During one of my visits to Ahmadabad (Gujarat), I had the privilege of meeting a 14-year-old girl —Prutha Desai — then a Std IX student of Mount Carmel School. In fact, the main reason for my going to Ahmadabad was to meet Prutha!
Prutha was one of the young victims of the earthquake that shattered Gujarat, years ago. What makes Prutha special was the way she reacted to the tragedy that resulted in the amputation of her right arm, almost up to her shoulder. All this happened when Prutha was dreaming of becoming an artist (painter) of repute, once she finished her studies.
I literally stood up before Prutha and her mother who brought her to the Principal’s office to see me. “God takes away, at times, what he likes most. Probably he liked my right arm. We must respect His wishes. By taking away something, He always gives us so much more in return,” Prutha said with a great sense of pride that was reflected in her eyes, “I now realise that I can do the very same works with my left hand, as well.”
In fact, Prutha had already done some very good paintings with her left hand over the past two years, which were on display in different parts of Gujarat, and even in some major cities of India.When I think that the Gujarat tragedy happened when she was barely a girl of 12! I do not know how much support she received from her family and others. But her mother kept on saying to me that it was Prutha who kept up the morale of the family, in those difficult days.
Prutha’s dreams were clearly fixed in her mind. But she was equally prepared for the inevitable to happen. Nothing could upset her goals. She believed that God had a master plan for her and was willing to give God time, unlike many of us today!
This excerpt has been taken (and slightly modified) from the book ‘You can make a difference’ by Fr Alfonso Elengikal. For more information on the book, click me 🙂
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