The 1972 batch of Uttarpara Government High School, which calls itself UGHS72 Soulmates, has got together to give back its due to its alma mater. On a Sunday morning, the classrooms are abuzz with children and their parents. Aritra Ghosh of Class IV cannot read small letterings and so Bablu Ghosh his father, a BSNL employee, has brought him to the free eye camp organised by Soulmates with the help of a medical trust, the Salt Lake City Global Health Welfare and Social Research Foundation.

“The doctor said he is myopic and will have to be given glasses,” said Bablu, who also got his eye power checked for free. Aritra’s classmate Arka Pramanick, probably wanted to spend the Sunday morning with his friend. “He came and complained that he cannot read properly and told me that the school was going to have an eye camp. So I brought him here to get his eyes checked,” said Narendra Pramanick, a tailor at Bally, Howrah. But Arka’s eyes are just fine, assured the ophthalmologist at the camp.

Not just eye camp, a general health camp was also held at the school by the Soulmates earlier. Leading cardiologist Rabin Chakraborty, psychiatrist Moloy Ghoshal, both of who belong to the ’72 batch, and oncologist Arundhati Chakraborty participated in the camp to assess the physical and mental wellbeing of the children and their parents in the school. “I was shocked to find young children and their young mothers suffering from hypertension and stress,” said Chakraborty.

“I found a Class III child had blood pressure that measured 124/86. It is dangerous. On top of that he was obese. I found out that he hardly does any physical activity. He watches cartoon shows on television most of the time,” said Chakraborty. And his mother, a 41-year-old, suffers from hypertension with her blood pressure reading 164/96. “I found out from her that there was a lot of tension at her home. Though they live in a joint family, the kitchens are separate. The husband works at the race course. She knows that she has hypertension and is undergoing homeopathy treatment but she is not regular with her medicines. I prescribed medicines for her and counselled her on how to cope with stress,” said the cardiologist.

The camps are aimed to increase health awareness. “I always tell them to avoid the four Fs, Fast Fried Fatty Food,” said Chakraborty. Oncologist Arundhati Chakraborty does family history screenings and symptom screenings at the health camps. “I try to make them aware about breast and cervical cancer,” she said. Psychiatrist Moloy Ghoshal has also held a stess management programme, all under the aegis of Soulmates.

It was in 2013, prior to the WhatsApp boom, that the batch of 1972 of Uttarpara Government High School got together. “It was Jhantu Banerjee, based in Delhi, who got us together. Out of a class of 78, a total of 65 got together. Unfortunately, eight of us are no more. So without wasting time, we met with the motto of giving back to the school what it gave to us. We want to help the teachers, help the present students and also improve the infrastructure of the school,” said Dipankar Roy, member of Soulmates.

A cycle stand for the school children funded by the alumnus is just the beginning of this journey.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by Special Correspondent / Monday – March 14th, 2016