Sush, the Samaritan -article

Sushmita takes her trusted staffer's HIV positive wife and son under her care after the employee dies

Subhash K Jha

Even as stories of mistreated staffers are doing the rounds, there comes this heart-warming news from Sushmita Sen's house.

The actress has taken up the upkeep of her deceased Man Friday's wife and two sons.

After much persuasion, Sushmita finally budges, "The one good thing that came out of this whole experience was my rapport with my former staffer Ashutosh (name changed) and his wife Namrata (name changed) and their two sons. I'm full of such admiration for this woman of 29. She's younger and far less urbane than me. But her wisdom and acumen in the face of such imminent tragedy just makes feel so small."

Fortunately, the staffer's two children have tested negative. "But the lady is in an advanced stage of HIV positive. I'm getting her the best treatment possible. Perhaps with treatment she'll live 5-7 years. But her spirit is unbroken," says Sushmita.

When you express admiration for her deed towards a woman who would've probably died without proper health care, Sushmita says, "On the contrary she's helping my conscience to get lighter. I feel guilty that I knew nothing about Ashutosh's illness. He was too scared to tell me. Namrata was warned no one should know about his condition, least of all me. He thought I'd be very upset by the nature of his illness. He came to meet me shortly before he died. He looked very ill. I thought he had jaundice. He asked me for financial help. I knew there was something seriously wrong. I tried to get in touch with his wife. But couldn't. The next thing I knew Ashutosh was in a coma."

Sushmita did get to speak to her trusted dying staffer once before he died. "He got out of his coma long enough to speak to me once on the cell-phone. He heard me, and he cried. 24 hours later he died. The next day I flew in from Goa to do his last rites."

His wife and children had to be tested for AIDS. It was one of the most horrific periods of Sushmita's life. "I not only had to deal with the death of a staffer I loved immensely, I also had to break the news of his wife's illness to her at the cremation itself. This entire harrowing incident was so unexpected."

Today the dead man's ill wife and healthy children are under Sushmita's care. "It's hard to keep her free from infections. I'm doing my best to keep her intact. Today I'm an expert on HIV positive."

On a brighter note, "A look at my daughter's delight as she watches Pocahontas and I regain my spirit. God bless Walt Disney."