A life reclaimed thanks to the Mayalmu Sangh initiative

Bishnu Maya Tamang, 26, when she was brought to Mayalmu Sangh as a destitute and now, as she heals from traumas too many for her young mind to have handled without help.
ANUSHA GURUNG
GANGTOK, 08 May: Twenty six year old Bishnu Maya Tamang is originally a resident of Namthang in South Sikkim and like hundreds of others, a victim of last year’s devastating earthquake. Already unsettled by a series of unfortunate incidents, the earthquake proved the final straw and she snapped. Now, thanks to the efforts of the Mayalmu Sangh, she is recovering... learning to start living again.
While speaking to media persons today, Bishnu Maya recounted how she reached the destitute home here at Tadong. She had been married to Namgyal Tshering Bhutia for 5 years and also bears a 2-year-old son from him. Unfortunately, her husband passed away in an accident in 2010 and since then she had been ill-treated by her mother-in-law as well as other family members, she informed.
When the earthquake struck on 18 September last year, she panicked and jumped into a nearby river along with her son. When her mother-in-law found her, she took her grandson away, leaving Bishnu Maya to fend for herself.
Already suffering, the harrowing experience of the earthquake and the trauma of losing her son proved too much for her fragile state; she lost her mind and ended up walking through the jungles for the next 2-3 months before she was finally located by her brothers who then brought her to Mayalmu Sangh. At the Sangh, she received medical treatment from psychiatrist, Dr CL Pradhan and her condition is now better.
Dr. Pradhan visits the Sangh twice in a month of his own accord and does not take any fees for these visits and Bishnu Maya’s brothers only pay for the medicines he prescribes. It is the rescue of such lives of the brink which make the Mayalmu Sangh initiative important to support and sustain.