எ கிபிட் ஒப் லைப் ஸ்டோரி பிரோம் Nicole

A little Gift of Life story for us from Nicole Azzopardi, who's just returned from a month at Peedam.

I came across a young woman called Deepa one night after puja. She was being pushed away by the guards outside the Shanti Mandapam and it seemed a little harsh and violent (even for Indian standards) as she was holding a small baby, a basket with a lime mala in it, and a letter. I stopped her to ask if she was ok. "Baby hospital, heart surgery, two holes." she told me.

Deepa had been trying to offer her mala to Amma to find a way to ask for help her baby, who when I looked had downs syndrome.

So amazing these little souls, they hardly every cry and they have an innocence and level of surrender that burns through you.

As Deepa and her mother were being shoved out of the Peedam by guards she held the letter out to me, thinking that a westerner could help get her letter to Amma. I instinctively reached out and tried to take it but again the guards prevented us from connecting.

Luckily the beautiful, bilingual but sometimes cantankerous Praba happened to turn up with a pail of chick peas. It was a Friday.

I asked her to translate so I could find out what was going on. Praba explained that the baby was nine months old and needed heart surgery. She had two holes in her heart and had two weeks to live if she did not receive treatment.

Praba screamed at me and told me that the Peedam needed to follow a procedure. I didn't realise that Deepa had been turning up every day. Praba screamed at her too in Tamil. All I could understand was 'manager' 'manager'.

Beautiful little Deepa had been very strong up to that point but I could see her start to shake. Big tears started rolling down her cheeks. She tried to hold it back and compose herself but she was clearly frustrated, desperate and very afraid.

I thought of how difficult it had been even to get a sim card for my phone, how many people it had involved, how many conversations, how many different places I visited, how many weeks it had taken. What this girl must have been through. Here she was with an urgent life and death situation.

In the end, Praba softened and kissed the baby's hands, we all had a chance to hold her. Even the guards crowded round and sang to her and gave Deepa one of their hankies to wipe her tears. They told her to come the next day to see the manager, more gently this time, the operations were scheduled in blocks and in advance, it was a long shot but it was all they could do.

After she left, I couldn't stop crying. It was so terribly, terribly sad. I found out that Deepa is 23 years old. Here I was witnessing one of the very people who need our help. She must have heard about Amma's Gift of Life project.

The next day Deepa and I ran into each other just outside of Peedam again. Funny how Amma times things for our benefit. Nothing is an accident.

We sat with the public relations gent who told us they normally needed two months to process and evaluate a request for a surgery. He gave Deepa his mobile number, I then went with her to see Sampat, the 'manager'.

He told me Deepa had already come to see him. They were doing all they could. That afternoon I went to abishekem but I missed theertum, which is the time that you can have limited contact with Amma. (For Yas and anyone who hasn't been lately) It's not the line up version like it used to be. These days, trying to see Amma is like being in a mosh pit.

Praba came to me later that night in temple and told me some very good news. In any case, Deepa had managed to fight the crowds and tell Amma about her baby's situation direct.

On hearing the news, Amma immediately arranged for the baby to go to Bangalore Hospital the following week to have her operations. Amma would cover all costs. That night Praba told me the news. I cried again when I heard it. Praba cried too.

It was a very good day.