Life Stories - Love

It was a usual busy day for Jenny.  She adjusted the nurses white cap  on her head  , looked at the chart in her hands and went to bed number 19  . 

"Hey , how are you ? " Jenny smiled at the petite lady on the bed.  The patient smiled weakly at her.  Her smile was angelic. 

"Hmmm ... today I am feeling a bit uneasy",  Ranu put her hands on the swollen belly.

Jenny looked at the pulse and softly touched the upper portion of Ranu's stomach Then she put on her stethoscope listened. She should inform the doctor, Jenny thought. Maybe today is the date. 

Ranu was 25 years old and it was her first pregnancy. She had been married 18 months back. Her husband Ashok worked in South Eastern Railway as a loco pilot. Ranu and her husband stayed in the staff quarters in the Garden Reach Railway Colony , Calcutta. Five days back , when Ranu experienced a sudden spasm in her lower abdomen, she was admitted in the Central Railway Hospital in Garden Reach. 

Jenny was the ward nurse for the female ward. She was intelligent, competent, smart and possessed a great presence of mind - the key qualities of a good nurse. 

Jenny quickly contacted Dr. Burman and updated him about Ranu. 

"I will come immediately, in the meantime, please inform his family" , the doctor said . 

Jenny paced her way to bed number 19 and looked at Ranu. Ranu was trying to sit. Jenny smiled and helped her sit. 

"Is everything OK ? " 

"The doctor is coming in a few minutes", Jenny smiled brightly and held Ranu's hands , "You might become a mother soon !"

Ranu paled.

"I ... I .. want to talk to my husband ... ", she looked pleadingly at Jenny. 

"I have already informed your husband ... he will be here soon .. ", Jenny assured her. 

The doctor  checked Ranu and looked at Jenny .  "You were right sister she has to be operated tomorrow morning . Do the formalities  and get her ready for the  c-section . "

Jenny nodded.  " Right Doctor, will do !" 

Jenny looked at Ranu, who looked listless. 

"Don't you worry . You are in expert hands !"  Jenny smiled, "Your husband will be here at 7 pm . And you will be operated tomorrow at 8 am. he has to to sign a few documents - just formality In the meantime, please remove any ornaments that you have on you - the earrings, the ring, the bangles any foreign article that you are wearing. We will hand over these to your husband"

"Ok .."

Jenny looked at the checklist . The points listed there were almost imprinted in her memory, but the process demanded that the checklist should be completed. 

She put tick marks on the checklist. 

"Are you wearing contact lenses? "

"No"

Jenny checked off the point .

"Do you have dentures ? " Jenny did not look at Ranu as she was sure of her answer. Ranu was just 25 years old and Jenny was sure that dentures would be the last thing that she would have. 

Silence.

Jenny looked up. Ranu was fidgeting with her fingers. 

"Yes or No ? "

Ranu looked down . Tears spilled from her eyes. 

"Hey, what's wrong ? " Jenny sat beside her . "Are you OK ? "

Ranu nodded her head and looked at Jenny . She slowly opened her mouth and pulled out her dentures. The two front upper teeth and the two below. 

Jenny was a bit shocked but being an experienced nurse, she was quick to gain back her composure. 

"Why are you crying ? "

Between her sobs, Ranu told Jenny that her husband and no one in her in laws family knew that she wore dentures. 

In between her sobs Ranu said "Please , please , please sister, do not tell Ashok about my dentures.  My marriage will be ruined... " .

Jenny did not know what to say . As a rule, she would have to hand over the things to her family . 

Jenny gave a tranquilizer to Ranu and waited till she slept. 

Jenny was in a fix. She was in a dilemma.  She packed the dentures separately in a box. The rest of the things she kept in another bag.  She decided that she would give the dentures separately to Ranu's parents. Poor little thing . She was really sweet. God know how she lost those teeth, Ranu grimaced. 

Ashok came that evening at 8 pm. He met Ranu,but neither she talked with him nor smiled, just nodded her head. Jenny knew the reason. 

"The patient has been given some sedative as she was feeling a bit nervous ", Jenny told Ashok , "I think you should leave now. Please wait for 5 minutes outside, I will talk to you". 

As Jenny left, Ranu held her hands, her eyes pleading. 

Ashok was standing in the corridor, waiting for Jenny.  A nervous first-time-father-to-be. 

"Is everything OK, sister ? " 

"Yes ... er... I have to handover the articles to you ... her jewelry, watch etc ... By the way, are her parents expected to come tomorrow before the operation ? "

"No.. They stay in Bombay and her father is not too well. They will come later, after the delivery .. "

Jenny had no other choice. 

