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T & T Story Writing Contest 2019-20

First Do No Harm

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The small boy waited for his father to return home. He hung around the wide gate,  leading to a massive compound  with their house taking up one side of the  open space around.  Several large shady trees lined up one side, creating a  natural  protective canopy  over the patients who lay under the tree. The  patients were lying straight with IV drips  snaking into their arms. They were groaning.  The small boy named Bijoy Rabha , had adjusted their IV drips hanging from the branches of the trees after inserting the needle into their veins, as he had been taught. His father did not return home that evening. Instead he sent word through a villager who owned a bullock cart  that more supplies were needed as several patients had lined up when word spread that  someone from the health centre was present at their village. Bijoy’s mother , and  maternal  uncle,   Bhola who ran the pharmacy   would have to minister to the patients in the Public Health centre in  absence of his father

It was the  1960’s. In  a  very remote place in the  deep jungles located in the sparsely populated  areas  along  the  borders of Bhutan and Kokrajhar  district of Assam , medical facilities were practically non-existent .   To reach the nearest village you had  to walk five miles through a thick forest , habited by wild animals . The bicycle was the only means of transport. The deep ruts left by the wheels of  the bullock carts were the only tracks  to guide you to a  settlement . If , it got dark  by the time you finished your work in the next village ,   it was always  wiser to stay back in the village headman’s house than to hazard trudging back home, especially if one is alone.

His father had gone to the next village , escorted by three men on bicycles who had arrived the previous  evening at the health centre  for an emergency delivery by  their sister. The health  centre  was too far for her to travel on foot or cart  .They entreated that his father should   accompany them, leaving the small boy to keep an eye on the patients. Since  little Bijoy  was home tutored by his parents and uncle, he could keep an eye on things when his  mother was busy  dividing her time with caring for the household, the vegetable garden  and the patients.

The Public Heath Centre was manned by one doctor and one compounder. The doctor was Dr Bhagwan Mahajan. Like his name, he was a God (‘ Bhagwan’ means God in India) to the people who lived in scattered expanses in villages dispersed and spread far and wide. It is often said, that the presence of the doctor is the beginning of the cure. This was true of  Dr Bhagwan Mahajan. His deep listening to the  patients sketchy description of symptoms, helped him guess correctly the ailment and prescribe medicines. Diagnosis was limited to the stethoscope in the absence of other aiding equipment  like an  X-ray machine  . Sometimes Dr Mahajan had to just place his palm on the forehead of the patient, and the delirious person  would  instantly show signs of recovery.  Faith indeed  did play a big role  in the healing process.

Bijoy’s father , Prahlad Rabha , was the compounder at the PHE. His job was to mix the generic powders and potions in huge Bel jars in their exact proportions prescribed by Doctor    Mahajan and hand them out to the patients in small pouches, and bottles. The patients often carried their own bottles to contain the potions.  Constant and close association  with the dedicated Dr Bhagwan Mahajan, had made Prahlad Rabha  acquire a level of  admirable professionalism and confidence in interpreting maladies with a high degree of accuracy. Such was the belief of the villagers in the curative properties of the powders and potions that, a few recovered by just looking at the Bel jars. Restricted by the limited number of beds at the Public health centre, many patients took to resting around in the open compound of the Health centre under the trees. It was not uncommon to see the compounder bending over a  patient under the tree and the IV drip hanging  down from branches flowing into  the patient . Often times the father told the boy that the energy of the trees flowed into the veins of the people lying ill under the trees, and made them whole again. The sons innate  belief  in how trees can heal the human  spirit and the soul , later became a popular theme  for discourse in the’  Green Heal ‘society he joined  as a grown man.

The compounder, Prahlad Rabha, as a young man had nurtured aspirations of becoming a doctor. He had got admission into a Medical College and had gone away from home to live in a hostel. But his mother missed her only son such that her health deteriorated seriously, pining for her son. When her mental health was threatened by  the separation, the son left the medical hostel to be by his mother and stayed by her. By the time Prahlad went back to Medical college, his seat was gone. He got himself  enrolled  to a course in Pharmacy and qualified to be a pharmacist and joined the Public Health centre at Kokrajhar, to serve  people in his area.

Dr Mahajan had gone to Israel for higher studies to come back , better equipped to  serve the people of Kokrajhar. The PHE was left to be run by the compounder, the boys father for a few months. It was challenging to say the least.  Every villager wanted to meet the Doctor, but in his absence, the compounder was their deputy God.

