Mohan: Finding his way back to painting
After health difficulties interrupted Mohan’s education, Dev Bhoomi Samiti helped with specialist healthcare access, art materials and creative connections.
Life before support
Mohan grew up in a mountain village in Uttarakhand and had wanted to become a carpenter. He was diagnosed with leprosy in his teens, and weakness and loss of sensation in his hands and feet disrupted the future he had imagined.
His education was interrupted, and he left school. As physical difficulties increased, he withdrew from social life and spent more time alone. The loss of routine and contact affected his days alongside the effects of the illness itself.
The ambition to work with his hands had been important to him. When that path became uncertain, Mohan also lost a clear direction for his time and effort. Helping him required attention to both his health and the activities that might bring interest back into daily life.
He needed access to healthcare and support for the parts of life he wanted to return to. Mohan still had interests and creative ability. Those parts of his life needed an opportunity to develop, even while he continued to face physical challenges.
When Dev Bhoomi Samiti reached him, the team encountered a young person whose life had become much smaller than the future he had hoped for. The support that followed addressed his immediate need for care and his need for something meaningful to engage with.
How we helped
Our team helped Mohan access a specialised medical facility. This gave him a route towards healthcare suited to his condition and addressed a need that had been central to the difficulties he was facing.
The team also learned of his interest in painting. Art offered an activity he wanted to pursue, and the Samiti provided materials to help him begin. Supporting that interest gave him something personal to work on alongside the effort to obtain care.
Mohan was connected with an online art community, opening up another form of contact. He could share creative work and engage with people through painting, even while living in a remote village. This created a way for an interest to become a connection with the wider world.
The assistance recognised that healthcare and everyday participation both mattered. Access to a facility addressed his physical needs; art materials and creative contact responded to his wish to do something with his time and ability.
The team helped put those opportunities within reach. Mohan's own interest in painting gave the activity its direction, and the materials and connections around him made it possible to develop that interest further.
What changed
Mohan returned to creative activity through painting. His work drew on the mountain surroundings he knew and the experiences of his community. He had a way to express himself and something he could share with others.
The paintings received appreciation, bringing contact and recognition through his creative work. After a period of withdrawing from society, he was engaging again through an activity that mattered to him.
The change was personal and practical: access to specialist care, materials to use and a community with which to connect. Together, these supports helped him move towards a more purposeful daily life.
Mohan's story shows why listening to a person's interests belongs within care. His need for medical support was important, and his interest in painting was also worth taking seriously. Encouraging that interest created room for him to participate as an artist and as a member of a wider community.
His creative work gave shape to experiences that had previously been lived largely in isolation. Through painting, he found a way to reconnect with his surroundings and with other people.
