Humanity lost: Because she is not my daughter !!!

That day one well dressed man in his early 50's approached me... He came for the 2nd dose of Rabies vaccination for his 17 year old daughter... She was bitten by a stray dog and accordingly the treating doctor advised her the post exposure vaccination.

"Sir, are all the doses necessary?"

"Yeah for sure... You will have to bring her on all the scheduled dates here..."

He got somewhat annoyed...

"Actually sir, it's far from here.. It's really difficult..."

"Where are you from?"

"Chandmari..."

I smiled and said, "It's hardly 4 kms from here.. The vaccine is given so that she doesn't get the disease... Do you know,  how many people survive after  rabies is diagnosed?"

"Yes Sir... Nobody survives.."

"You already know it... In case of rabies, the mortality rate is 100%... Then where is your problem?"

He became irritated...

"Actually it becomes too troublesome for me to manage time... Today is day 2... I'll have to bring her here for another 3 days.. After all it's me who is facing the trouble... "

Something clicked my mind...

"Is she your own daughter?"

"No.. She is our helper... She stays with us.."

You know... Take me wrong if you want, but frankly speaking, I just hated that guy at that moment and thus I said,

"I already knew it... That's why you are least concerned about her well being... Provided she was your own daughter, you wouldn't have felt all these problems... Rather you would have enquired me if she would need something else even after getting all these injections... Mind you, she is a young girl and someone else's daughter who is serving your family leaving behind her near and dear ones and yet you are this much reluctant to protect her even when the government is providing the vaccines for free... Grow up man... Try to act human !!!"

No further explanations required... I already told him what I was supposed to !!!

A shoulder to cry upon...

[Confession: Unlike my previous posts, some of the facts are modified in this update to maintain privacy. But the incidents are presented as they happened in reality...]

That day one of my junior approached me with his wife.. They came to consult some doctors in our institute who are in good terms with me and I accompanied them. That junior was too close to me, his wife is like my own sister in law and above all these, they were in so much distress that I couldn't leave them alone.

The previous night that junior's younger brother called me and described in details about some diagnosis... Literally he was crying....

"Partha da, you know... Dada is controlling himself, but what to say about bou (sister in law)? She is crying since the morning.. They will meet you tomorrow... Please... Please help them out..."

Initially when I met them, both of them appeared calm and quiet... It seemed like they could somehow control their emotions. Thus without asking anything else, I just smiled and patted her shoulder saying, "Don't worry, everything will be alright!!" Anyway, I didn't want to reignite their suppressed fragile emotions anymore...

Everything went well.. We consulted 2 doctors from different departments and they advised some investigations to be done...  Both my junior and his wife were trying to act practically and eventually they could maintain their calmness.. But as we were returning, incidentally she met one of her maternal uncles and... and she just broke down into tears...

Quite often we come across such incidents when we see people trying hard to control themselves.. But once they meet  some near and dear ones, they can't help, but get overwhelmed by their emotions and break down, which is actually good for them in the sense that even if for temporarily, it helps in relieving their grief to some extent...  Most of you can probably relate to this...

You know... When we are in distress, we may need several things to overcome the situation, but most importantly we need someone whom we can trust, someone with whom we can share our grief... In other words, we will need a shoulder to cry upon.... That shoulder may be in the form a caring husband or a loving wife or a protective parent or a good friend or anyone upon whom we can rely... And until and unless you are the one, there is every chance for you to misjudge their emotions !!!

The tragic episode is now over.. She had to undergo some procedures and everything is gradually returning to normalcy.. To be true, I have encountered similar several incidents in the past, but this was for the first time that I was able analyse the situation and thus it made me  realize once again something most important in all our life...

Being human, our activities should be such that it not only fulfil our interests, but also help or support someone else or can reduce someone's sufferings...

Win someone's trust and be the 'shoulder'.... And you will feel that you have already achieved something in your life !!!

Tummy, marriage etc... :-)

That day I was interacting with a kid. He is around 5. Actually his father is my patient and thus I had met him for a number of times. They were about to leave my chamber and then something clicked my mind... I jokingly asked the child one question which I quite often use to ask my nephews and nieces...

"Baba, tell me one thing... Am I good?"

He knew what I wanted to hear... With a bright smile he answered,

"You are a 'very good' doctor uncle... "

Wow... My chest got expanded I suppose... And the increase in my smile... Nothing new to mention about that... I got the desired answer... Anyway, nobody can be better than me in self praising, I mean praising himself or herself... :-):-)

"Thank you, thank you Baba.. Tell me.... Am I a boy or a man?"

He thought for a moment and then said,

"You are a 'man' uncle..."

This time I certainly failed... At least the kids in my family know it well to please me by saying that even at 32, I am still a boy... :-):-)

I asked him, "Why not a 'boy'?"

