Ruthimasri

She is in Grade V but can barely write her name. The only alphabet Ruthimasri remembers is the first letter அ. She also barely speaks. The only word she utters is ‘Amma’.  The 10-year-old girl does like going to school though. “She likes going to school but forgets everything that is taught to her,” says her mother, Kokila. Apart from her seeming learning disability, Ruthimasri also had a congenital heart issue, which was diagnosed when the parents took the child to the doctor when she had episodes of epilepsy. The hospital where Ruthima was referred advised a procedure to close the atrial septal defect. The family lives in a village called Thogamalai in Karur district of Tamil Nadu. Ruthima’s father is a daily wage worker and the family income rarely exceeds INR 15,000 a month, provided there is work. Besides Ruthima, her parents have two other school-going children. 

The family could access some funds from the state towards the procedure. Hope Unlimited put in the rest so Ruthima could have the procedure. She is now back in school and waits for that one day in a week when her parents buy her chicken rice, her favourite!

(June 2022)