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 !!!

Hurt at Heart... But...

That day I was on my way to my hometown Morigaon. At the last stoppage when I got down from the vehicle, the driver approached me,

"Sir, are you Pratap Hazarika sir's elder son?

"Yes..."

"May I ask you one thing?"

I was confused what he was upto... Yet I nodded in the affirmative...

"Sir, what if somebody skips his medications for diabetes for a few days?"

"Are you the guy?"

"Yes sir..."

Without going into unnecessary details, I explained him briefly and informed that it may be even life threatening and asked him to restart the medications and then to consult his physician at the earliest.... It was also informed well that being a diabetic, by driving a vehicle while skipping his medications, he was even unknowingly playing with ours and many other's lives...

"Actually sir... I had some misunderstanding with my wife a few days back... I became too upset... I felt like nobody cares for me, so why should I care for myself ? But today she has returned... And when she came to know about my medicines, she cried  a lot blaming herself... I felt really sorry for her.. It was actually my mistake... But sir... Now I have the urge to live my life once again... "

Even though I concealed my feelings, I had a feeling of  mixed emotions...

He was definitely hurt at heart... But he was making a blunder... He was intentionally inviting sufferings for himself and the whole family... Hopefully he would not repeat the same... And now that he is happy, I too somehow felt happy for this unknown guy !!!

This guy was lucky enough in the sense that his wife returned within a few days, probably his diabetic status was not that much high and he was able to understand his mistake soon.. But not everybody would be that much lucky... Not everybody gets the scope even to repent !!!

You know... Life is never a smooth ride... During some of those stages, we even have the feelings to opt for some drastic steps... But does that help in any way? No.. Not at all... We may live our lives in our own way as we are pleased, but actually our lives are not only ours... There are so many people whose happiness is directly or indirectly related to our lives... At least we don't have the right to make them suffer... And.... the sooner we understand, the better !!!

Papa's little girl.. !!

That day at around 11 pm I went to a ward at GMCH to manage the complaints faced by a patient. As I was returning, one cute scene touched me to the core of my heart...

It was a male ward.. At that time all other patients were sleeping... In the next bed of the patient whom I examined, there was a male patient of around 40 yrs... With him on the same bed, there was a little girl, probably his daughter... It was a chilly night... All other patients were comfortably using blankets... But in this particular case, the scene was different. That man used a blanket to cover his daughter. The little one was confidently sleeping and her father was lovingly holding her even in his sleep... Evidently, for him, his daughter's comfort was his first priority... I mean, you would have surely get confused who the actual patient was... Before leaving the ward, I checked his records... He was awaiting some elective surgery...

You know, this little encounter with the primary parent-child bonding made me realise once again the huge sacrifices made by our parents in bringing us up... And in return what are their expectations? They expect nothing, but our comfort and happiness..!!