Life and death

As soon as I entered the room I could hear the sound of loud sobbing and crying of a woman. The room was not a big one, but it was large enough to accommodate a double bed, a sofa, a TV and an almirah. All the furniture’s were stuffed in that room, inside that room a group of women were sitting (some on floor, resting their back on the sofa and some on the bed). The center of attention was a woman sobbing uncontrollably. She just lost her husband, who died due to a sudden heart attack. She is the daughter of one of the brother of my father. She said, “There are a lot of doctors in our family, but none could save my husband”. Her father was a doctor himself. My father a prominent medicine specialist was sitting nearby on a chair; I looked at him to know his reaction, but couldn’t guess what was running in his mind. May be he knew he is helpless; he tried to cover his helplessness through a grim facial expression. At that moment I thought how difficult it is for a doctor to realize that you can’t do anything for a dying beloved one. No medicines on the earth, how expensive it may be could save that beloved one. That guilt keeps for a life time. That’s the tragedy of a life saving profession. I have never seen my father to go emotional as he is completely dedicated to his profession. Listening to her sobs I suddenly realized how short the life is. She asked my father about the cause, and he explained all the matter in a lucid manner as if a medical professor is explaining the difference between a heart burn and a heart stroke to his students.  

I looked at the room. In the far away corner of the room, a school routine neatly typed was pasted. On the sofa I could see the school bag, some books, copies and the belt of Saraswati sishu mandir. There was a pin-drop silence in the environment. She removed the bags and books while describing how her son throws away the books and bags after coming back from school despite being told repeatedly  to keep the things in there proper places. She also elaborated about the sleeping nature of her son and how she gets a tough time every morning waking him up for the school. She was complaining about the destiny and was annoyed that she was not even given a chance to know the difference of heart burn and heart attack.  

Her husband was doing electrical business and she has a school going kid. It was his first stroke, but it was so major that it proved fatal to him. She was continuously sobbing and describing the last few moments of her beloved husband’s life. She remembers each and every second of that fateful day. On that day, her husband woke up late and complained about acidity, probably a heart burn. Their son went to school and he decided to visit his father-in-law, a doctor for a check up. But before he could go for a check up, he met his fate. A sudden massive heart stroke claimed his life. A family was shattered in a minute; a young lady lost her husband and the interest to live life.

Though death is an inevitable part of life but one’s death comes with a lot of suffering for his family. The lady doesn’t even know ABC of the electrical contract his husband has undertaken. She doesn’t even know where her husband has kept important documents, how much money is there in which account, and how many accounts are there. She was least concerned about these entire financial affairs when her husband was alive, she used to sign on different documents she was asked to sign, and that’s all. Now she has to take care of herself as well as her son. Her son is just starting the school and is unaware of the real circumstances. He is too young to know the actual meaning of life and death. The future of her son is at stake and money is a big factor. Her father who is a good doctor is shattered and it is evident from his face. My father preferred to have a talk. He was informed that her husband had a high blood pressure level and the trend runs in his family. The two doctors talked about different causes of the death in a technical manner. We were offered lunch, I was feeling awkward. But not wanting to hurt the sentiments of the family members I ate. It feels strange to have lunch when you see the whole family is mourning the death. But in Hindu culture a guest is treated like a god. According to Hindu customs the family mourns for 10 days after a death of a family member and on 11^th day they invite all their family and relatives for a feast. It is said that for 10 days the deceased’s soul lives in the house and leaves on 11^th day. The male family member shaves their heads as the custom.

Finally we came out of that house. There was an uneasy silence in the car. Our next destination was one of our relative from my mother’s side. She was suffering from breast cancer. A young maid opened the door; she was ignorant about us and led us to the bedroom, where the lady was lying. My mother went to her bed and held her hand. She was being treated for breast cancer for a couple of years and was given chemotherapy. Her hands and mouth were swollen. The chemotherapy had showed its side effects and she had lost her hairs. Her medical expenses were mounting and her family was doing there best to arrange for the high expenses. She has 2 sons, the younger one is working for HP India and the elder one is working is OCL India Ltd. Her husband is working in an university. When she was told about the death of the person, tears came running down from her eyes. She was finding it difficult to talk and she wished she could die so that her family will get relief from the high medical expenses. She went to many high profile hospitals and regularly takes doses of chemotherapy which makes her very weak. After some time we bid adieu to her. We were back in the highway. The car was speeding through the crowded highway and I was in deep thought. I realized that how short life is, how painful life is towards the end. After some days we got the bad news. The lady who was suffering from breast cancer expired.