Seeing is believing is an old adage. But sometimes I want to not believe what I see and hear.

Reading the tragic story felt like being hit full in the face by a cricket ball. I kept asking myself, can such things really happen? But they do happen and will keep happening.

An educated, well-off lady disowned her 35-year-old daughter only because the girl suffered from Bipolar Syndrome, a manic depressive disorder.

The story began on a promising note. The lady gave birth to the girl amid much joy and nursed her with utmost care. Nurturing great hopes from her, the mother ensured the girl's overall development and good education.

Pali (name changed), the teenager, became her parents' pride. She was no less proud of being a worthy daughter.

Today, the mother does not want to see or even talk to her only daughter. The poor girl has been left a destitute.

All was well till Pali was 27. On a fateful day, her naval officer father died. The girl was deeply attached to him and could not bear the sudden loss.

Shocked

The shock started telling heavily upon her health. Pali became a psychiatric case. The widowed mother and Pali's brother, a software engineer, exercised the option of lodging the girl in a government hospital for the mentally ill.

For the first few years, the report said, the mother visited Pali, then she suddenly stopped. Her brother also abandoned his sister.

Two years ago, Pali became a normal person and was declared fit to go home. The girl was overjoyed, but got the second shock of her life when her mother refused to take her back.

Pali was shattered a second time. She had already lost her loving father and now her mother and brother had deserted her. Where in the world would she go now? This was the question on the lips of whoever knew her.

One day, the depressed girl wrote to her mother, ‘My dear mother, heartfelt greetings. I hope this letter finds you in good spirits. I miss you a lot'. Alas! Even these words failed to move the mother.

All these years, Pali has been watching the hospital entrance in the hope that some day her mother and brother might come to take her back home. But that has not happened.

The shocking report said that the worst came when Pali's mother sent a legal notice to the hospital informing them that she had disowned her daughter and deprived her of any rights to the family's moveable and immoveable property. She had severed all relations with her and she was no longer Pali's legal guardian. As such, said the mother, she was not responsible for Pali's welfare.

That was not all. The notice warned the hospital of legal action if any attempt was made to contact her.

Pali knows several English songs. Her favourite is Stevie Wonders' I just called to say I love you, which she sings on appropriate occasions.

One morning, when a depressed Pali called up home, the house maid answered the call to tell her that her mother did not want to speak to her.

However, Pali has not lost hope. As she blankly stares at the ceiling of her hospital room, she feels that one day her mother will respond to her craving for that motherly love she has been missing all these years.

 

Lalit Raizada is a journalist based in India.