A beautiful lawn with a perfectly sculptured statue of the black giant tusker, received the friends at the entrance of the hotel. Staff at the reception was extra polite and a smart lady draped in the traditional attire of the state lead their way to the room on the first floor. The baggage was also brought up, and informed that the lunch was ready to be served.
After the steaming, traditional Kerala feast a good relaxing afternoon nap they decided to roam around in the lawn downstairs. While they were enjoying the evening breeze, Saarang noticed a girl dressed in casual white tees and grey track pants approaching them. Her short, straight bleached hair waved up and down as she paced towards them. When she was a few feet away, Rehan enquired “is she coming to us bro? Why is she grinning so wide, do we know her?” hearing that Saarang reverted, “not exactly, but doesn’t her face seem familiar?” As the two exchanged thoughtful remarks, the girl stood right in front of them and enquired with a cute smile, “Hope the stay is comfortable?”
Before Rehan could shoot out the question, that who exactly she was, Saarang prompted, “it’s great and also the food is awesome, actually we didn’t recognise you at first.” Rehan looked at Saarang with those huge question marks in his eyes. To pacify which Saarang tilted a bit towards Rehan and reminded that she was the lady they met in the morning at the reception, who had dropped them to the room. Rehan seemed surprised with the transformation. He told the girl that she looked very different now, than in the morning in the traditional wear.
The girl giggled and reverted, “hope it was not a tragedy!!!” Rehan didn’t expect that, Saarang and the girl smiled as Rehan fumbled a bit before saying that she looked pretty good. As the trio eased each other, Saarang enquired to the girl whether she was a staff there and if she was going back after her work hours. As a reply, she spoke after a modest smile, “you guessed somewhat right Sir, I do work here. This hotel is my father’s, it’s kind of our family business.” Rehan’s eyes widened up, “you mean we are talking to the owner of this whole thing!” The chit-chat continued for little longer and they parted light hearted.
The friends continued strolling and Rehan continued about this girl they just met, that how smart, though down to earth she was and things like that. But Saarang’s heart was getting heavier as the daylight faded away, giving room to one last night of doubts and prejudices that kept clinging on to him for months together now. Unknown energy with a hope that the next day would bring a change to his life was strongly pushing him ahead.
Though the night seemed quite long for Saarang, he woke up quite early after a quality sleep and freshened up quickly, eager for the meeting. It was around 7 am, Saarang was all set when Rehan’s alarm rang and his eyes opened to see his well-groomed friend, filing some papers. “Hey man! Can’t buy this, you are not gonna appear before an interview board, right? Saarang smiled back, “this is the report I got from the Botswanian doctor man.” Rehan retorted, “I asked for the formals bro, why have you dressed up like that, and so early, for the 9 am appointment, we are just 10 minutes away, the cab comes at 8.30 and the breakfast arrives at 8.00, it’s all set actually.”
Saarang, sensing the tone of responsibility in his friend’s words, replied reassuringly. “My dearest brother! I’m least bothered about the arrangements, coz I know that you have sorted everything in the best way possible. As I woke up early after a sound sleep and was a bit anxious about the outcomes of this trip, to engage myself in some work, I thought of dressing up and these formals kind of keep me confident and clear-headed. That’s it, man. Now get out of bed and freshen up fast.” By now Rehan was out of bed, checked his phone, and turned to Saarang saying, “She’s having fun with uncle and aunty.” Saarang replied with a content smile, “yes bro I saw, she’s a sweetheart.” On the way to the washroom, Rehan turned around and asked, “Should I also get into formals bro.” Saarang threw the hotel toiletry kit at Rehan and said, “Stop embarrassing me and go get ready.”
As planned the friends reached the hospital gate, the security personnel there showed them the way towards the OPD. As the car entered the premises, they got a better view of the same statue that they had seen the previous day. Taken aback by the valour of the statue, Saarang enquired to the taxi driver who he was. The driver replied that he was the founder of the entire thing and is known to be a brave man, as he had struggled hard to build up the empire in British India.