Bijoy’s father travelled often to villages. For delivery of babies, people came and knocked on his door at all hours. He never refused. He cycled at all hours, braving the forest and its nightly creatures. Wobbling along the ruts of the bullock cart, one night, with only a torch tied to the front of the cycle,  Prahlad Rabha,  one night  was pedalling   on a relatively smooth stretch  when he  bumped into the massive trunk of an elephant on his nightly stroll. He fell off the cycle. The light from the torch went out as it fell on the ground and rolled away.   Never experiencing anything so upsetting as the impact of a warm human body against it , the elephant heaved its trunk,  backed away in fright, let out a bellow  shattering the nocturnal stillness  and vanished  into the darkness. The deputy Gods support team who had hid behind trees at the bellow of the elephant later helped him get his bearings and complete the assignment.  How they loved to relate that incident at every opportunity  for the rest of their lives together !

When the doctor returned , the compounder had a fresh assignment. Another health centre was being set up in the deep interiors of the jungle near the next cluster of villages. Prahlad Rabha had to take up the initial work of putting the centre in order and getting it started.  One day he left for the new centre on a bullock cart, accompanied by a few village men. It would take them four days to reach it. The father asked the boy to be good, help his uncle in the pharmacy   and study his books. He would write letters to his son about the new centre.

The boy waited for letters from his father. The first letter from his father described the vastness of the new place, the daily chores his father completed with the village men during the day. At night his father was alone; he cooked for himself and retired to the living quarters next to the health centre. He made it a point to keep a fire burning in the open to keep any adventurous wild animal at bay. Provisions were supplied by the village folk. Rice, milk, vegetables and eggs. Many of them reared cows and fresh milk was his father’s regular diet.  Though he enjoyed his work, his father wrote, he couldn’t help feeling lonely sometimes and wishing for company. He hoped that his son and uncle were managing their pharmacy fairly.

The son wrote back to his father giving detailed account of the happenings. Yes the pharmacy was open every day in the morning till late at night .Yes, Bijoy could light a menthol lamp on his own now. Yes, he and his uncle Bhola took turns to go home for lunch.

Bijoy was clever enough to manage the shop on his own, when his uncle was away at lunch. One day when he was alone manning the shop, a jeep rolled to a stop in front of it and a huge man stepped out. He wore a tie and spoke in English. Bijoy could not understand English well. The man indicated his stomach and circled his fingers over it and gesticulated as if to vomit. Bijoy grinned in understanding and showed him the bottle containing strips of gelusil tablets.  Aaah! the man nodded in affirmation

‘How many?’  the boy asked raising his fingers, in 1, 2 3 or 4 tablets or strips. He knew his multiplication table up to five, but not more.

The man took the whole container, took out his wallet and raised his eyebrows in a, ‘How much?’

The boy became flustered. He wished his uncle was here to bill it correctly. Grabbing the container back from the man’s hands,  he unscrewed the cover lid and poured out the contents  on to the counter. Sweat poured down his body as he started counting batches of five strips. He wrote the number down on the register and recalculated the amount and shouted the total to the huge man. Rs. 95/- .

When his uncle returned from lunch, he was surprised to see the container of Gelusil strips empty. He checked the amount of cash to see whether it was right and patted his nephew’s head on finding it correctly entered.

Bijoy was silent for a long time  after that day , deep in thought.  That night, during his home study, he asked his uncle,

‘Where can I learn to speak English like that customer?’

His uncle smiled at the earnest little face and replied

‘Hmm.. Bijoy, Shillong is the place to learn to speak   good English. They have very good schools there.”

‘How far is Shillong?’ Bijoy asked

‘Not far, you have to go to Guwahati first, then catch a bus to Shillong. But you will have to stay in a hostel in the School there’

‘You think I can get admission to one of the big schools there and stay in a hostel?’

‘Of course, Bijoy why not? You have to grow up a bit though. Maybe in a couple of years from now’.

Bijoy waited impatiently to grow bigger.

He studied his books well and played with gleeful abandon.  Football was his favourite sport. He accompanied a few village boys to the next village one day for a football match. Starting out at first light they hiked through the thick forest, now green and gorgeous in the sparkling sunshine, joy of certain victory coursing through their spirit of adventure and sportsmanship. Wild and wondrous was their victory in the football match in the next village. The locals who had gathered to watch the match did not mind that the outside party won. They championed both the teams with equal cheer and warm heartedness.  Being a pastoral village, mugs of pure milk and ladles of butter were fed to the weary warriors after the game. They had to return home the same evening. Carrying torches, made of twisted jute rope with fire lights at their top ends, held high above their heads, the merry band of boys braved their way back home. A herd of elephants kept a respectful distance as each boy moved like an Olympic torchbearer through the velvet blackness of the forest.

