Manorama Rathnakar
I could never be like Mother Teresa, but I do what I can: these words by Ashok K Rau, portray him in the best light.
He allowed me in, though his office was crawling with carpenters that day. Somebody told me that he is one of the people who has been responsible for a rare place that my friends and I had been to where a large, biologically unrelated family lived in an atmosphere of love and concern. Everyone there had come from the personal and private hell caused by HIV positive. So I sat facing this tall gentleman at the first of the two centres of Freedom Foundation where those suffering from various addictions were treated.
In spite of the frequent interruptions, Ashok patiently explained why and how the foundation had come into existence. "I decided that it's time I give back to society what I had taken from it", he began. An uncommon motive, indeed, for a 41 year-old family man, in today's commercial world. "Even as a child, I had come to believe that in our country, those who deserve things cannot have them." There was a depth of feeling in his words. "Giving back to society what we have taken from it, is really a two way street we get back the satisfaction. I am an ordinary person. For me to feel satisfaction at the end of the day there must be something I can do to give happiness to those who don't have it." Clearly, here was a man with a mission.
Ashok Rau was born and brought up in Chennai where father had his business, though his family hailed from Udupi, Karnataka. His grandfather was U Krishna Rau, the wellknown Speaker of the Taniil Nadu Assembly. The second son among four boys, Ashok fondly recalls a happy childhood spent in a palatial old home a Egmore. He did his schooling at Don Bosco's and graduated from the Madras Christian College. After this, much to the dismay of his family, particularly his mother, an old student of Shanti Niketan, and a disciplinarian (with four boys, naturally), he did nothing but travel and meet people for two years.
Being a student of psychology, while in the US, he trained as a psychotherapist. After brief spells at the hotel and travel business, he worked with a couple of agencies dealing with alcoholism and drug addiction. This was when he discovered the need for structured models of therapy. Cultural rigidity was strong in both medical and religious models. He realised that the system must adapt to and take into consideration, the culture factor.
About this time he met Carl Sequeira, young man with similar views. The two started a rehabilitation centre in a home on Davis Road, Bangalore with their own resources This was in 1992. From such a small beginning, the project took shape and was registered as a public trust in 1993. Soon they had to take up an additional nine-bedroom house in Lingarajapuram. The recovery rate was good (48-50%) and next they shifted to their present residence on Hennur road.
With hard work they took on their struggles as a challenge. Carl and Ashok lived on the premises and did everything themselves, from cutting grass and doing masonry for the sheds to cooking and looking after patients.
They were different from other agencies. They were accessible and affordable. A balance was kept between paying and non-paying patients. Nobody was ever turned away from FF.
Then out of the blue, in 1994, a patient tested HIV positive for the first time, soon followed by others. By 1995, there were 55 patients from places as far flung as Nepal and Sikkim. No other place offered a systemic comprehensive and holistic therapy even when officially the country was unprepared to admit that HIV had arrived far less that it was spreading like wild fire.
Says Ashok, what happens to an Indian testing positive? "I saw a level of human degeneration unimaginable, women and children marginalised. The effects of HIV are devastating. These people have no shelter, no food, no companions and no resources. That is why we took up a separate place to go." And here is where I saw life and death exist side by side with dignity and grace and children run about and play.
Through all this, another faithful helper played a vital role-- a young lady, of whom Ashok says, "She was one of the initial pillars of FF: typist-cum-receptionist-cum
everything, giving much of her time and resources.We stood by each other." The greatest contribution that beautiful Kala considers herself to have made is that she is married to Ashok! They have a four-year-old son, Akash.
Nothing is allowed to come in the way of time the family spends together, although as resource person to many institutions, much of his time is spent in giving lectures and
speaking at seminars.
Ashok and Carl have a dream for the future of FF - A magnificent obsession. "I see a self-sustaining community on the lines of Auroville, where people can recover and lead useful lives. The work will go on after my time. But the wherewithal for it is the problem."
Though FF gets no foreign funds, Ashok has the faith that their needs will be met from unexpected sources always. However, he is not ashamed to admit that they are looking for a philanthropist to donate the necessary land, but he also seeks the support and involvement of people - individuals, business houses, anyone.
Addictions and HIV are diseases and should be treated as such. Ashok strongly feels that a moralistic attitude and stigmatisation have done much harm. Openness is needed instead of denial, so that the young feel free to discuss problems. After all, the responsibility for solving social problems must rest squarely upon society as a whole, in the long run.
With a touch of pride he remarks, "Our children from the centre have just managed to get admission in a school. One thing is clear: we cannot be judgmental. As Kahleel Gibran said,.. A single leaf turns not yellow but with the salient knowledge of the whole tree."
The question is, will we stand with people like Ashok and Carl or pass by on to the other side?
Top
Site Map | FAQ | Contact Us | Spread The Word
