Tejaswi Challapu

Drama Inspirational Tragedy

5.0  

Tejaswi Challapu

Drama Inspirational Tragedy

Make Love Not Scars

Make Love Not Scars

5 mins
325


A few days back there was a writing competition in the name of Make Love not Scars. The competition was about to write a real-life story or an imaginary story regarding acid attacks. Though I'm not very good at writing, love to participate in it as winning or losing doesn't matter me. So, participated in the competition by submitting an imaginary story. As my friend is a good reader, I sent the story to her. She read the story and said that was similar to the story of Laxmi Agarwal. Laxmi Agarwal!!! Who is she??? I questioned her. Then she replied, she was an acid attack victim and suggested me to write about her real-life story. So, yesterday I went through some videos and different sites to know the story of Laxmi Agarwal. It was heart melting and felt like I had gone through all the pain. Wanted to share what I felt and those who don't know about the incident just spare some time to read it.

        Laxmi Agarwal was a normal living girl. But a Man changed her life. When she was 15, a 32-year-old man stalked her every day. After multiple rejections, his ego was badly hurt and decided to attack her. One fine day, he carried a beer bottle filled with acid and threw on her. The acid fell on her face, hands, body and everywhere. When she was screaming out due to the unbearable pain, no one helped her. What a society we are living in? Pity on those people who didn't come forward because if it happened to any of their family members, they will remain the same. At last, one man came forward and hospitalized her. Thank God! At least one person reacted and proved that humanity still exists. In a video, Laxmi said that when she was attacked she felt her skin like a polythene cover and also some bad odour coming out of her body. Just imagine how the pain would be! If we touched a hot substance we feel the burning sensation right! But how hard it is for acid attack victims? Just think a second before spoiling their wonderful life and I'm not judging all men because not all men are the same.

             When she came to a conscious state, the first thing she wanted to do is to look her face into the mirror. As there were no mirrors in the hospital she tried to look her face in the plain water. Except for bandages, she couldn't find anything more. After 3 months, she was discharged from the hospital. Several times she thought of committing suicide but her father boosted her confidence level and said that this is not the end. He also encouraged her to file a case against the accused. He was in jail for about a month and then released on bail. Shame on our legal system! A very big incident happened and changed a girl's life but the accused was free and married another girl.

           Later, Laxmi stood on her legs and worked as a coordinator in the stop acid attack campaign. Also, she started her own campaign called 'StopSaleAcid'. She gathered 27,000 signatures and petitioned to ban the acid sale. How dedicated she was! Gathering 27,000 signatures is not an easy thing! This shows her strong desire to eradicate the cause from the root. In 2013, her dream came true as the Supreme Court of India enacted a law that people under the age of 18 were not able to purchase acid and also the person who purchases acid should submit an identity card to the shopkeeper. She didn't keep quiet after the law was passed. She sent her friend to purchase acid and tested whether the law is working properly or not. But due to our poor legal system, the law was not in use. She, then strongly decided to work on it until it runs perfectly. She also conducted a hunger strike along with other acid attack survivors to seek immediate justice.

      As I said earlier, not all men are the same. She fell in love with a person, Alok Dixit, a social activist. They chose to be in a live-in relationship instead of getting married because she doesn't want to get commented on her looks. Yes! It's true because we are living in a society where we are judged by our looks. After a few months, their love towards each other resulted in the birth of a baby girl 'Pihu'. Later on, they were separated due to some differences.

           Many organizations refused to offer a job to her because of her disfigured face. But with that face, she became the face of the brand for VIVA N DIVA and also participated in the ramp walk at London fashion week. What a positive attitude she has!!

          Making a scar is easy but removing the scar is difficult. So try to share as much love as you can instead of scars.


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