“Ok, so where is this place anyways?” Samir asked his dad.
“It is close to Thane, on the central line.” His dad replied.
“Mumbra, hmmm. I have never heard of the name dad.”
“Well, it’s a very small town. But the best part is we are getting a place to rent and it has a lot of potential for the business that your mom is into.”
“All right, I hope it does well. Mom will have to travel a lot. Don’t you think?” Samir, asked with a lot of concern.
“Yes, that’s right, but we have no other choice.” His dad replied with an exasperated tone of voice.
His mom had moved her business; the business by now had gone really down. To pay off some of their debts they had even gone to the extent of selling off some of their machines and repaying the debtors. The main intention now was to get rid of the burden more than expanding their business. The place they had moved to was another town, which is about 50 km from Bombay. It is a very small town in the Thane district of Bombay. Thane is famous for its Jail. Almost 80% of Mumbra’s population consists of Muslims. It is also well connected with Bombay by roads and of course the local train. One of the famous places in Mumbra is Mumbadevi; it is a small temple on top of a mountain. A mountain, which is famous amongst rock climbers for their escapades. With the help of a contact, his mom had got a place for a very cheap rate for rent. However, the contact of theirs, Abdul, generally referred to, as Chacha, meaning uncle, was an old swine who duped his mother. He took more than Rs. 100,000, got them some fake investments and ran away. He had promised some investments, and some schemes to help his mom get rid of her debts, which were all fraud and fake.
Much later, they came to know that he was associated with a few more people who were into scams and the CBI was looking for these people. Eventually he cheated Samir’s mom and had disappeared.
Nevertheless, his mom managed to get this place on rent where she was hoping to establish herself again, even if it meant that she had to travel a lot more. By this time the pressure was rising, even though they had managed to pay a lot of people off. They still had many debts to repay. Things were not getting any easier, especially after they were duped of the money and suffered huge losses.
Samir was in college by this time, he had been struggling to settle down in college but to a certain extent, he was able to manage the studies, in spite of the K.T’s that he had. It is a term called, A.T.K.T, which means you are Allowed To Keep Term. So if you don’t clear, let’s say three subjects this year, you will be allowed to go to the next year, however, you have to clear those subjects the following year to pass that successive year of college. As usual, he was terrible at math, and that was a subject where he got a K.T. At the same time, his father was trying to get in more resources in order to get rid of their debt. They tried to sell their Andheri apartment, yet in these years, the apartment had not been sold. They did not get a single customer to fetch a good price in order to get a good deal. A deal that would get rid of all the debts at once. They had also cut down on unnecessary expenses, cable TV, eating out, unnecessary shopping and the likes. There were times when Samir kept thinking, when, when would there be a change in his life. He hoped that times would change and life would be different. There were moments where he felt like escaping all the misery. Go some place where he would find his peace of mind. He felt like they were in a situation that had no resolution. Everyday was like a bad day at a job. It felt as though, he had seen it all. Nothing else mattered to him. There was nothing more to lose. Now you might wonder what else could happen. Even I felt that, when Naina was narrating this story to me. That is when; another twist happened in his life, like a hurricane, the faster it arrived, the sooner it left.
“Where are you going?” Samir asked his dad with great curiosity.
“We are going to meet this person who has a small apartment in Mumbra.” His dad replied while he was putting his shirt on.
“Mumbra, why do we need an apartment there?” Samir was confused.
“Well, it’s really cheap, plus it will reduce the amount of travelling your mom would have to do. Besides your uncle has to relocate to this apartment in a few months, so anyways we have to find a new place to live.” By this time, his dad was almost ready to leave. Samir’s mom was already waiting downstairs for his dad.
“B… But dad, you are not feeling well. You look pale,” Samir said with a worried look on his face.
“Yes, I know, I had gone to the doctor. He has given me some medication, don’t worry. I will be all right. With that, both of his parents left to go to the railway station.
It was a Sunday afternoon and his parents had gone out for about four hours. Samir was getting bored. After studying for a while without being able to concentrate on the boring digital electronics book that he was reading, he decided to listen to some music on the radio. He went out in his balcony, sat on the reclining chair and started listening to his favourite channel 107.1 FM. By now, he was a regular to all the programs that played on the radio station and knew exactly which radio jockey was slated for which slot. He was listening to the radio for hours and did not realise how time flew by. It had been a long while and he had not moved from the chair at all when all of a sudden the doorbell startled him.
“Who is it?” He asked curiously, as he was lazing outside in the balcony.
“It’s us.” His mom replied from outside, she spoke loudly.
When Samir opened the door, he saw his mom and dad standing outside the door and they seemed to be really exhausted, especially his dad. He could see that his dad’s eyes were red and his face was pale, much more than it was in the morning. He went in the kitchen and got some water for his parents.
His mom said, “Let’s have dinner.” With that, they finished their dinner and went to sleep.