She took out the two packets and gave it to Ashok, along with the list of articles. 

Ashok looked incredulously at the dentures .

"What is this ? Ranu wears these ??? " He was aghast. 

"Sir, she had requested me not to tell you about these ... but ... I am bound ... "

Ashok was quiet for almost 5 minutes.

Then he slowly looked at Jenny . 

"Sister, will you please do me a favour ? "

"What ?" , Jenny was a bit wary. 

"Please do not tell her that you have given these to me and that I know about these dentures ... tell her that you had kept it with you and give it to her to wear after her delivery "

Jenny was genuinely surprised . 

"Why ? "

"Ranu will be very embarrassed if she knows that I know... " said Ashok , "Let this remain between you and me ... please sister ... ", he handed over the packet to Jenny and walked away .

Jenny looked at him with misty eyes. 

She walked towards her cupboard and kept the dentures carefully.  

These were the moments which made her fall in love with her job all over again.

****

These are true life incidents recounted by a nurse in one of my motivational workshops.  The names have been changed for anonymity.

Right or wrong ?

Last Monday, I was conducting a motivational workshop for a group of nurses. I follow the methodology of experience sharing and real life situation discussions. Most of the times, the solution to the problems are discovered by the participants themselves  from these discussions. And for me, this experience sharing is a great learning tool.  

In this post, I will share one incident which was shared in this workshop. It left an impact on my mind and made me wonder about what is right and what is wrong. 

Durga Puja is the biggest festival in Bengal. It is actually a sort of four day carnival , where the Bengalis just freak out. They wear colourful new dresses, indulge in eating , music , dance, drama , meeting relatives and exchanging gifts . The offices, school and colleges  are closed at least for a week and many people plan their vacation around that. It is also quite difficult to get doctors and nurses during that time. 

This being a Government run hospital, the nurses have to adjust their leaves so that there is a minimum strength in each shift.  Just a day before the start of the Puja, an old lady was brought in the hospital by her son. She had severe diarrhea,  he said.  After a while, the son left, saying that some emergency has cropped up at home and he had to leave immediately. 

The old lady, around 80 years old was admitted and given a bed in the general ward.  She was hard of hearing and could not walk without anyone's support. When asked any question, she gaped at the nurses , nodded her head and smiled.  It seemed that she was enjoying the company of the nurses. She sat on her bed, smiling, looking around her. She waved at the person lying on the next bed beside her.  At night she was given soup and khichdi (rice and pulses boiled together in a mush ). The old lady ate it with relish and had a good night's sleep. 

The next day, the nurse came and asked her "How are you feeling " ?

She said " uhh ? " 

The nurse raised her voice, came near her ears and repeated the question. 

She smiled.

"I am fine " , she smiled her toothless smile.

"During the night, how many times did you go to the washroom ?"

She raised her finger and said "Once". 

"But you are suffering from diarrhea, isn't it ? "

She smiled again, shook her head and said "Na To !" (It Means not at all in Bengali "

"Oh ! But your son admitted you for that !" The nurse was surprised. 

"Na, Na ... My son, daughter-in-law and my small grandson have gone to visit Darjeeling. They have got leave now.  There is no one at home to look after me, so they have brought me here... They will be back after two days ..."

When the nurse recounted this incident, many other nurses said that they too have had similar experiences. 

It was quite shocking for me. How could someone just abandon their mother like that , that too telling a lie. As this thought came to my mind, I tried to put myself in his son's shoes and tried out the "empathy" experiment which I do in,my workshops.  Well, the son thought that this was the best way to take care of his mother and also please his wife and son. 

But, what is right and what is wrong ? 

In some religion like Islam and Christianity, there is this concept of the Judgement day, where when a person dies, he or she is judged according to the rules laid down by the religion. Based on these, it is decided whether he will go to heaven or hell. 

In Hinduisim, there is no such concept. Here, every act has a consequence. And it is not always necessary that good act will have a good consequence and vice versa.  For example, in Gita,when Arjuna says that he cannot kill his own uncles and relatives,  Krishna tells Arjuna that the consequence of this bad act will be good. Hinduism tells us that the action is in your hands but the consequence is not.  During this life or after rebirth or after many births, the balance has to be struck.  It is like a balance sheet. The actions and consequences will always be matched. 

If I look from a moral angle, the son has done a wrong deed, by lying and almost abandoning his mother in a unknown place. But if I look from his practical and worldly angle,  he had done his best to keep everyone happy. 

Readers, what do you think ? Right or wrong ?