Journey with my Prince
by Lakshmi Unny
Journey with my Prince is a moving saga of maternal fortitude, as also a vital reminder of the importance of mental health awareness. Her prose aglow with warmth and sensitivity, Lakshmi Unny takes us on an enrichening journey through her awe-inspiring life, teaching us that not every battle is fought to be won: for sometimes we fight, unrelentingly, not for ourselves but for those we love, regardless of how insuperable the odds may be. It was her son’s battle with schizophrenia that galvanised her into a crusader for greater mental health awareness in India, leading her to play a pivotal role in founding the Cause of Our Joy Mental Health Foundation in 2005. Since then, she has poured herself wholly into alleviating the agony of countless young adults grappling with similar mental illnesses. This autobiography, then, is a poignant ode to a mother’s boundless love for her child, and a woman’s selfless struggle to shed greater light on a crucial subject that, for the longest time, was woefully underdiscussed and indeed considered taboo: mental health. Lakshmi Unny’s Journey with my Prince is a touching read: one that will doubtless stay with you for a long time to come.
DR. SHASHI THAROOR
In this poignant memoir, Ms. Lakshmi Unny recounts her 40-year journey with her son, who has schizophrenia, showcasing the dedication, strength, and unwavering love that defined their lives. Her story illuminates the challenges faced by families dealing with mental illness and offers inspiration and hope to those in similar situations. Her commitment to establishing the COOJ mental health center exemplifies her passion for creating a safe haven for those in need, making a profound impact on countless lives. Ms. Lakshmi Unny’s autobiography “Journey with My Prince” leaves a lasting impression on readers.
UMA PREMAN – Director, APJ School, Attappadi
K.P.MADHAVAN (verified owner) –
This book tells the story of a resolute mother’s relentless crusade to give her mentally impaired son as much a secure and normal life as was possible. The story starts on a poignant note with her son, Prince, lying in a critical condition in a Vasco hospital after getting choked while eating a sandwich. With the COVID isolation protocols in place at the hospital and her younger son and his wife on vigil there, the distraught mother could seek solace from her grief in her own private space at home. It is in this agitated frame of her mind, memories of defining moments of her life journey thus far came flooding to her mind. These encompassing people ,places and events have been meticulously presented in a chronological order.
The initial chapters of the book relate to the happier days of her life in Goa starting with the excitement of her entry to Goa as a young bride and her quick adoption to culture and life style of Goa. The book also cites her excitement watching the sequence of events which led to the liberation of Goa. She essays ,in detail, the roles she had played as a devoted wife and caring mother to her three children. Her life was proceeding happily with her husband engaged in his business and her childrens’ education well on course. The turbulent phase of her life began with her eldest son’s bouts of abnormal behavioral patterns, reasons for she found difficult to fathom. When she heard that his mental condition was schizophrenia from a psychiatrist in Bangalore, she was shocked out of her wits. Equally distressing was for her to see her son being given ECTs and the adverse side effects of this and the medications that followed on his mood and behaviour. These were new experiences for her. As she was getting accustomed to the new therapeutic routine of Prince, another tragedy had left her completely devastated .It was the untimely demise of her beloved husband who had always been a rock of support to her. It is often quoted that it is adversity that brings the best out of an individual. This was true in her case. She came out of the mourning phase with the realization that she needed to hold the reins of her family and give her children the right education and skills for their bright future. She was happy to see her daughter and younger son showing maturity in understanding the constrained atmosphere at home , focussing on their academic programmes and completing them successfully. It was much more challenging for her to chart out an educational pathway for Prince aligned with his learning capabilities and mental skills. She had to explore diverse options to make some progress in this direction. She had reasonable success in getting him to clear SSLC and 12th . Her attempts to push him further to get a degree either in BCom or BA Arts and Science did not bear fruit. Simultaneously she was working on ways to improve his mental and physical health through activities like yoga, painting , table tennis, music and typewriting. He could not sustain most of these for long. . These were, however, some silver linings. He could do yoga exercises and could achieve a reasonably good typing speed .He was at ease conversing in English and could often add a humorous touch to his one-liners. To build his confidence in doing things on his own, she tried to get him manage a pay telephone facility and general stores, she set up on her premises. This experiment met with only partial success , as he could not stay focused on this task for long.