He answered, "Because you are married..."

I was amused you know...

"How do you know that I am married?"

He brushed his hair and answered with a shy smile,

"Because uncle... Your tummy is big !!!"

This time I couldn't control myself... Both I and his father just laughed our lungs out....

Didn't know that a big tummy is a sign of married marital status !!! :-):-):-)

Pure heart...

Day before yesterday I was interacting with one of my patients... She is little girl of around 7 years... Actually she had undergone a minor eye surgery a few days back... So before, during and after surgery, this was for the sixth time that I have met her... The way in which she talks, you won't have any other option, but to adore her... After having so many interactions  in last 6 weeks, she became so close and I think somehow she is too fond of me... For instance, yesterday itself, she was the last patient in my chamber and even after her examination was over and even after I advised her to review after 2 weeks, she kept talking for around 20 minutes related to various topics viz. her school, her elder sisters, the puppy in the next door neighbour etc etc.... I was also enjoying the sweet conversation... At last her mother, who was the silent smiling spectator of our conversation, intervened saying,

"Beta, I have to go... Anyway, uncle is also having some other works I suppose... Let us move... Or else you may stay with uncle and you will have the whole night to talk to him... :-):-)"

At last she left with her self made promise to call me as frequently as possible using her mother's cell phone...

During those 20 minutes, one of my teachers did ring me up when she and her mother was still there with me. Usually I try to avoid taking calls while examining my patients, but as we were having just some casual talks, taking their implied permission I answered the call. I was unaware that the child was closely observing that I addressed my caller as 'Sir'... After the call was disconnected, she asked me,

"Doctor uncle, you are way too grown up... Yet you are having a sir?"

"Yeah Majani... "

"Ok..... We have our 'Miss'..."

"We too have our 'Miss'..."

"Ok doctor uncle... Does your teacher also teach you 1,2?"

I was taken by her so innocent questions... Thus I smiled and lightly pecked one of  her cheeks and answered,

"Actually Majani... We are somewhat grown up you see... So our teacher teaches us what comes after 1,2... :-):-)"

You know... Most of us won't be able to recall how we were or how we acted at her age.. Leaving aside a few, probably we all behaved in the same way as that of this child ... But these cute questions gave me the chance to peep into the pure heart of a child once again...

Somebody rightly expected...

"Oh time, oh time... Take me in your flight... And make me a child once again just for tonight !!!"

No wonder... We all have every another reason to miss and cherish our childhood!!!

A brief glimpse of parenthood...

That day I was on my way to my hometown Morigaon. I rode a bus. One young lady in her mid thirties took the seat next to me. She was accompanied by 2 kids of which one was an infant and another one was of around 3 years. Just after the bus started moving, the younger one started troubling her. In no time the little one was provided an infant feeding bottle. The mother came well prepared I suppose... He became calm, but evidently it was becoming troublesome for her to manage both the kids in the moving bus.

After some silent moments, she hesitantly asked me pointing towards the elder one,

"Can you please hold her for sometime?"

I was not in a position to say 'no'...

She said to her daughter,

"Aijani, Tumi uncle'r usarat jua"
(Aijani, go to uncle..)

It was too cute  to see the child climb onto my lap within moments even before I could say anything... :-):-)

For initial 10-15 minutes she kept me busy asking various questions... After that the real scene began, I mean, she started to fall asleep... For me, it was for the first time that I was travelling a public vehicle with a sleeping kid on my lap. I had to manipulate my arms around her to hold her properly so that her head doesn't collide with the window glasses. In one sense I was facing trouble managing her posture, but in another sense I was gradually becoming protective for the child. I had the feeling as if she was my own daughter !!!

Usually I myself fall asleep during any journey when I have to travel alone, but they day I couldn't sleep even for a moment. At the end of the journey, I felt pain on my forearm owing to constant inexperienced handling of a sleeping child for around 1½ hours.. But the pleasure was far far more than all those pains...

The child was in deep sleep on my lap even after the bus stopped.. I got off the bus still holding her... Seeing her innocent happy face, I felt like the child should never be disturbed... But I had to... Our destinations were not the same !!!

At last I woke her up, made her sit on a bench in a nearby shop, lightly pecked her both cheeks and headed towards my clinic. Her mother didn't utter even a single word, but by her gracious smile she silently conveyed me "Thank you..."

You know, though I have not become a father till now, this incident made me feel the pleasure and responsibility of being a parent. Side by side it also made me realise once again the plight of the parents in bringing up their children.

That day I helped the lady a bit, that too on her request... But provided there was no helping hand, then also she would have somehow managed the same. She is a mother, and anyway she rode the bus well prepared to face any situation for the welfare of her kids !!!