Nine-year-old Talav at AIIMS in Delhi. Express Nine-year-old Talav at AIIMS in Delhi. Express Nine-year old Talav would often get breathless walking to school and trying to run and play with his friends, he would faint. A hole in his heart and valves not functioning properly, his father, who sells vegetables and works as a part time gardener, was helpless. He had no money to get his son treated. Since childhood, Talav’s parents knew about his illness. But there was no hope for them as they had no money. However, two government employees — a government school teacher and a soil conservation officer — entered Talav’s life as angels and the child was successfully operated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi on July 10. Ajmer Singh, a government primary school teacher at Natthewal village in Jalandhar and Lupinder Kumar, a soil conservation officer in Jalandhar joined hands to help Talav. Getting the surgery done at AIIMS Delhi wasn’t easy and they were working on the case for the past one year. Talav studies at a government primary school in Taggar village near Natthewal. It is from his colleagues there that Ajmer Singh had got to know about this case. “The child was in a miserable state. After speaking for a few minutes, he would get breathless. Despite being good in studies, he wasn’t able to concentrate. His father is so poor that getting a surgery done was unimaginable for him. We were determined to help him out. Talav’s teachers told me about him and we started looking out for a way to get the surgery done,” said Singh. Finally, it was through Rotary Club’s “Gift of Life’ scheme that the duo was able to arrange Rs 1 lakh for the surgery. Various other expenses including travel, tickets among others were borne by the duo from their own pocket. This scheme at Rotary Club in Goraya is run for children having heart ailments. “Humanity is alive and we cannot close our eyes and see a child dying because of some funds. His case was complicated one and thus, it took almost a year to get the date of surgery fixed at AIIMS in Delhi. All that the poor family needed was some help. When Ajmer Singh told me about it, we decided to get it done anyhow,” said Lupinder Kumar. Anand Ishwar, Talav’s father, broke down while speaking to The Indian Express from Delhi Thursday. He said, “I had never imagined in my dreams that my son’s surgery would be done and he would be able to live. He is still recuperating and doctors said that it will take him another month to recover. But he is in a better condition. He can live now.” For all the latest Cities News, download Indian Express App

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