Latest – Times Foundation to help Manjunath

Hello all,

Thanks for all the interest in Manjunath. We have had visitors on this blog from across the world. Times of India, which published the details of Manjunath’s plight, has seen a lot of response from readers across the world and are now hopeful that Manjunath may be able to survive thanks to readers’ help.

Times of India has created a fund for Manjunath. There is no way you can contribute to the fund online though. Several readers are asking for contributions they can make by credit card or Paypal. You can read their comments on the ToI website.

If you are in India, you can make a contribution by cheque.

Readers wishing to send in contribution may write out a cheque in favour of ‘Times Foundation’. They should also send in a covering letter and on the subject line state, ‘Manjunath’.

The Times Foundation
7 Bahadurshah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110002
India

If a way turns up for you to make a contribution online, we will keep you posted.

Thanks again.

Paralyzed Indian blogger used sip-n-puff tech while in US; now sent to India, loses laptop, abandoned in hospital

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In a nutshell, this is the story:

• Engineer from India loses job
• Has car accident
• Paralyzed – can barely talk, but uses a laptop and sip-n-puff & Morse Code to communicate
• Visa expires, gets sent to India, dumped in hospital where family abandons him
• Laptop vanishes.

I came across this in the newspapers in India today.

Manjunath Kalmani was a software engineer from India, working in US. He was injured in a car Accident at Nashville, TN, in April 2002. He was paralyzed neck down, and after 5 years in the US, carted off in an air ambulance to India.

He started a blog, while in the US. You can see it here – http://mkalmani.blogspot.com/

He used to use sip-n-puff tech to write with his laptop and blog.

There are only two posts in his blog.

He did not know he would be sent to India. Once in India, he was admitted in this hospital and is now on ventilator as he can’t breathe by himself.

His laptop was taken away. He cannot blog anymore.

He used to use the laptop using sip-n-puff tech to communicate with his family and doctors and nurses. Without the laptop, he can barely communicate – talking is extremely hard for him.

His family back in India has abandoned him as they say they can’t afford the cost of his treatment.

This is India. Such abandonment here means almost certain mistreatment and death in India.

You can read about this plight here in these newspaper articles here and here.

Here is a news segment about him from Times Now TV. They say they could help – I don’t know how. This is where you can contact them if you can think of anything.

I do not know if this blog will be of any use. Just trying to get the word out.