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He saved a life. Will anybody return the favour?: The Indian Express
Mumbai, June 17: In 1976, Jaswantlal Sarvaiya performed a rare act of kindness to save the life of a stranger. Now, he desperately needs the kindness of a stranger to save his own.
Mumbai, June 17: In 1976, Jaswantlal Sarvaiya performed a rare act of kindness to save the life of a stranger. Now, he desperately needs the kindness of a stranger to save his own.
On his 36th birthday, Sarvaiya, a devout Jain, came to Mumbai from his hometown of Bhavnagar in Gujarat to donate a kidney to a man he had never met. The recipient's father offered him Rs 50,000, but he refused.
“I was not out to sell my kidney,” says the 63-year-old Sarvaiya. “Live and let live, Lord Mahavira said.”
But his act of religious devotion went against the wishes of his family. “My five brothers and four sisters were angry because I didn’t consult them,” he recalls.
Today, Sarvaiya is seriously ill, partly because of the strain the donation has put on him. He is back in Mumbai, this time looking for strangers to give him the Rs 85,000 he needs for life-saving surgeries.
“To save a life, I responded to an appeal four decades ago. Today, to save mine, I have to make one,” he says. He points to medical case papers from Jaslok Hospital that say he needs surgery to remove his gall bladder and prostate gland.
Sarvaiya can’t afford the operations on his own. “I spent most of my time in Jain temples, praying and meditating. Food came from Jain dharamshalas,” he recalls. “I did clerical jobs at a law firm but dreamed of becoming a bhikshu. But my parents would not allow it.”
In 2000, he contracted malaria and jaundice, and came back to Jaslok Hospital. The strain on his single kidney has left him dogged by sickness since, and he has yet to return home.
Forced to stay back in Mumbai because of his illness, Sarvaiya spent six months sleeping in trains. Unable to afford a place to stay, the Mumbai-Surat railway pass was the cheapest option, at Rs 375 a month.
He’d board the 10.40 pm Viramgam passenger from Mumbai Central and sleep until it arrived at Surat the next morning at 6 am. Then he would take the Flying Ranee at 7 am to return to Mumbai four hours later.
Now all he has is money for this week’s food, a roof over his head at the Sant Gadge Maharaj dharamshala in Dadar, and small donations from 35 trusts and organisations in the city to pay for medical tests and medicines.
“Never have I come across anyone who donated his kidney free of cost, to a stranger,” says Madhukar Sheth, managing trustee of the Sadbhav Kidney Foundation, which is trying to arrange his operations. “Today, he is too physically and mentally exhausted to run around for help.”
“I was not out to sell my kidney,” says the 63-year-old Sarvaiya. “Live and let live, Lord Mahavira said.”
But his act of religious devotion went against the wishes of his family. “My five brothers and four sisters were angry because I didn’t consult them,” he recalls.
Today, Sarvaiya is seriously ill, partly because of the strain the donation has put on him. He is back in Mumbai, this time looking for strangers to give him the Rs 85,000 he needs for life-saving surgeries.
“To save a life, I responded to an appeal four decades ago. Today, to save mine, I have to make one,” he says. He points to medical case papers from Jaslok Hospital that say he needs surgery to remove his gall bladder and prostate gland.
Sarvaiya can’t afford the operations on his own. “I spent most of my time in Jain temples, praying and meditating. Food came from Jain dharamshalas,” he recalls. “I did clerical jobs at a law firm but dreamed of becoming a bhikshu. But my parents would not allow it.”
In 2000, he contracted malaria and jaundice, and came back to Jaslok Hospital. The strain on his single kidney has left him dogged by sickness since, and he has yet to return home.
Forced to stay back in Mumbai because of his illness, Sarvaiya spent six months sleeping in trains. Unable to afford a place to stay, the Mumbai-Surat railway pass was the cheapest option, at Rs 375 a month.
He’d board the 10.40 pm Viramgam passenger from Mumbai Central and sleep until it arrived at Surat the next morning at 6 am. Then he would take the Flying Ranee at 7 am to return to Mumbai four hours later.
Now all he has is money for this week’s food, a roof over his head at the Sant Gadge Maharaj dharamshala in Dadar, and small donations from 35 trusts and organisations in the city to pay for medical tests and medicines.
“Never have I come across anyone who donated his kidney free of cost, to a stranger,” says Madhukar Sheth, managing trustee of the Sadbhav Kidney Foundation, which is trying to arrange his operations. “Today, he is too physically and mentally exhausted to run around for help.”