Gloomy faces, despondent looks, mercurial atmosphere, waywardness, unobtrusive stretchers carrying patients, attendants carrying reports or making inquiries, long queues, sign boards reminding people of certain etiquettes of the place or guiding them to concerned departments. This mostly depicts a scene at hospitals. Most of them share this commonality. Hospitals, no doubt, offer an uncheerful look – places we associate with the dark side of human life. No wonder, it sounds very depressing or alarming to visit such a place unless the reader is a doctor or someone working there by profession. I share my experience of one such recent visit which made me think otherwise. I could see that there is also a brighter side along the perceived darkness. They are the places where we come with a strong belief; a place no less sacred than human heart, where human malice is least if not cipher, where passing a simple smile to the fellow next to you, giving way or a helping hand to the stretcher is no less a charity and where relationships grow and mellow. They are actually the places where we understand the value of life, the cost of each drop of blood and meaning of human bonding and relationships. Stretchers that carry patients or the blood being transfused don’t discriminate on color, caste, creed, age, religion or sex and the derangement also doesn’t seek such criteria to be viewed on the faces rambling around. They are the places where a person in distress understands the pain of the fellow next to him, where people seek help without asking for it, where a visitor is a well wisher and an attendant is your own. I used to take food to the local hospital at home, occasionally, in the evening and never would I return without a feeling of a satisfactory soul. This time the purpose was a personal visit to a patient, who is a close relative of my father’s best friend, admitted for kidney failure. They were in Delhi for past two months after a long dejection and disappointment from a local hospital. To my surprise, uncle and patient’s brother never left him for a moment and were here since day one. I could understand the disheveled state of patient’s wife, her veneration and concern, but to me the surprise was the over concerned relatives who stood there with all they have. Both the kidneys were dysfunctional and patient’s cousin had his valuables to offer. With him were the people who left everything aside including their families and business, to be on his side at the difficult times. Reminds me of my own tribulations when I understood the importance of people I proudly call my own. What made my eyes wet was the thought that the poor fellow was not that poor indeed... He has priceless valuables in the form of relatives, some he inherited and some he choose. He has earned them by being what they are to him today. All of us face difficult times by one or the other way, but having people who hold our shaking hands to make them firm makes these times ease. Difficulties in life may help you to understand the difference between good and bad, but may not offer you the choice to choose. Relations are important and our strength in life. But they are vulnerable. Care for them to let them care for you.
