Realization
Dr. K.S. Kang
It never occurred to Mangat Ram that he had
come alone in this world and will have to go to the next world alone till he
was infected by Corona virus. Till then he was being looked after reasonably well by his son,
daughter-in-law and grand children. After the demise of his wife two years ago
he preferred to live in the outer room of his four room house that he had
constructed by taking loan from the bank against his salary. He had paid back
the loan well before the year of his retirement so as to avoid post retirement
trouble of any sort. He had chosen the outer room of his house so as to avoid
any type of interference in the lives of his son’s family. Now due to his
growing age he had lost much of his appetite but still his daughter-in-law was
giving him enough food that he used to give surplus food to a stray dog that
used to sit in front of the room of his house.
A
night before he fell ill, he felt uneasy and developed fever and sore throat.
As his fever did not come down his son informed the nearest medical facilities
of the town that brought in an ambulance full of medical workers in their PPE
kits and masks and took him to hospital at once and took his sample by
inserting a long narrow stick in his nose. They also took sample of other
members of the family. After a couple of
days the ambulance returned back to take him to quarantine centre as he has
tested positive for Corona. As soon as they came to know that he was infected everybody
tried to avoid him as if he was a pariah, an untouchable cur. Even his son
stood at the threshold of his house while medical authorities were putting him
forcefully as if he had committed some crime and his daughter-in-law was
standing at the innermost edge of the house holding his grandson who wanted to
see where these medical authorities were taking his grandfather. At that time
when he needed sympathy, care and attention of the people as he too was shocked
to get this news that he is suffering from a malady that is simply incurable.
As ambulance was carrying him to Quarantine Centre situated outside the town he
saw from the window of the ambulance that the stray dog whom he used to give
his leftover food was following him.
At
the Quarantine Centre also everybody treated him like an untouchable. Even
doctors feared to come near him and attendant staff threw pills and capsules
from a distance as if he was some stray dog. They treated him like a sinner as
if his getting infected is responsible for their lives too. Next day he saw
that the dog who was following him has somehow tracked him and was sitting
outside his room. From the meagre meals he received at the Centre he managed to
send some food by greasing the palm of one of the medical attendant who used to
clean his room twice. Though this attendant used to deliver food to the dog but
he was unable to comprehend why this man was sharing his food with a stray dog
even at the time when it is not certain whether he will live or die. Even his
friends and relatives did not inquire about him and they even refused to take
his calls as if virus travelled through radio waves of the instrument. Mangat
Ram had led a respectable and decent life as he was a middle rung government
employee and even after retirement he was leading a reasonably good life on his
pension and out of his income he had tried to help his friend and relatives in
their need according to his capacity but now everybody was neglecting and
ignoring him. Even the medical staff who was supposed to be doing noble work of
serving humanity with humility and politeness treated him rudely and neglected
him at every point. Even he had provided sufficiently comfortable life to his
family out of his income and even after retirement he tried to bring something
for everybody on the festivals out of his pension that his uncle used to say
that would remain with you till the last day of your life. But still even his
near and dear ones have ignored and neglected him that he was completely broken
down and he was more inflicted with this neglect than with the virus. He felt
more pain at this than the disease.
Though
he did not wish to live any more in this selfish, egocentric world but still
due to his inbuilt immunity from child hood and as a result of his taking
prescribed medicine religiously he recovered and became normal in a fortnight.
After he got well he took his faithful dog and took a stern decision not to
return to his son’s house this strange disease had made him realize that he had
come alone in this world and nobody is going to accompany him on the journey
from this world. So he left quarantine centre along with his faithful dog and
left for some unknown destination as he had enough pension on which he can take
care of himself and his faithful dog for the rest of his life. When Mangat Ram
did not return for a month his son came to Quarantine Centre to inquire about
him the only reply that he could get was from the medical attendant who used to
clean Mangat’s room that he did not disclose his destination when he left the
centre along with his dog but the only thing he said was that he wished for
everybody’s welfare but now he will lead the rest of his life alone so that he
can get used to travel alone after his death.