Samir woke up the next morning a little after both of his parents had gone to work. He lazed around for a little bit, listening to the radio and reading the newspaper. At about 9:00 AM he went to college. That day was boring at college. He attended a couple of lectures for electronics and microprocessor programming, which was a real torture, especially since the lecturer could hardly speak in English and most of the times did not know what he spoke about. Besides that, he used to make fun of his students and insult them very bad. Samir used to keep quiet and be careful so that he did not attract the professor’s attention. After the lectures, they had practicals for C programming and dBase iii+. DBase was Samir’s favourite subject at college, as he knew that subject since he was in the fourth standard, and the lecturer was good at teaching the subject and gave many opportunities for the students to participate and had an interactive way of teaching, rather training them in that subject. In one of the lectures, she had challenged the students to come up to the podium and give a seminar on a particular topic that she had covered on that day. No one but Samir accepted that challenge. He demonstrated excellent presentation skills and explained his learning to his fellow students as if he was the professor himself. Overall, at the end of the day, Samir was satisfied with his day at college, even though it started on a boring note.
Once he was done with his college, he headed back home in time to catch up the 4:00 PM show on the radio. So he thought of listening to the radio for a couple of hours until his dad came home. Once he got home, Samir knew he would have to study and there were no two ways about it. After a while, Samir looked at his watch and realised that it was 8:00 PM and his dad had not yet come home. He was so deeply engrossed in listening to the music, that he did not bother to look at the time nor step outside and realise it was dark. So he wondered to himself, “Why is dad late today? He usually comes home by about 6:30 in the evening.” He decided to call up his mom and find out if he had tried contacting her at her shop, since there was no telephone at home.
“Mom, dad has not come home yet, do you know where he is?” Samir nervously asked his mom when he called her on her cell phone.
“Yes, Samir, I know, I’m with him. He is in the hospital.”
For a moment, Samir stopped thinking. He panicked as usual and his heart started beating fast.
“H…Hospital? What happened? Is everything all right? Which hospital are you at?” Stammering with intense nerves, he asked a series of questions.
His mom told him that dad’s condition had worsened and his stomach had swollen. They had taken some preliminary tests and were trying to diagnose what he was suffering from. His face looked pale and his skin had become yellowish. So far, the symptoms hinted at jaundice, but nothing was clear yet. In his youth, Samir’s dad had suffered from jaundice once. It was the worst time for him, as he could not eat anything, never felt like eating and hence had lost a lot of weight. Apparently, it might have resurfaced. They did not know yet.
A few days passed by and his dad was still in the hospital. Samir and his mom used to take turns to stay at the hospital. Sometimes, Samir’s uncle, his dad’s brother used to stay along with Samir. So far, the tests had confirmed that his dad was suffering from Hepatitis. It is another form of jaundice, a very deadly virus that if not treated at the right time could prove to be fatal. The Govt. had started creating awareness to prevent yourself from this virus. Unfortunately, Samir’s dad had not vaccinated himself, as it never occurred to him. Samir hoped that his dad got well soon. Thankfully, they did not have to worry about the medical expenses as his dad had a government job, and they were covered for illnesses like this and did not have to pay for the treatment. A lot of relatives and family used to visit Samir’s dad often. Samir used to stay at his uncle’s apartment with his another cousin and his aunt in Chembur. As soon as Samir finished his college, he used to directly head to the hospital to stay with his father at night. During this time, the doctors continued their tests and hoped to get his dad recovered as soon as possible.
“Did you have breakfast dad?” Samir asked concerned of his dad’s health.
“Yes, I feel like sleeping for a while now.” His dad replied with a feeble voice and lay on the bed with his eyes closed.
Samir sat next to him and started studying but hardly was able to concentrate. His thoughts troubled him constantly and he was worried about his dad’s condition and could not see him in that state. Slowly he got used to studying at the hospital. Even though the atmosphere was not the best, the peaceful surrounding helped him gradually to concentrate. Finally, Samir passed his exams to move on to the final year of his diploma in computer engineering. Yes of course, he had KT’s in second year as well, but the most important thing was that he reached the final year somehow.
On a Saturday evening, Samir’s mom came over to the hospital. She told Samir as she entered the ward, “You can go home now.”
His mom had just finished work and came over to stay with dad at night. That is when Samir left as he saw his dad sleeping peacefully. He went to his uncle’s apartment, had dinner and was watching television at their apartment, something that he had lost touch with for ages now. After enjoying a nicely prepared dinner by his aunt, Samir was feeling drowsy as he was watching the television and he decided to hit the sack. That is when he heard the phone ring. His mom had called. Even she had finished her dinner and she wanted to find out if we had dinner.
Samir’s aunt had put her on the speakerphone so all of them could talk to her.
“I spoke to the doctor today; he said that he had some test results.” His mom said and then took a long pause.
The pause made Samir curious and he quickly asked, “And…?”
There was silence… He asked his mom again, “What did he say?”
She held her silence for a bit and then slowly stammered, “Ca… Cancer”
“He has cancer of the liver.” Live cirrhosis, they got to know it as later, caused by advancement of the Hepatitis.
