Zain foundation trust: a dream come true

Bhubaneswar: They say lightning does not strike the same man twice. But what if it does? What if the ill luck strikes a person consecutively for two times and knocks him down? If you ask Zeeshan Ali and her wife Gargi, they will say the man will stand up and start his journey with a smile.

It was not easy for this couple. They lost their elder son Zain who was suffering from rare type of brain cancer and younger one is diagnosed with autism.

Today, on the eve of their late son’s 16th birthday they decided to do something constructive rather than mourning over the loss. They decided to fight back and do something positive. Gairgi said, “Zain was full of zeal. One day he came up to me and said that he wants to go to boarding school and I asked him why? He replied – “so that you can have more time for my brother Rean”. Now we have our entire life for Rean.” Gargi’s voice became moist as she became emotional and said, “So we decided to take Zain’s dream forward.”

The couple invested all they had and decided to start Zain Foundation of Trust which will work for the autistic individual. Today, they began their journey towards starting a residential institution for autistic children and adults. “We have identified 3 acre of land in Khurdha where we will start a residential set up for the autistic children and adult,” said Ali.

“There will be doctors, specialists who will take care of them. They will be given fullest support their talent so that they can sustain on their own in future. Because for the parents of the autistic children it a great concern what will happen to the child when we will be no more,” added Ali.

Today, on the eve of Zain’s birthday, a book on him written by his grandfather Rehan Ali was released and a bike rally was organized to spread awareness on autism. Actor Siddhant Mohapatra was present on the occasion and promised his full support to the foundation.

Zain’s friends were present on the occasion. Smarak Bal, one of his childhood friends said, “I have never seen Zain’s pale face. In fact he never made it evident what was he going through. He was a fighter. He fought with all his strength and always smiled.”

It is Zain’s smile and fighting spirit which encouraged this couple to fight back and start a new journey even after being knocked down by the blow of luck. “It will take approximately 3 years to make our dream a reality. I believe Zain will be happy for our initiative because that is what he wanted”, Gargi said.