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Thalassaemic children meet Sonia

Staff Reporter

For some kids this moment was a culmination of a long cherished dream

Photo: V. Sudershan

Fight on: Congress president Sonia Gandhi with children suffering from thalassaemia at her residence in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Thirty thalassaemic children belonging to the Foundation against Thalassaemia spent a few moments with Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence here on Thursday.

The excitement among the children about the meeting with Ms. Gandhi was palpable as they waited patiently with roses in their hands and a smile on their lips for her to emerge from her house. After welcoming her with flowers, the children rushed to grab an autograph and get their pictures clicked with her.

Some even bent down to touch her feet and take her blessings.

Before distributing gifts to the children, Ms. Gandhi was presented with an emotional rendition of the national song “Vande Matram” by Tushar, who was soon joined by all the other children. Ms. Gandhi cheered them on encouragingly.

For some children this moment was a culmination of a long cherished dream. Said 13-year-old Akashdeep Batra: “Meeting Ms. Gandhi has been like a dream come true. I consider myself extremely lucky that I am a thalassaemic because I was able to meet Ms. Gandhi only because of that.”

“I have already met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and today I met Sonia Ma’am too. Now who knows, I might end up meeting Manmohan Singh too!” he added with a twinkle in his eye.

Asked what he likes to do in his leisure time, 21-year-old Vishal Pujara, who is pursuing a course in software engineering from an open university, said: “Like other normal children we all have our aspirations too. We laugh, we study and love to play all sorts of games together, cricket being my favourite. My birthday is coming too, but how I plan to spend it is a secret.”

While some children got to get their word across to Ms. Gandhi, others complained they couldn’t get enough time. Said 19-year-old Kritika Tuteja: “I wanted to tell Sonia Ma’am that our biggest problem is that there is no awareness about thalassaemia in our society. But I didn’t get a chance as there was no time. I wish something is done soon so that even if we are not able to benefit by it maybe more children like us can surely do.”

Thalassaemia is a genetic disease in which the affected children are unable to maintain normal haemoglobin level in the blood.

Said the Foundation’s Medical Adviser N. K. Pandey: “These children have to go through tremendous hardships to survive. They have to undergo blood transfusion every 15 days and take painful and costly injections on a daily basis. In view of all this we have put forth our demand to Ms. Gandhi to subsidise the cost of medicines for them, open more blood transfusion centres and most importantly to give them a special category status like the handicapped to improve their education and employment prospects.”

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