Udayan

Sometime in Oct 2011, my friend Venkat got in touch with me about an organization called Udayan, which was based out of West Bengal, about 2-3 hours drive from Calcutta. Just like some of you reading this post, I had very little knowledge of Udayan except for the fact that a few years ago, Steve Waugh's support for the girls at Udayan had brought them into the news. Now I am better informed since Venkat spent a few days at Udayan, a few months ago.

The primary challenge for me in writing this post is in trying to keep a straight face without being emotionally overwhelmed. And that is just to write this post, using content already available. My only contribution to this post is my comments.


"Udayan was started over 40 years ago (yes! incredible, isn't it!?) by Father James Stevens. Udayan is a residential centre for the rehabilitation of leprosy patients children, The work of Udayan started with 11 children. Initially Udayan was established to care for the children of leprosy patients coming from some of the worst slums in the City of Kolkata and its environs. However with the passage of time the need to accommodate more and more children from the worst hit areas of leprosy colonies of Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Jharkhand, Ranchi, Durgapur and other parts of eastern region was felt and gradually children came pouring at Udayan from those regions and very soon the number of residents swelled to 300 (with about 90 girls out of 300).

Most of the children’s parents keep their families in the basic necessities of life by begging, smuggling rice or making illicit liquor. The income derived from these sources is not great – not enough to keep the heart and soul of a family together. The children run wild in the slums where they live and have no chance to get education, or to know any other kind of life than their mothers or fathers are leading. There is also the danger that the children will become infected with leprosy and may go without proper medicine and end their days maimed and uncared for. Therefore, Udayan takes these children away from the seat of infection and endeavours to educate them and train them for a life very different from that of their parents.

All this is achieved in a residential centre for the children in Barrackpore, which is about 30Km.from Kolkata, very different from the slums, they are used to."

(The section above in quotes is edited from Udayan's info on itself)

Unbelievably, most Indians (myself included!), at least, know very little about leprosy and it is treated as something to stay away from. Udayan which has worked very closely with leprosy patients understands this situation and works hard to give the children of leprosy patients, a regular life without the social stigma leprosy carries. If you need any more info on Udayan, please check out their website or get in touch with me.

Udayan currently needs to raise about Rs. 20 lakhs to meet its financial needs. If you are in India, please use the following info to make a contribution, however small it may be, or at least spread the word, even if you don't make a financial contribution of your own.

Bank Name    Axis Bank Ltd
Branch name    Barrackpore ( West Bengal)
Account Number    436010100116688
Name of Account (Cheque to be made in the name of)    Udayan
9 digit MICR number    700211030
Current/ savings account    Savings Account
SWIFT Code/ Remittance Instructions AXISINBB005
IFSC CODE     UTIB0000436

If you live outside India and intend to make a contribution in foreign currency please see this link for instructions on how to go ahead.

Thank you for reading this and your support.

I am using my participation in this year's California International Marathon as well as the half marathon at Mumbai to raise awareness and funds for Udayan. Please spread this message.

Spaghetti every Friday by Bob Fletcher...

tells the amazing story of Bob Fletcher who at the fine young age of 50, decides (actually he decided a little earlier) to run 50 marathons in 50 weeks (revising it from his earlier plan of 50 marathons in a year). He traverses the United States like no other maniac before, in the process driving more than 36,000 miles, while ticking off each of his marathons. He also collects 1st, 2nd or 3rd place finishes in more than half of those marathons (for his age group), including one of 11 competitors.

Incredible athlete, that he is, Bob tells his story well, (although the book is not edited well, with typos and missing words in a few places) describing the mental troubles of this stupendous feat as well. He trains hard and describes it in some detail.

The most amazing feature of Bob's story is not the feat itself (it is superhuman, no doubt) but that all of this was accomplished in 1983!!! In an era of little or no internet access and manual form filling (writing to organizers for details of race. getting the form, sending the form, getting to the race..) Bob's feat stands out also because in one case, he had to convince the organizers to not abandon the race in a hurricane-hit town. Eventually the race (or atleast its replacement) had to be done on a track, where they ran what seems like endless laps, clockwise and then anti-clockwise to finish a marathon! This and other such anecdotes pepper the book. Must read.

Amazing heady stuff, if you are setting out out on a running feat yourself.
Hat tip to Bhasker for lending the book