Poonam could neither eat nor sleep before or during the surgery. "I was scared and I had left it all to God," she says, looking at Nunu as she flays her legs and walks a few steps.
When the team of doctors led by Dr Sharan Patil declared the surgery had been a success, the media was already giving round the clock updates. "People recognise us now because of Lakshmi," says Poonam. "In the train they asked if she was the same Lakshmi and when we went back to the village, so many people came to just see her."
After staying in Bangalore for a month after the surgery, the family arrived at the Sucheta Kriplani Shiksha Niketan -- which has 550 polio-stricken children.
What started as a small shelter for poor children is now a secondary school which has volunteers from around the world. Victoria, from the British Home office was teaching English for a few months and Dr Bhati, the secretary, informs us that shortly another set of volunteers will arrive from the UK.
The school looks after Lakshmi's needs which includes a high protein diet, fortnightly trips to main Jodhpur town for medical examination and physiotherapy. In the time she had been away in Bihar, the routine had been broken but now it is to resume with the aim of getting her healthy before the next surgery.
>Image: Lakshmi plays with her brother Mithilesh. The boy was enrolled in school for the first time after moving to Jodhpur.
Also see: Bihar villagers worship baby Lakshmi
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