“He would be home anytime now ,” Anita thought as she worked up the pressure in the cylinder of the kerosene stove to make the flame hiss. The blue flame roared. Rice was already done and dal was bubbling, letting out an tastebud–teasing aroma. She could already hear the tinkling of the cycle bell of her husband. After years of marriage she could guess perfectly that it was her husband Sundar arriving home for lunch from the cloth mill. To make sure that the Dal got done faster, she cranked up the pressure in the cylinder, by pushing the piston hard, while keeping one ear on the entrance of the home. Anita could hear Sundar yank the stand into its place and park his bicycle.

After feeding their toddler son Aniruddh, and putting him to sleep, Anita would wait every day for Sundar to arrive for lunch. Far away from home the couple cherished these simple pleasures of life.  Hailing from the town of Brahmapur in Odisha, Sundar had migrated to Surat in Gujarat state, seeking work many years earlier. He finally got work in a cloth mill and gradually rose in the hierarchy. It was not a permanent job, but after years of hard work, Sundar graduated to a position of a supervisor. Though still on daily wage, he almost became an indispensable asset to the mill. His timings were 7:00 am to 7:00 pm and an in-between break for lunch. For a day Sundar would be paid around Rs. 400 ($ 6). As the work would be available for around 20-25 days in a month, Sundar would take home around Rs. 10,000- Rs. 12,000 a month. This amount was just about enough for a family of three to get by and he would also save some money and send it home to his parents.     

After Sundar got settled in his job, he got married and his wife also shifted to Surat with him. A few years after marriage, Aniruddh was born to the couple. Sundar would work hard in the cloth mill while Anita was a perfect homemaker. It was a simple, happy and a contented family. 

Sundar parked his bicycle, the work at the mill made him famished and he was looking forward to the afternoon meal. The aroma wafted right across the entrance door and made Sundar feel hungrier. He pushed the already ajar door open and then as he stepped in, BOOM. 

When Sundar came to his senses, he beheld a ghastly sight. The kerosene stove had burst and his dear wife Anita was engulfed in flames. Sundar impulsively tried to put out the fire with his bare hands but then realized it was futile. He then ran to the bathroom and got a bucketful of water and doused Anita completely with it. The fire was immediately extinguished, but by that time Anita’s hands and face had been badly burnt. Sundar’s hands were also burnt.  

Handing his crying son to the care of one of the neighbours, Sundar rushed Anita to the local government hospital. In the hospital, in the burns department, the doctors mainly dressed the burns on the hands and applied ointment to the face. “I was in the burns ward for almost a month. In the fire, my lips and cheeks were badly damaged, I asked the doctors if they could do something about that. They replied that they did not have the facilities for facial reconstruction and requested me to go to some other place for the same,” said Anita.  

Sundar then started frantically trying to find a hospital, which could set right the damage caused by the fire to his wife’s face and hands. “I asked my employer and some of my other friends who worked with me in the mill, about where I could get my wife operated.  One person told me the name of a private hospital where there was a plastic surgery department. I went there taking all the medical reports of my wife. They asked me what I did for a living. I told them about my work in the mill. One look at the reports they told the cost of the surgery would be beyond me. When I insisted the surgeon told me that it would be around Rs 4.0 lakhs ($5,500). In my wildest dreams I had never thought that a surgery would cost so much,” he said. “So I returned disappointed,” he added.  

Sundar then enquired in his hometown about the surgery and was told that it would be better to take the patient to Kolkata, the nearest big city near Brahmapur. Soon enough the message came from his friends also that the surgeons in Kolkata were demanding a Rs. 3.5 to 4 .0 lakh, a similar amount that the surgeons in Surat were asking for. 

So leaving his job in Surat, Sunder took Anita and his son back to their hometown, so that the expenses could reduce and they have some time to think about what to do next. 

“It was during this time that the maternal uncle of Anita came to see her in Brahmapur,” Sunder said. It was as if when all the doors were closed Swami opened a door, which led the patient directly to Him. 

“My Mama (maternal uncle) seemed to have a heart problem. So he visited the local hospitals in Brahmapur. All of them told that he had a major heart problem and he needed to get operated as soon as possible or else he will lose his life. He panicked, but then one of his friends suggested for him to visit the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences (SSSIHMS), Prasanthigram. He went there and the cardiologists performed a thorough check up of my Mama and they found out that his problem was a minor one and did not require any kind of surgery at all. My mama was very happy and returned to our town,” Anita said. 

“While at SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, my mama noticed that there was also a Plastic Surgery department, so he informed us to go there. The best part is that the whole treatment is completely free of charge for everybody irrespective of, caste, creed, race, religion or nationality, and you get the best opinion” he said. “We were pleasantly surprised when we heard that everything was going to be free of charge, for which other hospitals were demanding Rs. 4.0 lakhs,” Sunder said.  

Soon after, the couple was on their way to the SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram. In the hospital after registration the couple met Dr. Gurumurthy, a Senior Plastic Surgeon with almost 4 decades of experience in Plastic Surgery. Dr. Gurumurthy is also the Director of SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram.  

According to Dr. Gurumurthy, the patient had post burn deformity of face, inability to close the mouth, contracture of left elbow, wrist, and finger of left hand. During the course of the surgery, the scar of face, lip and cheek was excised and contracture released. Then the left elbow contracture was released. Afterwards hemostasis skin graft taken from right thigh was applied, sutured, and dressed. The patient had taken the graft fully and was discharged from the hospital with the advice to return to the hospital after three months. According to Dr. Gurumurthy, the patient can lead a normal life and perform all her activities independently.  

After surgery, the features of Anita’s face, which were ravaged by the fire, have been restored to a large extent. Then comes the time to provide adequate care to the area where surgery was performed. The procedure for proper care of the face and hands were explained at length to both Anita and her husband Sundar, who have been meticulously following the protocol. 

While speaking to us after discharge, Anita said, “I am so happy after the surgery. The damage caused by the fire to my face and hands have been rectified and there was no pain at all. In fact I did not even know that a surgery had been performed on my face.” In Anita’s opinion what sets Baba’s hospital apart from other hospitals is the fact that patients are treated here as revered guests. 

“In other hospitals it is more about how much money the patient has, but not how the pain of suffering of the patient could be relieved,” she said. 

“Here everything is so disciplined and punctual. Here nurses and doctors treat the patients as their own kids,” Sunder said. “Even our own family members will not take care of us like this,” Anita added. 

At time of discharge when asked what they would ask Bhagawan Baba, both said in unison, “ We both want to thank Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba from the bottom of our hearts and pray that He should shower His Grace always on us and we also wish that Bhagawan Baba blesses everybody who would find themselves in a difficult situation like us.”