The most important part in the book is her narrative about the innovative approach she had to adopt to handle the psychiatric care of Prince. She found the curative path from symptoms to diagnosis to therapy a tortuous one.. After the diagnosis of his abnormal behavioural pattern as Schizophrenia, she had to depend on psychiatrists in Goa and Bangalore and explore many curative paths for his treatment. It had been mostly medication at home with interment in hospitals and clinics from timed to time as and when his behaviour became unmanageable at home. She found by experience that the clinic in Bangalore with Dr.Ramesh and Dr.Sujith in charge, seemed to be the best place for his whole sum psychiatric care. Her quest for a more convenient healthcare support for Prince closer home led her to a Goa based psychiatrist, Dr.Peter Castellino. To her relief, she found his counselling and patient friendly approach most suited to her son’s therapy. Even with this arrangement, there were occasional outbursts which needed close monitoring in a clinic. Her mind was always at work as to what is next best for his care. In this process, she came up with an out of the box solution of starting a branch of COJ in Vasco. This was, indeed , an astute move aimed to provide a long term support system for his care. Not only would it benefit her son, but also many others with mental impairment. Though this arrangement did have some salutary effect on Prince, she had to also explore alternate therapy options. With this intuitive tweaking of his health care treatment ,she was able to keep him stable and comfortable for many years with a good support system in place. Ultimately, it was a mishap beyond her control , which led to his ultimate demise while still on ventilator support. God was kind to her as she was spared from taking the painful decision of pulling him off ventilator. In her book, she had acknowledged the unstinting support she had received from her family, relatives and friends in her journey with Prince.
Another role she had to play in the midst of many other responsibilities on her shoulder, was that of an entrepreneur to generate income to face a period of financial crunch. This is a testimony to her resourcefulness in ensuring family security in difficult times. Though in the concluding chapters, she expresses her guilt in not giving Prince and the rest of the family the best attention, any discerning reader would consider these as sentiments of one who wanted to do her best. The reader will also see emerging from the narrative, the dominant character of the mother-son duo. The mother comes out as one resolute, strong willed, resourceful , astute and proactive in decision making and execution making rational judgement based on intuition and experiential learning. The son ,despite his handicap, had also been remarkable in adapting to each critical situation and subjecting himself to various invasive and non-invasive therapies in his life. Though these would have caused him physical and mental discomfort, he bore them stoically.
Now comes to what the book offers to the wide cross section of reader community The real life story of the mother -son duo navigating through their life together encountering many challenges, often beyond their control, will be an absorbing tale for the general reader. For those part of the author’s family or associated with it, it is a document of emotional and historical value. For the caregiver community, this book is a veritable source of information on diagnosis a, psychiatric care options and life style management of mentally impaired . The book shows how a mental condition like Schizophrenia could be astutely managed to give the afflicted a near normal life and be part of the mainstream.
The author needs to be commended for chronicling such a heart warming story capturing all significant facets of her journey with Prince. It is, indeed, a stupendous effort.
K.P.MADHAVAN (verified owner) –
REVIEW OF THE BOOK -JOURNEY WITH PRINCE – K.P.Madhavan
This book tells the story of a resolute mother’s relentless crusade to give her mentally impaired son as much a secure and normal life as was possible. The story starts on a poignant note with her son, Prince, lying in a critical condition in a Vasco hospital after getting choked while eating a sandwich. With the COVID isolation protocols in place at the hospital and her younger son and his wife on vigil there, the distraught mother could seek solace from her grief in her own private space at home. It is in this agitated frame of her mind, memories of defining moments of her life journey thus far came flooding to her mind. These encompassing people ,places and events have been meticulously presented in a chronological order.
