A stream of water was continuously flowing from her eyes, there was sound of the nose blowing in between, the eyes and nose were being wiped and the face was pale and red… It’s not that the Seva Sankalp family did not experience such heart-felt moments before, but today’s moment moved everyone’s heart deeply.

The biggest chaos and hustle in Seva Sankalp is during the two meals. There is a lot of excitement during this time, there is noise of pots and many other things. But today everyone was quiet and everything was silent during dinner time. Everyone was suppressing the heaviness of grief with great effort.  The situation was so delicate that everyone was about to burst into tears. All the guests who came to visit were also overwhelmed. This true story of compassion and friendship reached not only the ears but the minds of everyone present.

The lady, hero of this story was not the real mother of the girl but the motherhood she embraced was far greater. She came to meet the real mother of her daughter. The real mother, Vidya was unfortunately mentally ill and was a resident of Seva Sankalp. From the time Vidya came to Seva Sankalp, it was evident that she must have come from a good family. You could sense it from her speech. The memories in her mind had faded, but one thing that was stuck in her mind was a mobile number.

She kept telling us to contact on that number. She would often try to steal our cell phones to call as she felt that we were not taking her seriously. One such day we asked her for the number. The digits were correct and we dialled the number. Since the man who had brought Vidya to us had told us that her name was Vidya, we started talking by referring to the same name. A lady started conversing with us. She was speaking from Gujarat. As soon as she heard the name Vidya, she was very happy and overwhelmingly asked many questions about Vidya. She was also getting emotional as we spoke. During this conversation, we learnt that the person who brought Vidya to us was her sister’s husband. The lady could not believe that Vidya was with us. She kept on asking – “Are you telling the truth? Is Vidya really with you?”. She couldn’t believe us.

We gave the phone to Vidya but it was of not much help as she could not remember anything except the mobile number. Vidya’s friend continued to talk and she was presenting facts about Vidya’s past life before us.

Vidya had one sister and one brother. She was born in a rich family, in a big market town like Jalgaon Khandesh. Unfortunately, her mother became psychotic a few years after the birth of her children. This had mentally impacted Vidya. Later on, Vidya got married. She gave birth to a cute baby girl, her sister’s got married while her daughter was growing up. Her sister’s husband saw his father-in-law’s wealth and his mind was filled with greed. Meanwhile, Vidya’s parents left her. Her brother died in an accident and Vidya’s tragic journey began. Her mental health further deteriorated and she started treatment. Her sister’s greedy husband took advantage of Vidya’s situation and he started influencing Vidya’s husband’s mind. He was encouraging him for divorce.

Vidya’s friend who lived next door was a lawyer by profession. She was saddened to see this suffering of Vidya and Vidya’s family. She knew that Vidya may or may not return to her original state but the suffering her husband and daughter were going through was not agreeable. Their loss of happiness seemed unfair. So she proposed the idea of her sister getting married to Vidya’s husband with the idea of making Vidya’s husband and her daughter’s life happy again. The lawyer’s sister who lived an abandoned life near the village also agreed. All this happened in front of Vidya but she had least awareness of anything. The lady glanced at Vidya’s daughter. She saw the innocent expression in her eyes and instantly vowed never to have a child of her own and embraced Vidya’s daughter as her own. Vidya’s daughter was very young then. She is on her way to becoming a lawyer today. The only purpose of her getting this education is to get justice for her mother. She had come to Seva Sankalp that day. Seeing her mother’s condition, she was moved to tears. And Vidya was just looking at the girl’s face and was saying she used to look the same. My hair was similar to hers. She was saying that but did not know who the girl was or the fact that she is her daughter.

The girl was hugging and cuddling with her mother. That touch probably pleased Vidya. The dinner plates were extended. All the patients were sitting for food with their plates. Vidya asked the girl – “Will you have dinner with me?” As soon as she asked such a question, her daughter got ready and sat with her. Vidya started feeding the girl with each morsel and she was crying. It was the most beautiful picture in the whole world, that of absolute pure love. We stood in awe, speechless watching this scene. Vidya must have been satisfied feeding her daughter. She wiped her hands on the clothes and rushed back to her room without eating a single grain. She left all of us surprised! Seeing all this, the lady was pleased and filled with gratitude as she had sacrificed her entire life so that her daughter could meet her real mother. Vidya’s daughter ran to her mother who took care of her. She was crying hugging her tightly. This moment moved everyone’s heart deeply at Seva Sankalp, a place of hope and life to many…