The taxi driver was a nobleman. He helped his guests with the formalities at the registration and showed the way towards the waiting room. On the way there were quite a number of people sitting in different clusters, maybe waiting for their turn to meet their respective consultants. While the duo sat in the waiting area, Saarang tried to figure out some of the strange names on the boards in the corridor.
There were two rooms near the place they waited and the place had around 50 steel chairs. On some of the chairs, he noticed parents with children who seemed special as if suffering from some kind of mental retardation. On the signboard of one of the rooms was written, ‘Kaumarabhritya’. After seeing those kids, he could relate that it may be the paediatrician’s chamber. Then he read the name of his consultant which he already knew, ‘Dr. Dakshinamoorthy Warrier’, and then some abbreviations that indicated his degrees and fellowships etc., followed by the words – Professor & Head, Dept. of Kayachikitsa. Now this word was new and as soon as he pulled out his phone to check on the internet, a nurse dressed in whites, carrying a black hijab came out of the doctor’s chamber and called out for Saarang.
The duo hasted to her. She asked them to wait for a while showing the chairs arranged near a table that had some office accessories and some medical equipments and then to get inside when she calls the next time. At the same time a young girl, dressed in a white salwar-kameez and a white overcoat, maybe a nursing student, came to them and enquired who Saarang was and asked for some basic information like occupation, marital status etc., noting the same on a paper clipped on a writing board. She also checked his weight and blood pressure.
Then the other nurse in hijab came over again and took them inside. The chamber was much bigger than expected, well lit both by the natural and similar artificial lighting, there was a feeble music in the room, something like a mantra being chanted repeatedly. In the right corner of the room was a huge table; beside which laid a wooden stool, which definitely was for the patient. Near the stool were two more chairs. Right in front of the table were two rows of chairs, occupied by boys and girls wearing the white doctor’s aprons, which obviously were the medical students.
As the duo stepped towards the medical crew, the chief physician looked straight into Saarang’s eyes and asked him to sit on the stool and Rehan took the chair nearby. Saarang wondered, “How did he know that I was the patient, do I look sick indeed?” As he took his seat, Saarang noticed the doctor still looking deep into his eyes. The appearance of the doctor was capturing. Long beard and long hair too, neatly tied into a pony at the back, there were some greys here and there but his face was radiant and the texture of the skin seemed smooth and supple. The round thin framed glasses that were pierced by his sharp gaze, gave him the perfect look of a being with immense knowledge, skill and experience. As per the information Rehan had received, this professor was about to get retired in the next 6 months. But from none of the angles did he look that old. There was some kind of power in this man. It indeed was not mystical still Saarang sensed a kind of magnetism, sitting beside him.
The doctor asked Saarang about his complaints, in the meantime, he asked Saarang to let loose his shirt’s cuff of the right sleeve. He did, as was asked for. The doctor then started to feel Saarang’s pulse. Then he looked at Saarang and said, “Tell son, what brings you here?” As Saarang began to disclose everything, Rehan listened keenly, so that he could contribute if something is missed out. But as Saarang spoke, he felt that this man was not listening to him properly, rather he was lifting and pressing three of his fingers over Saarang’s wrist, as if playing a keyboard, and on the other hand, all those students who sat there jotted down every word that dropped out of Saarang’s mouth. Once the history taking was over, the doctor asked his students if they had anything to ask. Then one of the students turned to Saarang and asked if anybody in his family had any skin complaints either on the paternal or on the maternal side. The answer to which was ‘No’, as far as he knew.
Once all was done the doctor lifted his hand off Saarang’s wrist and asked him. “Did the lesions first appear on the head?” To which Saarang nodded. And then he asked, “You have more lesions on the lower limbs than on the upper part right?” Again Saarang nodded, and thought, “How did he know that, he never examined me.” One more question was popped by the doctor, “you had some skin problem in childhood, right?” Saarang was not sure about that and he started to recollect his childhood but he couldn’t dig out anything. Then the doctor came up again, “it’s ok if you don’t know, it isn’t that important. So, we would start the treatment; have you come prepared to get admitted?” Saarang was confused as the question came must sooner than he expected, he looked at his friend curiously. At this point, Rehan spoke up, “Sir, I’m sorry, but we are unaware about the ways here. But we would like to know if you could cure this condition.”