Madhu & Her Bundles of
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ping a certain film star is nothing new because millions of fans all over the world do it, day in and day out. If one imitates the hair style of the demigod, the other copies the star’s dress. But one seldom sees a fan like Madhu Tugnait. She was not just inspired by Nargis Dutt, who worked for spastic children, but followed the actors’ footsteps making a unique welfare activity her life’s mission. Displaying rare tenacity and temerity, she left a well established enterprise in a comfortable urban surrounding to embrace the serenity of a village where she tends 15 differently abled destitute children. If she has built a cosy and compassionate nest for these homeless, she has also created a world of goodwill for herself. Here she is talking of her life and her work...
Madhu Tugnait The beginning Married to Captain Pradeep Tugnait at an early age, I moved to Mumbai. Finding a lot of time on my hands, I went to Nargis Dutt’s School for Spastic Children to volunteer. She asked me to spend a few minutes with the children. The scene I witnessed overwhelmed me-some kids were having fits and some were drooling. My belief that I was strong enough for this role was shattered to pieces. Perhaps that was the time the real seed for welfare activities was sown in my mind. The Vizag Call Years later when I shifted to Vizag, I had close encounters with a few orphans. One was suffering from convulsions and yet he had to work to earn his meal. The other one ran away to escape the torture his red | february 2017 | 48
stepmother inflicted on him. These meetings rekindled the desire in me to do something for the underdog. Stint with BCT I was running a boutique, ‘Femme Fatale’ in the city. We were using the paper bags made by the inmates of a blind school. Somewhere around that time, Dr.B.V.Parameswara Rao of Bhagavatula Charitable Trust (BCT) was looking for a designer who could help them in promoting ‘khadi’. Thus, started my six-year journey with the BCT, during which I worked for the khadi weavers, trained women and children in sewing, displayed their collections at exhibitions in Chennai and Hyderabad. This sparked a desire in me to provide a facility for the specially challenged. I also resolved to give them a warm home, not just a run-of-the mill shelter.
First Move I sold half of my jewellery and my plot in Pune to buy land in Kondakarla Ava to build Icha Foundation. Then, I approached the Women and Child Care Centre to take in at least a few children to start with. I was offered three acutely disabled kids. They won me over, flashing beautiful smiles as I took them in my arms. Within a year, I got five children under my wings Mahesh, Alka, Sai, Teja and Rani. Name & Location Every child nurses a desire (Icha) that someday it will have a family, hence the name. I chose Kondakarla Ava to keep the kids away from the pollution and nurture them in serene environs. In case of an emergency, we have doctors at Anakapalle with whom we have a tie-up and it is a 15-minute ride from our foundation.