‘Bedakhal’ a book which narrates the life of Schizophrenia patients

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Shivanee Thote

Pune, February 10, 2020: Dr Bharat Vatwani, the 2018 Magsaysay Award winner and his wife Dr Smita Vatwani have launched their book named ‘Bedakhal’ which narrates the life of wandering Schizophrenia patients on streets.

Bharat and Smita have rehabilitated nearly 7,000 such patients who are suffering from a mental health condition. They estimate that almost 4 lakh of such patients are still out on the streets in the country. Bharat and Smita are inspired by Dr Prakash Amte.

Speaking about his journey how he started this work Bharat said, “I feel the most innocent people on this planet are the ones who are suffering through these mental health disorders. They are so humble and kind, whatever you say they will follow your instructions.”

“In the beginning, I faced so much of opposing to start Shraddha Rehabilitation, but eventually I felt if not today then never.”

He further said, “we have united so many patients from across the country. Not only in Maharashtra but also in West Bengal, Haryana, Jharkhand, Odisha and many more. The emotional feeling of reuniting the patient with his/her family motivates our social workers to do some more work towards them.”

There was a case of a man whom they saw drinking water out of the drain, which made their heart melt to help that particular patient out of his situation. After his recovery, they recognized that the man was BSc graduate and done Diploma in Medical Lab Technology.

This motivated them to keep on doing their work towards humanism.