struggling to meet the daily expenses. Manoj, who is under Rs 15 lakh debt, earns a paltry Rs 2,500 per month. “Every day is a new battle. It seems like a dark tunnel with no end. The struggle that awaits Raman wrenches our hearts,” says Manoj. Raman’s indefatigable spirit, however, is a bright spot. It clearly shows that life may deliver you blows, but it cannot necessarily diminish your happiness.