He Can’t Even Drink Milk… But He Still Tries To Smile

When Baby Neeraj was born, his parents couldn’t stop crying, not out of joy, but out of fear. The moment his mother held him for the first time, she noticed something unusual about her little boy’s face. 

His upper lip wasn’t whole… there was a deep gap that shouldn’t have been there. Later, the doctors told them. “Your baby has a cleft lip and palate.”

Neeraj is only 2 months old, so small that he fits in the crook of his mother’s arm. His eyes sparkle with innocence, his tiny fingers try to hold on to her saree, and yet… his cries never stop.

 He cries not because he’s fussy, but because he’s hungry. His mother tries to feed him milk, but it spills out through the gap in his lip. Every feeding time becomes a heartbreaking struggle, a fight for every drop of nourishment his fragile body needs.

Their mother hasn’t slept peacefully even for a single night since his birth. Every time Neeraj gasps or coughs while feeding, she fears losing him. 

His father, a daily-wage mistri working at a construction site in Hyderabad, earns barely ₹700–800 a day. He left home just days after Neeraj was born, not because he wanted to, but because he had no other choice.

The family lives in Madhya Pradesh, and his absence has left a silence in their small house that even the baby’s cries can’t fill.

When he talks to his wife on the phone, he often says, “Bas main kuch paise bhejta hoon… doctor ke paas le jao.” But deep inside, he knows, the cost of treatment is far beyond what his hard work can bring.

Doctors at Sheetal Chaya Hospital, Jabalpur, have said that Neeraj’s treatment, a surgery to repair his cleft lip and palate, will cost around ₹4.2 lakhs. It’s a huge amount for a family who lives day to day, hand to mouth.

Yet, despite the pain, Neeraj still tries to smile. A tiny, trembling smile that makes his mother’s heart break a little more each time, because she knows, unless he gets treated soon, that smile might fade away.

He deserves to eat properly. To laugh without pain. To grow up calling “Maa” and “Papa” clearly, not through a broken palate that makes every word a struggle.

Neeraj’s parents don’t dream of riches. They only dream of seeing their baby healthy, of seeing him smile like other children, drink milk without choking, and one day call his sister’s name as they play together.

Your help can give this little angel the chance to smile, speak, and live like any other child.

Let’s come together this Diwali,  not just to light diyas, but to bring light back into Baby Neeraj’s life.  Donate now and help Baby Neeraj smile again.