Patna, Bihar, India

Dil hi tohhaina sang-o-khist (It’s just a heart, no stony shard,)

Dard se bharnaaayekyun (why shouldn't it fill with pain)

Ro.enge hum hazarbaar ....(I will cry a thousand times…)

- Mirza Galib

Numb and dumbfounded stared at the message which announced Dr Prabhat’s demise. “No, it can’t be true. It must be about someone else. He was improving I had heard my husband saying to somebody on call. We were praying for him every day.” I mumbled to myself. It took some time before the reality could finally sink in. He was no more with us.

Shocked and saddened by the demise of our medical icon all I could say was, “a void has been created. Our saviours are passing. It’s not fair. Whom should we cling for HOPE?”

It wasn’t just a great loss for the entire medical fraternity of Bihar, instead, we had lost a humane and compassionate person too. How many more deaths do we have to bear God?  Wailings of a widow, cries of another, tears of an orphan and a father, was frustrating and unbearable. Part of me has died witnessing the suffering all around. My heart bleeds due to the innumerable wounds of my dear ones and people all around the world. But life and death are a vicious circle and an end from this transitory world is inevitable. Even though one is aware of the transitoriness of the world but to face it, is a tough thing.

He was an acquaintance. No, it would be wrong to say. He was very much part of our family and life. He had purchased two of our ancestral properties. Ten years back, he bought his house and a few years back, his hospital. But that doesn’t mean he would become one of our family. But he was, very much. It was perhaps due to the personality, that attracted and attached us to him. His humane and compassionate nature drew us to him. I hadn’t met him muchpersonally. Though he was in our conversations very often, we never realized he was such an important part of our life, until the day he passed away.

Whenever our friends or relatives would need medical assistance, we would often recommend him. Consequently, my husband would frequently call him for help. And despite his busy schedule, he would never show annoyance. He would very happily do the needful as if we had all the rights to call him for anyone and anything. Apart from being an able doctor, his character and temperament fascinated all. I can’t stress enough how important it is for everyone, especially medical practitioners to be amiable and approachable given how social interactions are such a big part of our everyday life. And in the case of doctors, the interaction becomes a form of medication as well, usually in form of assurances and hope. He was an embodiment of all the good qualities one could imagine in a doctor or an individual human for that matter.

Some people leave an indelible mark on you which remains forever in our hearts even when they leave for their heavenly abode. He was one of them. Indeed Dr Prabhat can never be forgotten.

“We are witnessing crime against humanity,” says Arundhati Roy on India’s Covid catastrophe. It’s not just a crime but a horrendous one instead. But does the blame game really help?  Be it blaming the government or blaming each other, it doesn’t help much. COVID catastrophe has reached its culmination where we have to be on alert. We can never be sure whose names will be called in the housie game of death, which the almighty is playing. Every family is affected and bears the brunt of the unprecedented times which grapples us.

Human tragedies going around has become such a common occurrence that it no more worries us rather has immunised us. Uncertainty grips us, are we indeed concerned with it. Be it genocide in Gaza or Covid deaths due to unpreparedness in India, it is part of our very existence. Sometimes I really doubt if there’s a single soul left alive. The deaths and murders will continue and no one will be left to mourn since the cities are being filled with new inhabitants, Corpses. Isn’t it high time, we mend our ways and rise above petty issues to join our hands towards saving humanity?

His demise left me shocked and sick, needing emergency medical assistance. While going and coming back from the hospital I could feel the fresh air, watch the trees with fresh leaves, at some places even double shaded leaves could be witnessed. Roadside trees, parks and gardens were all with covered flowers. An enchanting nature was at its best.

But the silence and emptiness on the roads were scary and frightening. There was hardly any human being on the roads. Except for those needing medical exigencies, desertedness and desolateness enveloped the city.  I mused as if we are on the brink of apocalypse. It makes one doubt if we are truly alive. Minds wander with overwhelming negative thoughts and it seems we are not mourning someone’s death. It’s an irony that we are rather rejoicing our survival in these callous times. Elderly people and children suffer exclusion most. Sick and infected have become an object of fear and terror. So instead of providing them love and care, we are literary throwing them away. We are afraid to face and meet people, losing our very humanity. Thanks to the new normal- Stay Away.

Life is a mixed bag of happiness, sorrow, blessings and sufferings. All of us have our own journey and it’s the people and their love, along the way that matters the most. Since each one has his pains and miseries, all one needs is love, care and a smile. A simple act of kindness goes a long way, more than one can imagine. Connect with everyone, smile at someone and lend a helping hand because there are only scars, wounds and bleeding hearts all around.

Since a smile is infectious, let’s smile and infect the world.