Gandhi Hospital, Hyderabad

The Thought …

With the Divine Blessings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, after recently rendering service at Parthy canteen for Shiva Rathri and hearts filled to brim with joy and energy, the motivated and passionate youth of Hyderabad were soon thirsty to undertake an activity in the city. It’s been long lingering in these minds to take up an activity to serve the poor patients in the govt hospitals by

caring & sharing, improving the pathetic conditions, imbibing values eventually adding value to the individual as well as nation both physically and spiritually; and with this thought a survey was made to identify different needs in various hospitals for many days and finally the thirsty minds found that they can quench their thirst for service in Gandhi Hospital to begin with.

The Word …
Taking this thought further, the youth approached the hospital authorities and explained them the need & intent of the activity and sought permission to serve in their hospital premises. By Swami’s grace, the authorities listened patiently and were moved by the interest and enthusiasm shown by the youth.

They, being in a noble profession are aware that “Service to man is Service to God” and also wanted to be part of this good activity. Immediately, they granted all the necessary permissions and encouraged to go ahead. The youth were very happy with the gesture and thanked the authorities. Remembering Swami’s direction “Whenever a good thought arises, one should never delay but instantly transform it into action”, it was decided to take up the activity in that weekend itself.

Hospital Info

• Name: Gandhi Hospital

• Located: Secunderabad

• One of the oldest hospitals

• Second Largest in Asia

• Sprawling 100 acres

• Nine Floors

The youth coordinator immediately communicated to all the samithi youth coordinators and broadcasted in the city emailing list about the new activity.

The Deed …

The day before the activity, few members assembled at Sivam to discuss and plan the tasks effectively. They split into teams; one team visited the hospital and identified the wards to be cleaned up, took measurements on the pillars / walls for pasting the sign

boards, noted the exact department names in telugu; another team purchased all the required material for cleaning like broom sticks, mopping cloth, buckets, mugs, hand gloves, acid / phenyl bottles, etc; another team purchased the provisions to prepare tamarind / curd rice. Few brothers approached the experienced doctors of the organization and took their advice and valuable inputs on how to conduct the activity. The excited youth were so occupied in preparations all through the night; few were busy in designing & printing the posters, some in the kitchen arranged the food material, boiled the milk, etc, the youth coordinator ensured that the new members should also be involved and very silently communicated to 40 of them through SMS. Many brothers who stay in far away places like Mehdipatnam, Dilsukhnagar, Vanasthalipuram, etc not wanting to miss the action from the beginning of the day came and slept at Sivam.

The day of activity began at 4:30 AM with 40 youth congregating and chanting Omkaram, Suprabhatam and then singing the glory of the Lord in nagarsankeerthan. The early morning breeze echoed His name and carried the vibrations emanating from the lips to every nook and corner of the streets. Hearts filled with joy and renewed energy; the youth wasted no time and dived into action around 7 AM cutting vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, curry leaves, cleaning vessels, cooking rice, etc. The head cook at Sivam then prepared delicious bisbele bath and curd rice which was warmly filled into 600 covers and neatly packaged to be distributed in the hospital. It was also felt necessary to distribute clothes to the poor and needy patients and few brothers segregated the assorted clothes present in the Sivam store room for children. They bundled the t-shirts, shorts, skirts, etc, separately for boys and girls.

Around 9 AM, the members left for Gandhi Hospital from Sivam taking along the cleaning material, clothes, etc…

At 9:30 AM, around 70 youth assembled at the hospital premises. The youth coordinator briefed the members the purpose of the activity and type of needs to be addressed, the exact locations and the precautions to be taken while rendering the service. The members prepared themselves by wearing hand gloves and masks and chanted omkaram three times and set out in two teams carrying the cleaning implements in a disciplined manner. The first team went to the pediatric emergency ward and the second to the general ward. After entering into the wards, everyone is moved by the pitiable state of conditions prevailing. The babies and the mothers were seen sleeping in unhygienic environment like urinated beds, dust and fungus hanging on the walls, fans, windows and doors, bathrooms stinking with foul smell, no one even caring to clean and water.

Seeing the plight of the people, the youth immediately plunged into action and shifted the inmates of the ward to an adjacent room and started cleaning the fans removing the duston the wings, fungi hanging on the walls and windows, few brothers put acid and started cleaning the bathrooms flushing the excreta, brushed the stains on walls, put phenyl and mopped the floors, etc..

While the wards are being cleaned, few brothers educated the patients and the attendees imparting awareness on health & hygiene aspects like keeping the bed neat, sterilizing the bottles / glasses before feeding babies, brushing teeth properly, washing hands, importance of having bath regularly and washing clothes so that the babies do not get infected with the germs, flushing the toilets after use, etc, Apart from health awareness, human values were also inculcated; short

spiritual stories about Prahlada, Abhimanyu were told to the expected mothers, that the hospital is to be perceived not as a haven for diseases but as a “Temple of Healing”; hence one should not get depressed, crying, quarreling, but instead sanctify the atmosphere by staying calm and serene, loving and helping each other at times of distress setting an example to their children. A young brother who is a skilled magician performed some magnificent tricks communicating the message of good and bad thoughts / deeds; the kids who looked pale and lost, were hesitant initially but verysoon attracted by the magician’s spell of Love, came forward and involved completely. Seeing their loved ones smiling and happy, the joy of the mothers knew no bounds and they too joined the action. The entire mood was lit up, great and entertaining. Tricks like color papers popping out from an empty

bowl, water coming from the ear, etc mesmerized the audience and chocolates were distributed to the kids. Conveying the message that “Doctor Treats – God Cures”, the patients were told it’s no use grieving but praying GOD with Love and faith will cure them of their diseases. Also, short animated movies depicting moral stories also were projected in the cardiology ward.

Showing the way …

When one enters the hospital, he is confused identifying the ward / department as the existing sign boards are no way serving the purpose. Our brothers seeing the difficulty of the patients thought it should be addressed by all means. A team of 6 members pasted the printed name boards in the appropriate locations like pillars, walls opposite to elevators and staircases, bathrooms, etc. The task involved high level of skill and patience; one member cleaned and made smooth the area to be pasted, another removed the sticker, another cleaned the sticky area with shampoo water, another used to paste it carefully ensuring no bubbles are formed. In such manner of excellent coordination and team effort, they pasted in all the nine floors climbing staircases with name boards, buckets, shampoo water, cloth, etc. The entire effort paid results when people themselves could make their way

in without any help. It looked as though the names have been painted on the walls rather than pasted.

Cleanliness is Godliness …

Once the wards were cleaned, the patients and attendees were shifted back to their beds. It is a sight to be seen when the happy faces occupied their beds as though they are moving to a new home. Even the duty doctors, nurses and servants were amazed to see the floor, walls and toilet surfaces shining.

Love All – Serve All …

Clothes were distributed to the children who lacked good ones to wear. A dental kit comprising tooth brush and paste was distributed to each and every child in the pediatric ward. Also, cosmetics like powders, soaps, head cover, shampoos, creams, etc were distributed to the attendees of the patients. Finally, the activity concluded by distributing food packets to the attendees of the patients. They

were asked to come out of the wards so as not to disturb the patients and about 600 packets of bisbele bath and curd rice were distributed. The youth approached the authorities once again and expressed their thankfulness before leaving the hospital.The day of activity, incidentally happened to be the festival of colors “Holi”. While many were seen playing in the streets throwing colors at each other, the youth celebrated by adding colors to the hearts of the grief stricken patients through caring and serving. The patients and authorities beamed with joy; while the “Holiday” was only a “Holi” day for some outside, it was a “Holy” day for all inside.