A gifted student, Haritha was like any other child of her age - running around, playing with her friends, and enjoying learning new things. She, therefore, enjoyed the classroom a lot - even more than even the playground.

She was in high school when as a matter of routine, doctors designated by the state government visited her school for the general health checkup of the children. With most students it was more or less predictable, but when Harita’s turn came, there was a little commotion among the examining doctors. The doctor who checked her pulse and heart beat using a stethoscope felt that something was not right. Rather than the usual lub dub, a murmur was being heard. The doctor consulted with other doctors and they in turn spoke to Harita’s teachers. Eventually the news was broken to her that something was wrong with her heart. What exactly? The doctors could not tell, but the doctors informed that she should see a heart specialist for a checkup.  

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Harita was the darling of her parents. They especially admired her for being a bright student. Of her parents Harita was very fond of her father. She had high regard for the firm support her father Sri. Sitaramaiah provided her whenever the need arose.

A weaver by profession Sri. Sitaramaiah had to leave weaving due to the trouble long hours of working on the weave gave his back. He later became a skilled painter. By his hard work the family of four, his wife Savitri, Harita and a younger son Vijay had enough to go by. The monthly income was around Rs.15,000 to Rs. 16,000 ( $220 a month).  But even with all the financial constraints, Sri Sitaramaiah made sure that Harita got the best education.

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With Harita breaking the news of her ailment, her family was stupefied. They could never expect that their own little girl could have something wrong with her heart.

The concerned parents took her to the nearest town in Anantapur District and visited a private cardiac centre there. The cardiac centre performed some basic medical investigations on Harita and eventually concluded that she may have a problem with one of her heart valves. The doctors could say no further. They told her to visit an advanced cardiac centre for further checkup and treatment.  

It is a bane for families like Sri Sitaramaiah if anybody in the family fell ill. Worse still if the treatment involves advanced medical care. In India, hundreds of thousands of families cannot bear the expenses of advanced medical care. But for such families, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s hospitals stand as a beacon of hope.

“We asked the doctors in the clinic where we should go. The doctors simply replied that we should go straight to Bhagawan Baba’s Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences (SSSIHMS) in Puttaparthi and nowhere else. They said that this treatment may involve a lot of money even to the tune of a few lakhs of rupees, but in Bhagawan Baba’s hospital, we would get the best treatment - completely free of charge.” Sri Sitaramaiah says.

Haritha and her family knew very well about the SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram. They had visited Puttaparthi several times to have Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s Darshan. On their way back Harita looking out of the bus window would marvel at the beauty and majesty of the imposing pink edifice, which stood on the outskirts of Puttaparthi. A huge building, which looked less like a hospital and more like a temple. But little did she know that years later the same hospital that she admired as a kid would give her a new life.

Harita and her father visited the SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram. The specialists in the department of Cardiology first performed thorough tests on Harita and then told her that she had a problem with her Mitral valve, in technical terms what was known as a Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP). This disease, the specialists informed her, was a consequence of inadequate treatment of Rheumatic fever, which she might have contracted in her childhood.   She was put on medications for some time and asked to come back to the Cardiology department at a later date.

Harita meanwhile finished her schooling and Sri Sitaramaiah made sure she got into a good undergraduate course. And sure enough, with her father’s support and her academic talent, Harita enrolled herself into a ‘Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science’ course. Her dream was to be a software professional.  

When she returned to SSSIHMS, she was told that she would be taken up for surgery if she was willing. At that time Harita was taking her Bachelor of Technology exams so she consulted her parents and decided to come back later. But due to the covid pandemic lockdown her exams got delayed. After things settled down, Harita returned to SSSIHMS in November 2020 and was referred to the Cardio Thoracic Vascular Surgery (CTVS) department of the SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram.  The surgeons told her that her Mitral Valve had to be replaced, but there was a chance that her valve may require only a repair, which would be a better alternative. Either way Harita was prepared to undergo the surgery.

“It was the first time anybody in our extended family was to undergo any kind of a surgery. I was naturally scared, but my parents, especially my father, stood like a rock alongside me. He was the person who told me that there was nothing to worry about as I was in safe hands. He also told me that nothing was more is important than life itself. All the surgeons of the Cardiac Surgery department would visit me after my admission and boost my morale and assuage my fears about the surgery. It was due to my Father and the surgeons in SSSIHMS that I gained confidence to undergo the surgery,” Harita said.

“My daughter is a bright student. She is now studying B.Tech in computer science. She has a bright future. I can say that with all confidence. So, I could never let the fear of surgery put her life and therefore her future in jeopardy,” Sitaramaiah said.

In the last week of November 2020, Harita was admitted and was taken up for surgery. 

According to Dr. Neelam Desai, HoD of CTVS, " Harita was suffering from problem with 2 valves of her heart. One had severe leakage and the other had moderate leakage. In such situations, the patient can end up with replacement of both the valves if repair does not work out. After explaining to the patient all the pros and cons, she was taken up for surgery. With Swami’s Blessing, Harita’s Mitral valve was repaired, and nothing had to be done to the other valve. She went home uneventfully after surgery. Once again the Hand of Bhagawan was seen by us -protecting His children."   

 Now rid of her disease, Harita is free to pursue her dream of being software professional. “We have a little property and had it not been for Swami’s hospital, my parents would have sold that property to pay for the expenses and that would have been a sad day for me. But I am so happy that everything was provided by Swami’s hospital completely free of charge. And what should I say about the staff, they took care of me just like my parents,” Harita said.   Speaking about Bhagawan Baba, Harita said that she prays that the way Baba’s hospital has cured her, similarly Bhagawan Baba should bless many others like her. 

Jai Sai Ram