One week in a hospital proved to be quite a humbling experience for me.
The emergency ward reminded me of a colony of ants – the doctors, nurses, support staff – all diligently working to save lives of people who land there- limping in pain, supported by their loved ones, unconscious in a stretcher having journeyed to the hospital in an ambulance, or brought in a wheelchair…
Its so diverse and similar at the same time – all have some medical condition which has to be urgently treated so that their lives are saved and they are able to lead a reasonably good quality of life with all their faculties in working condition.
In the course of 1 ½ hours on a lazy Sunday evening, the emergency ward saw so much activity – the nurses, doctors and support staff on duty – each one going about from one patient to the other in clinical fashion. Amidst the tubes, injections, bottles, syringes, tablets in the emergency ward, dark green curtains, made of thick cotton are pulled up to separate rows of beds lined up next to each other.
A nurse is taking blood to start the investigation for a middle aged lady, appearing weak, when suddenly an old man barely breathing, is rushed inside in a stretcher. I learn from the conversation which follows that he has just had a heart attack. The first few minutes is crucial here to enable the person to live. Hence, this case assumes more importance than the other and all attention of the team is focused on ensuring that proper and timely medical care is given to ensure the human life is not lost.
Just when one thinks, the rush has sort of settled down, in comes a stretcher with a young man covered in blood. He is an accident victim, accompanied by his friend.
The stoic expression in the faces of the health care professionals explains it all. Its not indifference but a calm evaluation of a case – very much like any other professional and they put in their best efforts to salvage atleast a decent deal, if not the best.
And in some depressing moments, I held on to that faith- faith in the medical system and the medical professionals. (Thanks to L for pointing that road to me!)
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One warm Tuesday morning, I stand by the window of the 9th floor room at the hospital and look gloomily at the bustling traffic flowing below on Airport Road- buses, cars and two wheelers jostling for space with the pedestrians, cyclists and omnipresent autorickshaws that dot the city’s roads. A lone policeman stands in the middle of the traffic junction trying to take charge of the busy intersection. All of a sudden, I am shaken out of my dull reverie by a sudden “whish” like sound and lo! a kite flies to the window sill, neatly perches itself therein and stares at me.
The kite looks so majestic and beautiful, its big, brown eyes sharply looking here and there, the moment seems so magical!
I see kites every morning, on my way to work as they are forever hovering around a storm-water drain across my house, but to see one in such close proximity, its quite a thing! I sense my excitement levels slowly rising, when as suddenly as it came, it flutters its wings and soars into the sky, soon out of sight.
******
One moment, she lies weakly on the bed, eyes closed, hands clasped together, no sign of life except her breathing and heart beat. And then, after what seems an eternity, her eyes laboriously open and look at me deliriously. A faint smile of recognition appears in her eyes and she tries to utter something, but no words come out. Unclasping her hands, she stretches her right hand toward my right hand and reaches out to hold me.
Life is all about these small moments, I think. When we would do anything in our capacity to get the smile and life back on the face of someone we love and care about.
******
For a hospital, Manipal Hospital has a very apt and interesting tagline. “Inspired by Life”! In moments when I pushed myself to remain positive and strong, the tagline played its part in keeping my inspirational quotient alive and kicking. One just needs to look at life all around us to feel and remain inspired.
As Activist/filmmaker KP Sasi states in a newspaper article I read some time back :
“ I derive my creativity from life. Mainstream views of creativity are set in certain norms. If you write, act, make films, sing, you are creative. But I think life is creative. You need creativity to jump onto a running bus, to hang on in a local train in Mumbai, to cook sambar well. All protest is creative.”Written on 2nd December 2007
