I’ve met Annabel Mehta only once, though I had seen
her in the colony a few times. It was in 2001 when I was writing on her and her
work with the NGO Apnalaya, for a national daily. But she made a big impression
on me.
For years she has worked with the NGO that strives to
better the living conditions of the underprivileged. It also works to educate slum
children.
A British national, Mehta met her husband, Anand, when
they were studying at LSE, and moved to Mumbai after they got married.
I learnt many things about the NGO and Mehta’s
dedication to her work that day, but I distinctly remember this. She said in
India you have so many festivals. And for everyone you want a holiday. “I have
so many people who work for me, but they’re often on leave. So many of my
daughter’s friends say ‘Aunty I want to work with you’. But everyone wants
holidays. Today it’s this and tomorrow it’s that. So I won’t be coming to work,”
she said.
I never forgot what she told me after this. “I
used to have two daughters. And my mother was visiting me for the first time
after my younger daughter passed away. But that afternoon, when it was time, I
told her I am going to work,” she said.
Seeing Mehta’s picture in Mid-Day yesterday, (she and
her husband funded a bone marrow transplant wing at the SRCC Children’s
Hospital – which was inaugurated by their son-in-law, Sachin Tendulkar) brought
this all back to mind. Perhaps I remember what she said because I was meeting
her the year after my sister passed away from complications due to breast
cancer. But it stayed with me.
All I could think of when I saw the picture is Mehta’s
determination to help other children who suffer from cancer get cured, so another
mother does not endure the pain she did.
I realise now that life,
with all its flaws as with its beauty, must be embraced. One cannot choose one
aspect of life like I did. Seeing Mehta in the picture made me think of this. She
chose to face both the highs and lows in life head on. And stands firm to
support others. A lesson in life for me.