Bijoy slept with dreams in his eyes that lingered on during daylight hours to beckon him to a different world. His father wrote to him. He was not alone anymore. He had found a friend. Bijoy could   visit him and play with his friend.

Bijoy visited his father. It was an afternoon when he arrived at the new PHE set up.  When he couldn’t find anyone at the PHE centre, he went to the living quarters next to it. His father was sitting at his lunch. His father was mixing rice on a plate when he saw his son standing in the doorway, delight on this face.

His father shushed him, Shhhh!, ‘Wait, don’t disturb. My friend is shy, He has got his family with him’.

Bijoy looked around. He couldn’t see anyone other than his father. Then his eyes fell on a small mouse, sitting next to the plate on the table as if patiently waiting for his father to minister to its ailments. The little mouse rubbed its tiny whiskers with his paws as it waited in anticipation for a grain of rice. His father spread a few grains of cooked rice on the table. The mouse picked up a single grain of rice that filled its tiny paws  and bit into it delicately. More squeaking noises came from the ground.  Bijoy cast his glance down. The whole mouse family was milling around the floor near the table now. His father dropped a few more grains of rice around the table, and the little ones who had scurried up, began eating their fill, and rubbing their whiskers in contentment. Once the meal was over, the mouse family scuttled into the hole in the wall and disappeared into from where they came.

‘This is your friend? This mouse? asked Bijoy his eyes round in fascination ,at a loss for more words.

‘Yes’ replied his father, smiling broadly as he cleared the table. ‘This mouse was trapped in a tangle of wire mesh and was hurt. He was my first patient. They are my faithful companions and keep me company at mealtimes. Remember son, my job is to heal, not just human kind but all kinds. When you heal others, you get healed yourself. Son, remember, in the process of healing, the first maxim is  ‘ First do no harm’.’

At the next meal, the routine repeated with the mouse family. While Bijoy watched in wonder, he couldn’t help feeling disappointed that he had no one to play with. He was so looking forward to meeting another small boy to play with. Trying to be friends with the mouse family was futile as they only trusted his father. Subconsciously, the visit to his father’s  new work place  and meeting the  mouse family stirred a profound  well spring of sentiments  in Bijoy, which he would realise in later life.

Two summers later,   Bijoy all on his own, travelled to Shillong to meet the Headmaster of a famous boys school.  He had no appointment. He spoke no language except his mother tongue.  He tried explaining to the staff, that he needed to get admission. Admission time was seven months away, the staff explained. Bijoy persisted, sat on a bench shivering in the cold  refusing  to go away. He was eventually allowed into the headmaster’s office. The  Headmaster asked why had he travelled so far on his own to seek admission. Bijoy explained in fractured English (which he had practised hard) that he was desirous of speaking good English and wearing a natty uniform with a tie.  The headmaster listened with interest and advised him to return home and come back after seven months. His admission would be assured.  Seven months later Bijoy was escorted by a dedicated staff into the admissions procedure of the school  and into a gateway that armed him to win the  battles of his life. While school taught him to win battles, emulating his father’s ideals taught him to win wars!

Bijoy is a grown man now with a well-paying job. Armed with an MBA degree, he with his football team has started their own mobile dispensary network, which travels to remote villages. They have four  vans, fitted with basic medical necessities, three paramedics and  the services of two dedicated doctors who travel to the villages, which still continue to be isolated and devoid of adequate health facilities. Their mobile dispensary is named ‘First do no harm’. Financial assistance is provided by business houses as part of their corporate social responsibility.   Individual contribution is also welcome and encouraged.

Extreme patience in handling both routine matters was well as challenges thrown up a  crisis are the hallmark of Bijoy’s working style.   His every thought, word, deed and destiny is intertwined with the noble principles of First do no harm.  He has a family of his own. A daughter and a son. They watch Mickey Mouse and Stuart Little on television screens with their eyes shining in bright delight. As their father watches them indulgently, in his mind flashes another picture.  A poignant picture .Of  his father, sitting at dinner by the menthol lamp in the  quarter by the health centre, tired but happy in the act of  providing the healing touch. Around the healers table gathers  the little mice family  , trustingly  sitting on their haunches, holding a boiled grain of rice in their tiny paws each , as they blink their eyes in bright contentment .

 

 

Farah Haque

Farah Haque is an aspirant writer who reads a lot , so that she can write a little. Her first book titled ‘ Live and let Live ‘ was published in June 2019, under Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon. Elements of nature in their profound wisdom, found in all things great and small is her best inspiration. She works and lives in Duliajan India, with her canine companions and other animals.

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