Neehaari Mandali, who has helped many burn survivors to lead a proud life, is on a mission to spread awareness about burns. This week, The Pioneer rang a call to this good samaritan for our weekly edition of Hyderabond, as she discusses her association with Hyderabad, but also her cause.
Tejal Sinha
The pain that a burn injury causes in a victim’s life not only has a psychological impact but also leaves physical scars that lasts for a lifetime. Well, that’s how it’s been for Neehaari Mandali too. When her fairytale marriage turned out to be mental and physical torture, she doused herself with kerosene, which left her with 90 percent burns on her body. She was also two months pregnant. Doesn’t that sound horrifying? She had to survive and go through it all by herself—several surgeries, months of hospitalization, and a lot of courage.
A native of Pulliguda village in Andhra Pradesh, Neehaari shifted to Hyderabad in 2012, after the terrifying incident that took place. While she was still recovering, it was then that she started the Burn Survivor Mission Trust (BSMS). Today, she’s become a ‘messiah’ for many such burn survivors through this organisation. During the initial days when she’d shifted here, she did feel a little uncomfortable: “It was difficult for me to interact or meet people. At times, I used to get positive responses, while sometimes I got negative responses in a couple of areas. It’s been 10 years—a decade—since I came here.
According to Neehaari, Hyderabad teaches people what life is and makes them live a pleasant life. She goes on further, “Here you just don’t have one particular sector to work. Even people who’ve not got a proper education get good job opportunities. The city makes you learn life values.”
Though her trust’s registration was officially started in Andhra Pradesh, they work from Hyderabad (Gachibowli) as their base. The lady bountiful felt that there was much more opportunity for her in Hyderabad. She believes that the culture that’s here, and that people from different corners of the country have settled here—different international countries, this in a way has led to spreading more awareness about burns. “I’ve got enough opportunities to expand my wings here. Even if any incident had happened in any nearby areas or states, they would come here to Hyderabad. And so this has been a big platform,” shares Neehaari, who to date has handled 156 burn reconstructive surgeries, 900+ counselling sessions, and 10+ suicide cases. She feels that with the ease of reachability here in Hyderabad, it’s easy to grab the attention of people, especially through word of mouth.
According to several reports, the estimated annual burn incidence in India is approximately 6-7 million per year. And it’s been a challenge for the philanthropists too, in order to raise awareness. Why? Because unfortunately it’s still a taboo in the society. Every time one looks at these burn survivors, they just act uncanny. “While we have awareness on cancer, saving soil, or menstrual hygiene, why don’t we have awareness on burns?” questions Neehaari. “According to WHO, over 6 to 7 million people have been a victim of burns. And out of this, 1.4 lakh people are disabled in our country. It’s a very big question whether these people are even alive or not. how are they surviving? and it’s been a very big challenge for us. Being a victim myself it’s been a very big challenge. Out of a hundred people around 10 people will react, and out of those 10 people how many people would come forward and help is again a big question. People do know about burns but not post-burn deformities. There is no awareness regarding that. We cannot stop what has happened or is happening but whatever incidents had taken place to date, all we can do is to find out the victims, which is again not an easy task.”
Mercifully, she says that now people have been approaching her ever since they started the organisation. While in a conversation, she also revealed that she to date faces challenges.
As we talk about post-burn surgeries, it also affects the victim mentally. And according to her, counselling has been a big challenge. Like any of us, even they give importance to their appearance. “After the surgery is done, we counsel them, and maybe for the next week or even a year, they might feel better. However, later when they go for jobs, they might encounter people commenting on them and then they would again go back to the shell. It’s very important to create awareness of that in society,” shares Neehaari, who was recently awarded the NTR Legendary National Awards 2023. Apart from all the awards that she’s bagged, she also has her autobiography which was published in Malayalam in 2017, titled ‘Maattathinte Kuthipp’. And so for her, every time that she receives recognition, she feels that a new and much more responsibility has come on her, and she tries to become more responsible and do proper justice to not just the recognition, and people but also the organisation and victims.
Well, it’s not just the awards and interviews that have brought people to know about her cause. Now, she’s going to star in writer-director Ram Alladi’s Panne, which explores how the individual’s freedom is bound by social restrictions. She plays the character named Bharati Padiyachi, who has a complete grip on the rules and regulations of the constituency. Taking us into detail about it, she says, “She has a lot of capacity to fight against people. The film will show how she works with the PM, how supportive she is to the PM how she works whatever the PM says. And so what happens is a party tries to molest her, throws petrol on her, and attempts to murder her. However, later as she gets back to normal keeping her appearance aside with all the difficulties, she still manages to work hard. So now the post-production work is going on, and it is going to be released soon.”
Neehaari says she feels very much connected to her character. Just like how her character doesn’t tolerate any sort of negativity or anything that troubles her, she’s the same in her real life too. So, does she feel the film that this film is going to help her bring more awareness to the cause? “100 percent,” she says. “Not just the film. Even the interview that I’m giving today and that you’re taking. Even if it reaches one person and if it creates awareness, that’s what I wish for. It’s kind of a selfish thing. If I have done some work it has to reach at least one person and that’s what I keep thinking about the burn survivors. And now as we talk about the film, it’s on-screen it will raise awareness to more people since it’s a pan-India film.”
