The ordinary man-A series of Short Stories

1.The Doctor

DR. Sanjay Prabhakar was a general practitioner who worked at Manipal hospitals in Kodihalli, Bangalore. Sanjay was the youngest of three brothers from an ordinary family who lived in Bangalore. He had always aspired to be a doctor ever since he was a child and always wanted to help others, give people hope and give them a better life. He was in the top 100 students in the medical entrance examinations and easily got admitted to the Kasturba medical college in Manipal, Karnataka. But there he was told by many of his colleagues, friends, teachers and family members to pursue a career in medical science abroad. All of them told him about the cruel way doctors are viewed by the Indian society, and narrated personal accounts of how they were treated by the patients and the general public. It is no secret that the profession of a doctor is one of the most underrated, stressful but crucial and important professions for the society, but in India, these are taken to a whole new level. Good doctors are very often mistreated by the general public, and they very rarely get the recognition or the credit that they deserve. If a person is cured from imminent death, rather than thanking the doctor for his/her unwavering and relentless effort to keep him alive, they would rather thank god, but if a patient dies even though the doctor did everything he/she could possibly do, they are blamed and are abused and threatened both physically and verbally.

 Sanjay was deeply troubled upon hearing these stories and began to question his choice to practise medicine in India, but Sanjay realised after a period of soul searching, that one of the reasons he wanted to become a doctor was to give something back to the land he grew up in, to help create a change for a better future for his country, and to leave his country and to use his knowledge and talents abroad would be like betraying his country, his family and his people.

Sanjay graduated from Kasturba college Summa Cum Laude with a perfect score in his final year examinations. He then received a job offer from Manipal for a General medicine practitioner and without thinking twice, he accepted. ‘Finally’, he thought to himself, ‘I have a chance to achieve my dream.’ The first four years were like a dream come true for Sanjay. Seeing the smiles of the children, the patients and the old men and women gave him a sense of deep satisfaction and fulfilment which he could not explain. But then 2020 came around and the first wave of Covid-19 cases swarmed into his hospital. Sanjay and all the other doctors and nurses were all forced to work over their usual work limit as the hospital was completely overpowered by the sheer number of the cases. Sanjay was shocked and terrified. He had never witnessed a patient die under his care, but now the chances of survival for the old and the disabled was very less and there was only so much he could do. The look on the faces of the patients as they struggled to hold on to that final breath and clinging desperately to life and as the emotional distress, sadness and helplessness hit home, Sanjay could no longer look forward to those happy faces every day. He kept on telling himself, “This too shall pass, it has to.”, but it seemed like the more he hoped, the worse it got.

But Sanjay was committed to helping his patients and fulfilling the duty he felt he had to his people. Things were even worse at home, when his mother had congestive heart failure. She was already very old(82) and was very weak. The attack only made things even worse. The doctors said that the it was a miracle that she even survived the attack, but they painted a grim picture. Sanjay spent as much time as he could with his mother and he deeply loved her. His mother was one of the strongest and independent people he knew and participated in various mass movements to better society. She always told him, “The only constant in life, Sanjaya, is change. Whether that change is good or not is up to us to decide.” Then the fateful day of June 16th, 2020 came by. Sanjay came to the hospital and it was in chaos. More than a thousand positive patients had been admitted into the hospital, all of them old and in critical condition. Sanjay immediately set to work, the devoted professional that he was, and ran around the hospital working tirelessly to help improve the health of his patients. He had not eaten that day or the day before, and neither had he slept, but he fought his fatigue and kept his personal issues aside and devoted himself to helping his patients. He then received a phone call, and he picked up the call only to hear the emotional and distraught voice of his father on the other end. “You need to come now Sanjaya, please, Your mother is in critical condition. The doctors are saying that her valves are shutting down one by one, and she has a few hours to live at best.” “But pa”, Sanjay said,” I cannot leave now, the situation here is horrible, my patients need me.” There was silence for half a minute, and then to his surprise, he heard his mother’s voice on the phone. “Sanjaya.”, she said and it was clear from her voice that she was very weak and in terrible pain.

“Sanjaya, it is ok if you don’t come, you need to help your patients.”. “But Ma.”, Sanjaya said, his eyes swelling with tears and his voice filled with emotion, “I cannot leave you, I need to be with you.” It’s ok.”, his mother said, “I have seen enough you in my lifetime, and your two older brothers are with me so I am not going to die alone. You need to fulfil your duty. You are the only person in this family who is making a difference in the world, and for that, I am very proud of you and I love you.” The mother and son shared a heartfelt and tearful goodbye and then Sanjay put the phone down. He took a minute to release his emotions and think to himself, and then, he put his emotions aside and got down to work. He went to the hospital later that evening to see his family standing next to the motionless body of his mother covered with a white sheet. That night Sanjay returned home a broken and beaten man who was unable to be with his mother for her final moments on this Earth. But he will turn up the next day and devote himself to his job ,to his patients and to his country, even if he does not have the strength to get up in the morning, even if no one recognises him for it, he will still come.