The initial chapters of the book relate to the happier days of her life in Goa starting with the excitement of her entry to Goa as a young bride and her quick adoption to culture and life style of Goa. The book also cites her excitement watching the sequence of events which led to the liberation of Goa. She essays ,in detail, the roles she had played as a devoted wife and caring mother to her three children. Her life was proceeding happily with her husband engaged in his business and her childrens’ education well on course. The turbulent phase of her life began with her eldest son’s bouts of abnormal behavioral patterns, reasons for she found difficult to fathom. When she heard that his mental condition was schizophrenia from a psychiatrist in Bangalore, she was shocked out of her wits. Equally distressing was for her to see her son being given ECTs and the adverse side effects of this and the medications that followed on his mood and behaviour. These were new experiences for her. As she was getting accustomed to the new therapeutic routine of Prince, another tragedy had left her completely devastated .It was the untimely demise of her beloved husband who had always been a rock of support to her. It is often quoted that it is adversity that brings the best out of an individual. This was true in her case. She came out of the mourning phase with the realization that she needed to hold the reins of her family and give her children the right education and skills for their bright future. She was happy to see her daughter and younger son showing maturity in understanding the constrained atmosphere at home , focussing on their academic programmes and completing them successfully. It was much more challenging for her to chart out an educational pathway for Prince aligned with his learning capabilities and mental skills. She had to explore diverse options to make some progress in this direction. She had reasonable success in getting him to clear SSLC and 12th . Her attempts to push him further to get a degree either in BCom or BA Arts and Science did not bear fruit. Simultaneously she was working on ways to improve his mental and physical health through activities like yoga, painting , table tennis, music and typewriting. He could not sustain most of these for long. . These were, however, some silver linings. He could do yoga exercises and could achieve a reasonably good typing speed .He was at ease conversing in English and could often add a humorous touch to his one-liners. To build his confidence in doing things on his own, she tried to get him manage a pay telephone facility and general stores, she set up on her premises. This experiment met with only partial success , as he could not stay focused on this task for long.
The most important part in the book is her narrative about the innovative approach she had to adopt to handle the psychiatric care of Prince. She found the curative path from symptoms to diagnosis to therapy a tortuous one.. After the diagnosis of his abnormal behavioural pattern as Schizophrenia, she had to depend on psychiatrists in Goa and Bangalore and explore many curative paths for his treatment. It had been mostly medication at home with interment in hospitals and clinics from timed to time as and when his behaviour became unmanageable at home. She found by experience that the clinic in Bangalore with Dr.Ramesh and Dr.Sujith in charge, seemed to be the best place for his whole sum psychiatric care. Her quest for a more convenient healthcare support for Prince closer home led her to a Goa based psychiatrist, Dr.Peter Castellino. To her relief, she found his counselling and patient friendly approach most suited to her son’s therapy. Even with this arrangement, there were occasional outbursts which needed close monitoring in a clinic. Her mind was always at work as to what is next best for his care. In this process, she came up with an out of the box solution of starting a branch of COJ in Vasco. This was, indeed , an astute move aimed to provide a long term support system for his care. Not only would it benefit her son, but also many others with mental impairment. Though this arrangement did have some salutary effect on Prince, she had to also explore alternate therapy options. With this intuitive tweaking of his health care treatment ,she was able to keep him stable and comfortable for many years with a good support system in place. Ultimately, it was a mishap beyond her control , which led to his ultimate demise while still on ventilator support. God was kind to her as she was spared from taking the painful decision of pulling him off ventilator. In her book, she had acknowledged the unstinting support she had received from her family, relatives and friends in her journey with Prince.
Another role she had to play in the midst of many other responsibilities on her shoulder, was that of an entrepreneur to generate income to face a period of financial crunch. This is a testimony to her resourcefulness in ensuring family security in difficult times. Though in the concluding chapters, she expresses her guilt in not giving Prince and the rest of the family the best attention, any discerning reader would consider these as sentiments of one who wanted to do her best. The reader will also see emerging from the narrative, the dominant character of the mother-son duo. The mother comes out as one resolute, strong willed, resourceful , astute and proactive in decision making and execution making rational judgement based on intuition and experiential learning. The son ,despite his handicap, had also been remarkable in adapting to each critical situation and subjecting himself to various invasive and non-invasive therapies in his life. Though these would have caused him physical and mental discomfort, he bore them stoically.
Now comes to what the book offers to the wide cross section of reader community The real life story of the mother -son duo navigating through their life together encountering many challenges, often beyond their control, will be an absorbing tale for the general reader. For those part of the author’s family or associated with it, it is a document of emotional and historical value. For the caregiver community, this book is a veritable source of information on diagnosis a, psychiatric care options and life style management of mentally impaired . The book shows how a mental condition like Schizophrenia could be astutely managed to give the afflicted a near normal life and be part of the mainstream.
The author needs to be commended for chronicling such a heart warming story capturing all significant facets of her journey with Prince. It is, indeed, a stupendous effort.