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Stories of hope
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The book `Out of mind, Out of Sight', tells the story of 24 women who were brought to `The Banyan' and their rehabilitation.
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EVERYBODY KNOWS the story of `The Banyan'. Two girls straight out of college, who started a home for mentally ill destitute women, that has grown to become one of Chennai's best known rehabilitation centres. But there's more to the tale than just that and the book `Out of mind, Out of Sight' by Kendra tells this story. This book was released by Harsh Mander, Country Director of Action Aid, India.
Kendra, an American married to Karsten Warnecke, the German Consul in Chennai, got involved with The Banyan after the death of her youngest son in February 2000. Her journey with the Banyan, as she describes it, has been one of experiencing human love and learning about truth and compassion.
`Out of mind, Out of sight' tells the stories of women who have lost their sanity when faced with extreme circumstances — sorrow and hurt. "It's easy to be sane when life is going well," says Kendra. She explains that when she lost her son, she had the rest of her family to take care of her, but not all women are so fortunate. The tales in the book are of these women who have been rendered psychotic by extraordinary circumstances.
The book is neither a misty eulogy to `The Banyan' and its founders nor a description of mental illness and depression. It tells the story of 24 women who were brought to `The Banyan' in a various states of despair and insanity and the slow process of rehabilitation. Not all the stories are dramatic or sensational but theytell the tale of people who have been rejected, marginalised and even given up for dead. Over the past nine years `The Banyan', has returned more 400 women to the homes they left. There are stories of joyous reunions with families, of families rejecting daughters and wives when `The Banyan' does take them home but throughout there is an element of hope.
SHALINI UMACHANDRAN
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