Ripunath Sahu
is a driver of Barpali. Six years back his life shattered when Ripunath met
with a devastating accident. He was working as a driver for Dilip Sahu. On 29th
December 2008 he was carrying thirteen passengers in a Mahindra Bolero and
travelling to Puri. At the dead of the night at around 3.00 AM while the
vehicle neared the Jarpada, Boinda railway station it collided head-on with a
road side tree. In this mishap six family members of Mani Meher’s family died.
Miraculously Ripunath Sahu survived, but by paying a heavy tool for it. Both
his legs and left hand were fractured, while the nose was pierced. He was in
coma and rushed to the Cuttack Medical College. On getting conscious after
three days he was brought to Burla’s V.S.S.Medical College. Over here surgeries
were done to his limbs.
He was in the
hospital bed for long two months. He did not had either health insurance or the
life insurance to meet the contingencies. His employer Dilip Sahu gave only Rs.6,000/-,
while the Barpali Taxi Union paid Rs.4,000/-. His brother-in-law contributed Rs.15,000/- to meet the medical needs. Whereas
the actual expenses were somewhere around Rs.1,80,000/-. It tempted his wife Tikeswari
Sahu to remove whatever little gold ornaments she was adorned with. She sold
the ornaments in the market to raise the funds to meet the immediate medical need.
Even after
discharge it took him around two years to recover from that trauma. Though
Ripunath survived, but from there the ordeal for his wife Tikeswari began.
Ripunath was the sole earning member of the family. Though he is alive, but crippled.
He neither possess any other skill to eke out a living. His wife Tikeswari had
to take the mantle to manage the livelihood of her family consisting of two
young daughters (than 4 years and 1 year), a son (than 6 years old) and this
handicapped husband. As she is semi-literate, all she could opted was vending of vegetables on the streets of
Barpali. She used to purchase the fresh vegetables at morning in the Barpali
Daily Market. At noon hours she used to carry the stuff in a bamboo basket
mounted on top of her head and sell it on the streets of Barpali. She was
selling the vegetables moving from door to door to different households mostly
in the Canal Colony and Kadlipali. She had to dispose-off the stuff before the
sunset as she did not have cold storage facility. A day she manage to earn as
little as Rs.50 to Rs.80 (roughly US $ 1). With this meager income she was
managing the household of her three children and the handicapped husband. While
her brother provided two sacks of rice for survival.
Needless to
say, she unable to pay the monthly school fee of her son Jitu Sahu who was then
in KG-1 (Kinder Garden). Her son was then attending a private English Medium
School in the immediate vicinity by paying a monthly fee of Rs.120/-. And the
result the boy was instantly dropped from the school. Instead he went to attend
the Government run Upper Primary School at Subhas Nagar to get the free
education in Oriya.
Unable to
cope with the challenges of the domestic ordeal one day his wife had a spat
with Ripunath Sahu. He bashed her and threw out of their home. She left behind
her two young daughters (than 4 years and 1 year) and a son (than 6 years old) at
home and left to the bosom of her parents at Bariha Pukhapaen. After much trail
and tribulations she returned to the fold of her husband and children to resume
her domestic life.
They stayed at
Andharu Seth garage free of rentals. In the year 2010 Ripunath resumed his work of driving a vehicle.
Now he is operating a jeep on lease. He had taken a Mahindra Maxx Lx by paying a
monthly rental of Rs.6,000/-. A month he able to earn somewhere Rs.8,000/- to
Rs.10,000/-. After paying the lease rent, fuel and upkeepment of the vehicle a
month only Rs. 3,000/- to Rs.4,000/- is left over. This little is not enough to
support a family of four lives. At
present he is penniless as he is paying house rental of Rs.1,500/- a month,
children tuition fee Rs.1,000/- a month and grocery.
Even after
six years of that devastated accident Ripunath is having a major physical
impediment that restrict him from leading a normal life. His left hand has been
swollen and disfigured. He immediately
need medical attention, but don’t have money to remove the steel rods implanted
inside his hand. He seeks financial help of around Rs.75,000/- to undergo the next
round of surgery.
Ripunath or
Tikeswari could be reached at their Cell # 91-99-375-73076. They can
speak either Oriya or Hindi, but no English. He is not a computer literate, so
no email id. You may please mail this writer in case you want to provide
whatever the little help possible on your part.
E. KIRAN MOHAN,
C\o. Dr.E.R.Rao (M.D),
Tehsil Chowk,
At\PO – BARPALI – 768 029,
Dist. Bargarh, Orissa, India.
Cell # 91 99 371 20565
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