Shobhana Tirthali
Today let us talk about, Anjali Mahajan, who is the epitome of social awareness, enthusiasm and surprising talent. She is a part of many projects that surprise people. The pain of losing her nineteen year old daughter to cancer, her husband, Mr. Keshavrao’s progressive Parkinson’s , her hundred and five years old mother in law and her changing mental and physical components due to her illness does not pose an obstacle in her work. Such moments overwhelm us.
Recently in the newspaper, Loksatta an article under the column Prerna (meaning Inspiration) was published in this regard. This article reveals a lot about the work. But, in the moments spent with her that we have become aware of many facets of her personality and surprised to see her ability to multitask. Anjali is a member of the executive committee of Parkinson’s Mitra Mandal and hence takes an active part in many of the initiatives. But, in my opinion her greatest work is her donation of blood. Her blood group is O RH Negative that is highly in demand as it is used most often during emergencies. She became aware of this during her first pregnancy. This is a rare blood group. Unlike other blood groups it cannot be stored in the blood bank and is given when needed. When Anjali went to donate blood for the first time she was unable to do so due to low hemoglobin. She was very upset about this, so on doctor’s advice she changed her diet to a very healthy one. She had donated blood twenty one times. Her name is in the list of emergency donors in my hospitals. Whenever the hospital calls asking for blood, she rushes to donate, leaving all her other work. Anjali has saved the lives of many needy people by donating blood. The patients, to whom she donates blood and their families are very grateful to her. I have suggested that Anjali write about these experiences, many times.
Her ability to work with full concentration astonishes me. She headed many social projects when she was the principal of the school. And it would not be wrong to say that Anjali has spread this awareness among her colleagues and students. Being in a responsible position, Anjali got the opportunity to do all this. This has been mentioned many times in the articles written about Anjali’s work.
We came to know that she is going through a difficult phase in her house these days. Her husband’s Parkinson’s was advancing at great speed, though a care taker had been appointed to look after him, Anjali still had to manage many of his duties. Her elderly mother in law became bed ridden due to age related physical deterioration she was confined to bed but her mental abilities were as sharp as ever so Anjali and the other care givers had to follow her strict instructions. To top it up she had to manage the inflow of visitors and relatives. Anjali does this with complete dedication. She could not participate in many of the Mitra Mandal projects due to above mentioned reasons. She is regular contributor to the annual magazine that is published during Diwali. Her articles are published in over 6 magazines. She participates in many poetic recitation events. But these days she is unable to do so due to her ailing husband and bed ridden mother in law. Though she feels the pinch she does not complain.