Sujatha Rao

Action Inspirational Others

4.1  

Sujatha Rao

Action Inspirational Others

Sustaining People and Planet

Sustaining People and Planet

5 mins
190


When Pratibha drew in breath on her own finally, she heaved out more than a sigh of relief. It was as though in that one inhalation, air became breath once again. As she took a few more long deep breaths, tears welled up in her eyes.

"Take it slow. Don't exert yourself too much" the attendant doctor her said.

She realized that each breath of hers was a labor of love. It felt as though she was learning to breathe for the very first time.

"Will I be off that soon, Doctor?" she asked the doctor in between her breaths pointing to the oxygen cylinder next to her.

"You may need it on and off for a few more days. We shall see. Right now, you take it easy" the doctor said before moving on to the next patient.

It had been a week since she had been in the ICU. In her 41 years of life, this was her first experience with ICU. As she lay in the bed, totally cut off from her family and friends hooked onto an oxygen cylinder all through, she feared not only for her life, but also for the lives of people back at home. Though she was told everyone was doing fine, she worried whether some other member of her family was lying in another ICU bed like her. The topmost worry, however, was her own survival.

Now that she was able to breathe on her own, she found herself reflecting upon her past. For most part of her life, Pratibha realized, she had been lucky. She got married to a family man like Sachin, who took care of her and their two children very well. Though they were not very rich, they have been getting by quite fine. That was when the pandemic hit and she knew her hospitalization put a very big dent on the savings of her family.

"I have to get back alive and well. I cannot let down my family." Pratibha kept telling herself as she drew those long breaths. Her survival instinct was very much alive and kicking. Soon it was time for her to get discharged.

On the day of her discharge as she thanked the doctor, he said "Don't thank me. I want you to do something in return."

Pratibha and Sachin were quite taken aback at these words of the doctor. As they continued to stare at him in silence, the doctor smiled and said "Don't worry. I am not going to ask you to give me more money. I know you have already settled a large bill." Turning to Pratibha he continued "You consumed 1,44,000 litres of oxygen when you were in ICU. So I want you to plant at least 10 trees this year."

Sachin and Pratibha were both relieved at these words. Pratibha replied "I promise you Doctor. I would definitely plant more than 10 trees."

"I have put that comment on your discharge summary too, lest you should forget. We, human beings, have been taking nature very much for granted. Nature is providing us with free supply of oxygen for our life time. Now when we have to pay through our noses for it, we should realize how important it is to conserve our natural resources."

Pratibha was too overcome with emotion at these words. She folded her hands in gratitude and left for home along with her husband.

                                                                                             *****

Pratibha looked around her nature sanctuary she had built painstakingly. She looked forward to visiting this place of serenity as often as she could.

It has been ten years since that eventful day. Thankfully, soon thereafter Pratibha recovered well without any long COVID symptoms. However, as she went about her daily work, the doctor's words constantly rang in her ears. She became more and more restless as days went by. Finally, she broached the topic of growing trees in the vacant piece of their land which they had bought few years ago.

"The idea is good Prati. But it's somewhat distant and I don't think I can devote any time to look after it." Sachin replied.

"I will. Let's have a couple of rooms built in a corner of the plot, so that we can appoint someone to live there to take care of it in future. Just help me with the initial planting of trees. Later on I would take care of it on my own."

The idea appealed to the farmer's soul in Sachin so much that he got busy right away buying quite a few saplings from a nearby nursery.

In the last decade, those saplings grew into towering trees. While the coconut tree went straight into the sky, the mango tree spread wide through her magnificent branches. The guava trees were small in comparison, but what they lacked in growth, they compensated in their yield by bearing fruits in the very first year.

The small succulents in the middle were the succours Pratibha fell back upon for the needs of her kitchen. "Well not only her kitchen, but the kitchens of her neighbours and friends too" she thought amusingly. Every year she tried out something new. She had grown them all, right from the traditional vegetables to those exotic ones. 

The best gift for her was the expression on the face of the Doctor who had prescribed planting of trees to her, when she went and gave him baskets of the produce from her garden. 

As Prathibha breathed in the fresh air from her well nurtured small garden, she felt the protective care of the Mother Nature all around her.


This story, which is loosely based on a true incident, is being submitted on 28th July, 2021 - the World Nature Conservation Day in celebration of all the nature conservationists out there.


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