74) Crippled limbs and a healthy mind

This is not in the run of script at all. Tracy Kuruvilla a woman in late 20s and already an Account Director in Mudra and her husband blazing new trails in software consultancy was picture perfect in prosperity. She enjoyed her swims, walks with the dogs in the lawns of a mansion bungalow and the pleasures that money can confer.

Tracy still remembers the night that changed her forever. She was out on a party to celebrate the success of the latest campaign for Reliance mobile and she drove back late in the night on the way back home. Just as she negotiated a turn and approached the Milan subway, a speedy truck ran right into her long after it had lost control. It was a head-on collision and she woke to in Breach Candy surrounded by a distraught husband and inconsolable parents.

It was a miracle that she lived and she found to her horror that right limb ended at the thigh as the rest of it from knees downward was amputated. The joints were crushed and it was beyond repair or reconstruction and to prevent gangrene such a thing was the only prudent medical course.

The loss slowly sunk in and the mind just refused to accept the loss of mobility. Tracy fell to depression and despite medication and counseling refused to move on with life. She even tried an overdose of sleeping pills and was saved in the nick of time.
Tracy would often tell her husband,” to live such a life is worse than death. How can I ever be useful to myself or to others? I wish to die and I cannot live such a withered existence”.

Sam would say that living and dying were not in our hands and that is God’s department. Sufficient unto the day is live through today and leave of the mischief of the morrow to someone above.

Days turned to months and after her artificial limb, Tracy felt a lot optimistic. She met her friend the director of Greenpeace Earth and offered her services.

“Padmanaban, I am only a langda now but I can still work out of home. What’s more, I come free”.

She worked from a computer in her house and organized seminars, gathered people on the net on their various signature campaigns and kept following up with potential donors.

Greenpeace at that time went full hog on CF bulbs and Tracy was there to organize their programmes contacting as many people as possible. In fact so inspired was she by their arguments that she changed all the bulbs and tube lights in her house to CF ones. She went to her neighbours and pitched her tent strongly in a missionary zeal for these.

Another campaign that had excited was the pesticide in soft drinks and here again she wrote petitions and gathered written support while creating a database of social active citizens sensitive to their point of view.

Padmanaban has nothing but words of praise for her. She started as a volunteer and today is our most prized Associate.

He says,” She is the most courageous person I have seen and watching her deal with her loss has been an inspiration to all of us”.

As for Tracy and Sam the Greenpeace campaign came just in the nick of time. Her husband proudly states, “She seemed to have been waiting for a cause and when it came, she grabbed it with both hands and that literally saved her sanity and life”.