New Delhi

A day before Rakshabandhan, a festival celebrating the brother-sister bond, when Akil Ahmed and his daughter Anamta knocked at the door of Mistrys’ in Mumbai’s Goregaon, Trishna Mistry opened the door and it was a pleasant surprise for her.

The two families had met in September at the hospital when the Mistry’s daughter, Riya, 9, was declared brain dead by doctors, and the family decided to donate her organs. Akil’s daughter Anamta had received Riya’s hand, and the family had no words to thank the Mistrys.

That day, Trishna Mistry called her husband and asked him to return home with their son Shivam.  Their home was full of people from the volunteers of the Surat-based NGO Donate Life and the SOTTO (State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization), which had facilitated the donation and now planned the meeting of the two families on an auspicious day.

“My son and I arrived home at the same time on Friday afternoon. I found my house crowded with relatives, friends, and Donate Life members. I saw Akil Ahmed with his wife and daughter, and Anamta was also present. Seeing them, I was shocked. They told me they had come down to Valsad to tie the rakhi to Shivam. This was a memorable moment for us,” Bobby Mistry told The Print.

The Mistry family holding the hand of Amanta Ahmed

Dressed in a pink salwar-suit set with lace detailing, 16-year-old Anamta Ahmed tied a rakhi around the wrist of Shivam Mistry. Her rakhi brother, Shivam, looked at her indulgently, and the entire room broke into applause.

A few people have tears in their eyes. Someone plays the popular Raksha Bandhan number “Behna ne bhai ki kalaai pe pyaar baandha hai…” and everyone present begins humming along.

This is not merely a story of communal harmony, though. Until last year, one of the hands that Anamta used to tie the rakhi belonged to Shivam’s sibling, Riya. The nine-year-old died in September 2024.

With the intervention of the NGO Donate Life, one of Riya’s hands was transplanted on Anamta, who lives 180 kilometres away in Goregaon, Mumbai.

Describing the fateful day of November 2022 when Anamta was injured, her father, Akil, says, “Anamta had gone to our native place in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh to stay with our relatives. While playing on the terrace of a house, she accidentally touched a high-tension electric wire passing nearby. She became unconscious and was admitted to the hospital. We brought her back to Mumbai, and Dr Nilesh Satbhai of Global Hospital told us that her right hand had to be amputated.

“Her left hand, too, was only 20% functional. She was in Class 10 at the time, and her Board exams were approaching. We got her right hand amputated from the shoulder. After a few months, her left hand was operated upon.”

Describing Anamta’s recovery process, Akil says, “Anamta watched exercise videos on YouTube and started working on her left hand. After continuous exercise, we could sense recovery. She felt pain but did not give up. Simultaneously, she also started practising writing. She resumed school and confidently attended her classes. In her Class 10 Board exams in 2023, she scored 92%.”

Meanwhile, Akil got her name registered with Maharashtra SOTTO.

“On September 16, 2024, Dr Satbhai called and informed me about the donor – Riya. The operation was performed in Mumbai. Now, Anamta is more confident and uses both her hands properly. We thanked Bobby Mistry and his wife Trishna profusely,” says Akil.

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Anamta is now a Class 12 student at Mithibai College in Mumbai. In her free time, she makes social media content encouraging people to face adversities head-on. She has featured in several podcasts and is also a TEDx speaker.