Vandana Author: Dr. K.S. Kang

Vandana

Author: Dr. K.S. Kang

She was an average middle class Indian lady who had performed diverse roles in her life- of a daughter, sister, wife, and mother reasonably well. Vandana adored her children and spouse and was ready to make any sacrifice readily for the well being of her family members. With time her son and daughter grew into fine personalities ready to serve the world and humanity. She was living a perfectly contented and peaceful life but as fate would have it she got infected one day while she had gone to condole the death of her relative to her house. At first she did not bother about the symptoms considering it to be common cold and cough but when the symptoms persisted she on the advise of her neighbours took the test and was confirmed positive. She was isolated in her own room, confined to one room of her house. She was pained to see that her own children, whom she had kept in her womb for a period of nine months avoided and shirked from her for the fear of getting infected. She was forced to lead a prisoner’s life for no fault of her except that she contracted the virus from some person who was perhaps asymptomatic and carried the virus. Her condition deteriorated and she was admitted to hospital. Unfortunately she became critically ill when the vaccine for the malady was still a far cry and life saving medicines were in great shortage though up to some extent this shortage was artificially created by some vested interest in order to earn huge profit by selling the medicines and oxygen at exorbitant prices. Vandana breathed her last exactly five minutes after the cylinder stopped supplying oxygen. Perhaps it was half filled only that deceived her in the middle of the night. After her death her body was lying wrapped in a plastic cover and her own family members out of fear of getting infected did not go near her even to close her eyes at the time of her death. It is strange that her family members for whom she had done so much were avoiding even her dead body and now she was completely dependent on the hospital staff and ambulance driver, who were perfectly strangers to her to lay her down to rest.