I just happened to watch the brave
Sonali Mukherjee, a victim of acid
attack, on Sony TV’s Super show ‘Kaun
Banega Karodpathi’. I was touched by
her grit and mental strength to lead a
normal life. When the youth of the
world are getting crazy and running
after all the cosmetics that the
advertisements claim to make them look
fair and beautiful, here is the girl who
proves once again that physical beauty
is just skin deep. She has learnt the
hard way about the intrinsic value of
life. Imagine the pain of the family
who were overwhelmed with so many issues
all at a time. Sonali suffered 70% burn
injuries and her little sister too was
partially injured. First of all
Sonali’s life had to be saved.
Thereafter, her badly injured face had
to be reconstructed to make her
look presentable and help her carry on
at least normal activities of life like
breathing, talking and eating. Someone
had to attend to her 24 hours for years,
as she was suffering from extreme pain
and needed assistance for everything.
Funds were a big issue, as the father,
who was the sole breadwinner had to be
with her all the time and hence could
not attend to his regular job. The
other members of the family had to be
taken care of – education and living
expenses had to be met. Then the father
had to run from police station to court
to lawyers and Government agencies to
seek justice for his daughter, whose
life was ruined for no fault of hers.
After ten years of struggle, today
Sonali, who has lost her eye-sight, is
able to at least walk around and talk
sensibly but it is sad and shocking to
hear that the three goons who have
ruined the peace of this family were
released on bail very soon and are
happily loitering around. Sonali
bravely said that her intention is now
to only march on and help other
unfortunate women who are suffering like
her and never look back at her bitter
past. What a good thought! She thanked
her family, especially her father, for
the kind of support that he gives to
her. Hats off to the father, who has
borne so much agony and pain for the
sake of his dear daughter while there
are wicked fathers, who rape or kill
their own daughters!Motherhood is always
held in high regard in our culture, for
the mother is the ultimate soul who can
sacrifice everything for her child's
sake. But here is a father who has
proved that fatherhood is also as holy
as motherhood!
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