Bitter truths of life: Part-1:

April 24, 2014: That day after casting my vote I was returning from my hometown Morigaon to my workplace Guwahati. It was too hot that day. Moreover I was riding my bike wearing a full mask helmet. After crossing around 50 kms, I felt an intense urge to have a bottle of cold drink... I stopped my bike and approached a shop near the main road.. As I was having my sip, one young lady with two little kids of around 4 & 5 yrs came to the same shop. From the evident malnourishment of the kids and from their worn out dresses it could be easily presumed that the lady was already having enough trouble raising the kids...

The lady was talking to the shopkeeper regarding something, but the kids were enthusiastically looking at me.. Probably they were amused by the way I was having my drink directly from the bottle or blah blah or whatever may be the reason, but it made me feel uneasy.... I smiled at them and both of them smiled back.. They were so cute... I felt like buying a cold drink for them, but didn't think it to be a good idea... Thus I thought of something else. I asked the shopkeeper for two Cadbury chocolates worth five rupees each... The mother looked at me with confusion.... She was trying to guess something..

"Excuse me dada, please don't take me wrong... but are you somehow buying these chocolates for these kids?"

"Yeah... Only if you don't mind...."

"Sorry dada, I beg your pardon... But whom will I meet tomorrow for their chocolates? Thus they don't deserve this much care... Kids, lets move !!"

I was literally dumbstruck... Didn't expect such a reaction.... To be true, I felt awkward, but was not offended as I could relate to her emotions....

You know, her financial status doesn't permit her to spend five rupees for a single chocolate, which will be like a luxury !!

The shopkeeper was also stunned...

He said, probably thinking that I was offended by her act,

"She is too arrogant...."

One elderly male sitting nearby wisely responded ,

"No brother... She has actually seen a lot and faced her life !!!"

I have to update this publicly... Take me wrong if you want...

So... Another ordinary news... I mean, one lady was inhumanely manhandled by an angry mob... But it was inevitable and the mob was actually fortunate... Coz, she is a doctor and it's acceptable to beat a doctor if someone has some issue, no matter even if the doctor is a lady... It's actually her mistake that she chose her profession to be a doctor... So what's new to share?

I am sorry, but I have every right to express my agony. I am shocked, because I have witnessed the video in which the lady was beaten live in front of the camera... I am not blaming everyone, I am blaming those few who are having the false, fixed and firm belief that they can beat any doctor anytime when something untoward happens to their family members while being treated...

To all my friends, whether medicos or non medicos, who are unaware of the whole incident, let me clarify first...

Wednesday, April 2, 2014:

One lady gave birth to a depressed baby at Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital  (MMCH), an annexure hospital of Gauhati Medical College & Hospital, Guwahati, Assam, India... The baby later died and was handed over to the party after completing all the official formalities. After a few hours the party returned with a dead baby (may be the same or a different one) claiming that that very baby, which was not a newborn and was few days old, was handed over to the party by the on duty hospital staffs, which the hospital administration flatly denied. There was accusations against the hospital staffs of unethical baby trading practices, but the hospital authority accused the party of some conspiracy... In this act of accusations and cross accusations, there was huge hues and cry, the patient party vandalised the hospital property hampering the normal hospital functioning and thereby bringing inconvenience to other patients...

I am telling all these not to give clean sheet to anybody... There might be foul play from either side.. Investigations are going on and the law will take its own course... I am here to discuss the part what happened next... This might be just another spicy news for somebody, but as a whole for the society it is a totally demoralizing incident.

So, the aforementioned lady doctor reached MMCH at that time to attend her duties. She was totally unaware about the happenings. She is a Pediatrician in the hospital, but she was neither related to the treatment of the newborn who died afterwards nor the mother. But somebody recognized her to be a working doctor and thus the mob became violent on her. She was beaten and some even tried to snatch her clothes. For the sake of argument, suppose somebody else from the hospital is at fault, but is she supposed to suffer for the fault of others?  Obviously no...

The incident took place just 4 days back and we (including me) have finished our responsibility by wearing black badges. To be true, we are trying to act no nonsense, because we don't want other innocent patients to suffer for the misdeed of others. But how long will it be possible to work in such an environment? Enough have been talked regarding the change in the mindset of those people. Legally punish someone so that it might become an example for other such people, so that they think at least twice before manhandling any hospital staff. Nobody is supposed to take law in their own hands... It's high time to practically implement some stronger laws to protect the interest of the healthcare professionals. This somehow can be expected to  provide  a secured working environment and thus eventually it will act in the interest of the smooth patient care.

Its now or never.. Otherwise that day is not so far when such a day will arrive when such kind of people will use to beat a doctor to relieve their boredom.. Coz, it's real fun to beat a doctor... Nothing to worry about the consequences !!!

Feeling depressed? So beat a doctor !!!
Feeling angry? So beat a doctor !!!
Feeling sad? So beat a doctor !!!
Feeling humiliated? So beat a doctor !!!
Feeling bored? So beat a doctor !!!
Unemployment? So beat a doctor !!!
Inflation? So beat a doctor !!!
Price rise? So beat a doctor !!!

Nothing more to say !!!