Chilkur priest’s rakhi sister gets hearing aid

Chilkur: Just a few months after Kamalamma, who sells flowers at the Rythu Bazar, tied a rakhee to Chilkur Balaji temple priest C S Rangarajan, her life changed for the better. Kamalamma, 45-year-old resident of Heeranagar, Karwan, who had hearing problems is now able to interact with customers, thanks to the hearing aid she received with the help of her new found rakhi brother. City-based NGO Helping Hand Foundation helped in the facilitation of the hearing aid.

Rangarajan, a hereditary archaka cum trustee at Chilkur Balaji Temple, used to often buy flowers from Kamalamma at Rythu Bazar. After finding her having hearing problems, he was moved by her plight. The archaka took her to the state-run Gandhi Hospital, where the ENT surgeons treated her for an ear infection and later, recommended a hearing aid as she had 90 per cent hearing loss. With the story getting reported in the media, an NGO, Helping Hand Foundation, came forward to help the hearing-impaired Kamalamma. The NGO got in touch with Kamalamma and the ENT doctors at Gandhi Hospital.

“We were moved by the priest’s gesture and also the fact that Kamalamma lost her daughter last year and she was now taking care of her two granddaughters aged 9 & 6 years respectively. Kamalamma, though suffering from hearing loss was raising and providing education to her grandchildren independently, said Mujtaba Hasan Askari, CEO, Helping Hand Foundation.

In a brief function on Wednesday at Chilkur Balaji Temple, the hearing aids worth Rs 35,000 were presented to Kamalamma by C S Rangarajan along with Mujtaba Askari and other staff of the temple. After the hearing aids were fixed by the Gandhi ENT team, Kamalamma is living a new improved life. The priest, Rangarajan, thanked Dr Sreekanth, ENT surgeon at Gandhi and Dr Rajesh at NIMS for helping Kamalamma.