Southern States - Kerala-Kochi   

Kidney donor struggles to eke out a living

By K. S. Sudhi

J. Suresh Babu, who sold his kidney 10 years ago. Photo:Vipinchandran

KOCHI JAN.1. The kidney he sold to find means for a living could not save him from poverty.

A decade after selling his kidney, J. Suresh Babu of Kudappanamoodu, still leads a menial life as a construction worker in Kochi and finds the going tough.

Although Mr. Suresh has forgotten the exact date of the surgery and the hospital in which it was performed, he remembers that it was on the days preceding the demolition of the Babri Masjid that he left the hospital. He also remembers that the train in which he returned to Kerala from Mumbai was thoroughly checked by the security guards.

In December 1992, Mr. Suresh sold his kidney to an Arab lady at a Mumbai hospital through a Keralite agent. The Rs.30,000 he collected as the price of the kidney could not bring any change in his life as he had to spent the amount while recuperating. The doctors had advised him three-months rest after the surgery.

Mr. Suresh is one among the hundreds who are forced to sell their kidney and failed in their attempt to fight poverty. You can find Mr. Suresh at Kaloor junction any day during the morning hours among hundreds of Tamil migrant labourers who assemble there waiting for someone to call them for the day's work. It was three months ago that Mr. Suresh reached Kochi in search of work.

Some times, like many of his fellow men, he goes without work for a few days in a row and the money saved from past wages will have to be shelled out to make both ends meet. On such days he would be plunged in despair as he realises that there won't be much money left for his family at Kudappanamoodu near Vellarada, Thiruvananthapuram.

With the wage of Rs.150 a day, Mr. Suresh Babu cannot afford to rent a room. He spends the night at some construction sites or shop verandahs and banks on Aluva river mostly for bathing and washing his clothes. He lives on a minimum budget, saving money for his family.

It was during his stay in Mumbai in search of work as a welder that one of his friends mooted the idea of selling the kidney for earning some money. Initially, Mr. Suresh was reluctant. However, he agreed to accompany his friend to the hospital for medical check up through a Keralite agent based at the Mahim Railway station. At the hospital, both underwent medical examination and the doctors rejected his friend citing health reasons and selected Mr. Suresh for donating the kidney.

After clearing the medical examination, the main agent put him up in a room near Mahim railway station and asked him to wait until the `order' for kidney reached them. It took a fortnight to get the order. Mr. Suresh still vividly remembers the face of the woman who received his kidney, whom he met at her hotel room.

Before conducting the surgery, the hospital authorities arranged a personal interview with a doctor who inquired about his willingness to donate his kidney. It was after the surgery that even his wife came to know about the incident. "Although I had a feeble pain near the incision some time ago, now I am fully fit and can do any arduous job," said Mr. Suresh before returning to work.

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