The unfairness of it all
He was a bright little boy who grew up in a small town in Kerala with stars in his eyes and aspirations of leading a good life.
He was the first born of modest, simple parents who made a living making garlands for deities in temples. They were people who grew up in temple precincts with absolute faith and conviction in their Creator.
He grew up to be an extremely conscientious, reasonably educated, salaried employee in a private organization. He was extremely well-read and passionate about Malayalam and English literature and loved having long intellectual conversations with like-minded friends. Through it all, he retained his humility, simplicity and good breeding. He was a soft spoken, mild mannered family man with a loving wife and a little daughter he adored.
His and his parent’s dreams came true when he bought a small home in the town where he worked, and it was with great pride that he arranged for his ageing parents to give up their modest temple work and shift permanently with him.
Thus they were living a peaceful, happy, predictable life until one dark day when life decided to punish them brutally and senselessly, with a finality that seems to be beyond justice or reasoning.
It happened during the last week of March. He was returning from some official work and was riding pillion in his colleague’s bike. They got unexpectedly delayed and so it was rather late in the night. It happened in a flash, he was thrown on the road and his head hit the median with a brutal force that blacked out his senses and his brains, but not his heartbeat....his heart was still ticking.
He was rushed to one of the biggest and the most reputed hospitals in the city, in a coma. The verdict was passed – he will remain a vegetable for the rest of his life unless a miracle intervenes. He remained thus, in a vegetative state and hooked to the ventilator in the ICU for almost two months. Just a week ago, he was discharged from the ICU and was taken to a normal room. The surgeons took a part of his brain and stitched it in his stomach saying they will fix it back if and when he gets normal. Sounds weird I know. I am not clear about that either.
Anyway, he, who was once a tall, good looking young man in his late thirties has been reduced to a skeleton, devoid of any movements, except for an occasional blink of the eyes. The hospital authorities have asked his shattered family to take him home since there is nothing more that medical science can do.
He was my cousin’s ‘intellectual’ friend, the guy with whom my cousin used to indulge in long philosophical and literary conversations that used to stretch late into the night. My cousin diligently visits his friend everyday and recounts the same sight that greets him on all days. A pair of dead eyes vacantly stares ahead—with occasional blinks—totally oblivious of my cousin calling out his name or touching his fingers or his forehead. And other pairs of tearless eyes belonging to his parents, his wife and his little daughter stare at every visitor—searching and silently pleading—though their eyes and their souls have died with his, there still remains a glint of hope in their stare. A few days back, my cousin thought he saw a ‘mysterious’ look in his friend’s eyes. My cousin was excited; was his friend trying to tell/ask him something, was it some sign of recognition? The excitement died soon enough when he realized he was just imagining.
Surprisingly, the family’s faith in their God, whom they have unflinchingly served and worshipped all their lives, remains strong and intact. Being the simple, loving people they are; they do not hold any grudge against Him for mercilessly crippling a good life of their beloved. They continue to pray hoping for a miracle.
PS – Can any of you readers suggest some hospitals/doctors/methods anything that can possibly revive a man from a vegetative state to some degree of normalcy?
