“Mom, I got 3rd rank in the annual examination. I promise I’ll secure 1st next time” said Rahul, a class 3 student. But, his voice was devoid of any excitement. Because, like any other kid, he was not communicating this message to his mother, but to his mother’s picture hanging on the wall.
Yes, Rahul is a class 3 student and he recently lost his mother and his unborn baby brother.
Exactly 7 months before this date, Rahul’s house was full of celebrations when they heard that Poornima is going to have a kid again. It was the most awaited arrival for Rahul because, he had been longing to have a sibling whom he can play with, whom he can boss over and whom he can take responsibility of.
Jan 2nd 2010 – Poornima started having terrible pain and discomfort and since Pramod was relatively new to driving, he was panicked to drive his wife to the hospital. So, they called in for the 108 service and the ambulance was at their doorstep within 10 minutes. All three of them, Pramod, Rahul and Poornima started to the hospital. The paramedics were assuring that Poornima was fine and in another 15 minutes, she would be in the hospital. But for Poornima, 15 minutes seemed like 15 hours and she was unable to bear the pain anymore.
It was a Friday evening, and everyone was in a mood to rush home as early as possible.
After 10 minutes, the ambulance carrying Poornima was stuck in a traffic jam and came to a halt. Pramod who was sitting behind along with Poornima and Rahul could not see what was the reason for the jam. He peeped through the side window, and saw that the vehicles were all over the road.
Pramod waited for 5 minutes and then got down to see what the issue was. As he headed towards the front of the ambulance, he saw that there was a group of people who was watching something. Suspecting an accident, he moved close enough to get a clear view. And then, he saw that it was not an accident, but a petty street quarrel.
There was a young man who must have been in his early 20s and another person who appeared to be in late 60s. Both of them were shouting at the peak of their voices and all the people who were watching them appeared to be enjoying the live tamasha. Some of them, he realized were even becoming active participants of the argument.
He then went back to the ambulance and checked with the driver if there was any alternate route to reach hospital. But, the driver said, it was impossible to move out of this jam, because, the vehicle was in the middle of the road and was encircled by the other vehicles from all the sides. The paramedics now called Pramod and told him that Poornima’s condition was turning critical as she started bleeding and her pulse started declining.
Pramod immediately headed towards the place of argument and started requesting people to move aside and give way to the ambulance. But the spectators were so engrossed in watching the show that no one appeared to be bothered by what Pramod was saying.
He then squealed into the crowd, caught hold of the young man and requested him to let go of the other person. The young man turned to Pramod and with a harsh tone replied that he was not the one to withdraw till the old uncle gave him the money for the broken headlights of his new bike. Pramod turned to the old uncle and requested him saying that there was an ambulance behind and it was carrying his wife whose condition was serious. The old man gave an even more shocking answer. He said that if his wife was important to Pramod, so was his scooter to him. Pramod turned to the young man and volunteered to pay for the loss, but neither the young man nor the old man nor the crowd was ready. Some people even raised their voice in protest when Pramod said this. Knowing it’s of no use, he returned to the ambulance and the paramedics now said that, Poornima was drifting into coma due to the blood loss and low blood pressure. Rahul who was still too small to understand the gravity of the situation asked his dad when will his baby brother be out and when can he play with him.
The deadlock situation unwounded only after half an hour and by this time, Poornima was completely unconscious. Pramod was holding his tears and watching at the pulse meter that he noticed was going down and down. 68,67,65,59…
Paramedics were doing their best to prevent the pulse from drifting further. After one and a half hour, the ambulance reached the hospital. As the hospital staff rushed to the ambulance and they opened the door, Pramod heard a beep that was the most dreadful beep of his life. It was coming from the machine that was connected to Poornima and it went blank. All the curves that were being displayed till then vanished and now there was only a simple straight line and the loud beep. The staff nevertheless took her to the emergency ward and tried restoring her pulse, but it was in vain. Pramod who by now understood what was on to him and his little kid’s life silently took Poornima’s body and traveled back in the same ambulance that drove them to the hospital.
While returning too, he encountered numerous traffic jams, but he was no longer interested in resolving those, because, the irreparable loss had already occurred.
Tears dropped from Pramod’s face only when little Rahul asked him, “Where is the baby brother, when can I play with him?”
Do any of us have an answer for Rahul’s question?
