Kamlesh Ram with his family at the night shelter
Kamlesh Ram, 32
A night shelter opposite AIIMS, New Delhi, is permanent address of Kamlesh Ram. He has living here with his wife and a two-year-old son for last two-and-a-half years. A mattress, few clothes, an old pressure cooker, two steel boxes, a plastic bucket and some utensils are his only assets.
Kamlesh, 32, who hails from a small village Garwa in Jharkhand, came to Delhi seeking treatment for a disabling pain in his right leg. It started with a numbing pain and swelling near the knee. He tried a few home remedies first and showed it to some local doctors in his village. They kept giving him a few medicines, but to no avail. When the swelling increased and the pain became unbearable, the only surgeon of the village advised him amputation.
“He told me that he could save my life only if I allowed him to amputate. Alternatively, he suggested that I should immediately go to AIIMS in Delhi. I borrowed some money from my relatives and came to Delhi with my wife,” he says.
In the beginning, Delhi was difficult. Finding a place to stay was tough. “We got people who suggested a few places to live but they were expensive. Most of the money went into buying food and medicines,” he says. “Then we got to know about this shelter home. They said we can live here for 10 rupees per day.”
Doctors at AIIMS diagnosed Kamlesh with bone cancer and told him that he would have to undergo a surgery and chemotherapy and for that he needed to stay longer. He called his relatives back home and asked them for money, but nobody could spare any. “We paid the rent at the shelter initially but when we ran out of money we couldn’t. But they didn’t throw us out.”
In the meantime, the couple also found a free food service near AIIMS. People distribute cooked as well as raw food here, that’s what we eat everyday. Some also give some money for medicine and tests if needed. That’s how I have been surviving all these months,” he says.
The surgery took place in 2016, but the wound has not healed yet. He still has to visit AIIMS for a regular follow up. His wife and son also got diagnosed with sickle cell anemia at AIIMS and are under treatment.
He doesn’t know when he will be alright, or if his cancer would ever go away. He hates being dependent on freebies. But he has no alternative; he has been fighting the disease in the best possible way he knows. “It is important that I live. The family is dependent on me. I miss my two other children who lives in the village. They cry every time we call them, but I can not afford to go back home right now,” he says.
Kulesh Kumar
Kulesh Kumar , 18
He was 12 when he first came to Delhi with his brother, Prakash 17, in 2012. He had high fever for a few days and doctors in his village couldn’t identify the reason for the fever. They suspected something severe and asked his father to take him to Delhi. Kulesh's father, a daily wage labourer, had the responsibility of the whole family. "Who would earn and arrange food for the family, there was no way my father could come with me. So, he sent my brother," says Kulesh.
“Delhi was such an intimidating experience--I had never seen such a big city, tall buildings, busy roads, so many cars.”
AIIMS was the biggest hospital he had ever seen. He always fretted about his brother being lost in the sea of patients. “I often worried what would I do if I lost my brother in the crowd. So, I would clutch his hands tightly,” Kulesh.
After a few tests, doctors diagnosed Kulesh with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Kulesh had to undergo six months of chemotherapy. "I lost my appetite soon after. I had hard time dealing with the constant nausea, and frequent vomiting. Those six months were the worst," he says.
Six years on, Kulesh,18, knows everything about his illness. The cancer came back the third time. The second was two years later in 2014, when he had to take five cycles of chemotherapy. But this time, he needs a surgery.
He is fighting it alone, this time his brother could not come as he had a family of his own to take care. But now, Kulesh knows his way around the city. He is determined to defeat cancer.
His doctor at AIIMS told him that the surgery would require 5 lakh rupees and five unit blood before they could admit him. Kulesh arranged the money from the health ministry and looked for blood donor. He contacted NGOs working for cancer patients.
He has arranged blood too. All he looks forward to now is a cure for his cancer.