Samir was totally shattered. He was speechless for a while and it seemed as though there was vacuum all around him and he could not hear himself breathe. He did not know what to say. It was as if his brain stopped functioning and time stopped completely for him. His world was devastated and once again, it seemed as though nothing around him mattered. It felt like whatever he had seen so far was just a beginning and the pileup had just begun. The silence in the room was the worst he had ever experienced. He felt emptiness, emptiness filled with desperation and he plunged into complete darkness. A darkness that flew across his head. His mind was completely blown away and he was running towards a sea of nothingness. He had no knowledge of what was going to happen.
Slowly, reality sunk in and gradually Samir realised, “This is it, can this be for real? How can this happen to us. This is not fair.” First Samir was hoping to turn the clock around and change all of this. Slowly he started to think of the future he was looking at. He began to understand, yet again, there was little he could do about the situation that they were in. They still went for second and third opinions and consulted a few more doctors. Everyone realised that this was going to be a difficult time for all of them. Samir now felt isolated. Now he probably realised what real isolation or solitude was all about. It became difficult for him to imagine, what next.
The hepatitis was diagnosed at a later stage and that lead to the cancer. Hepatitis is a kind of a disease that is caused by a virus, which attacks the liver. Since, it was undiscovered for a long time it complicated into ‘liver cirrhosis’ which meant that the only option in this case was a ‘liver transplant’ One day, one of their relatives came over and told them that there was a doctor at Jaslok Hospital, Peddar Road. He had treated a similar case before and was successful. Thus, they decided to get him admitted in that hospital.
The word ‘Cancer’ is a terrible word in itself. More than anything else, the word is psychologically overwhelming. It sucks away all the hope that you have for the person whom you love the most. It feels like nothing is going to change. When you know that, it is in an advanced stage, it is like fighting a war, already lost. You may win a few battles, but not the war. The suffering, one has to undergo is in itself an upheaval besides the mental struggle. Nevertheless, hope is such a strong catalyst that it pushes anyone to go to extents that you would not go otherwise. With that hope, they admitted Samir’s dad to the hospital, hoping for the best. With the help of a recommendation letter that they got from one of the doctors from B.A.R.C hospital, they were able to get the treatment covered for in this hospital as well. Thanks to that, they saved themselves several hundreds of thousands of rupees.
“Yes, I’m studying real hard papa.” Samir said to assure his dad.
“I’m doing really well and the exam is a cakewalk for me. Trust me.”
It was another Saturday evening. After his college, he had gone to the hospital and had planned to be with his dad over the weekend. Usually Samir, talked to his dad a lot whenever he came home from college. He used to find it interesting to talk to his dad about the new subjects that he learnt at college. He found the knowledge he got in college from some of the subjects very fascinating and he felt like he was going through an intellectual metamorphosis at this stage of his life. As his dad was a scientific officer and specialised in physics, Samir had learnt many things from his dad. Things that he found very useful in his college even though art was his first preference, he did enjoy Physics as well. Many conversations that he had with his dad revolved around science and philosophy. He remembered the time when his dad took him for a ‘stargazing’ exhibition, which helped him learn about the solar system. It gave him the opportunity to get a glimpse of the Moon, Jupiter, Mars and various other astral bodies. In addition, he thought of the time when his father had bought him the world book encyclopaedia. It gave him all the information, which today’s internet gave us.
While at the hospital, he thought of all these times he had spent with his dad and imagined where he would have been without his support. If it were not for his dads dedicated involvement in Samir’s studies, he would have struggled to reach where he was at, now. He remembered those times when his dad used to sit with him to coach him on Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English and Math of course. By far, he was the best coach ever.
“He has to go through dialysis.” That is what the doctor told Samir and his mom. His condition had worsened by now. He was only on liquid diet at this stage. He was in the ICU of the hospital. Generally, the hospital did not allow anyone inside the ICU. They allowed only one person to stay in the hospital; however, that was in a small dormitory above the ICU section of the hospital. Everyone who had patients as their friends, family or relatives stayed together in that dorm. At this time, even Samir’s mom was admitted to the hospital in B.A.R.C as she was suffering from Malaria. This hospital was in Anushaktinagar, where Samir’s dad was previously admitted. Now once again thanks to the government job, which he wanted to quit for the sake of Voluntary retirement once, they were able to get cover on his mother’s expenses as well. Everything happens for a reason and destiny has a way of telling you the strangest things in the strangest of manners. However, it also meant that his mom had to be away from his dad for a week or so. Samir stayed with dad for that entire week, all alone in the hospital, with frequent visits from his family members. At the end of the week, they discharged his mom. Although, she had not fully recovered, she had enough strength to make it to this hospital in time for the dialysis that was to be conducted.
The dialysis was successful; however, his dad was exhausted and looked completely drained out. Later, Samir’s mom asked him to go to her friend’s place at Mumbra. This woman, Farzana, was helping mom to manage her shop. Next morning Samir had to go to college, submit all the pending assignments, and then go back to the hospital to relieve his mom.
“Let’s go,” said Farzana.
“Where to?” Samir asked, looking a bit astonished.
“We have to go to the hospital.” She replied.
“I just came from the hospital.” Samir said, now he was even more surprised. Probably she wanted to see mom or she had some intuition, that is what he felt. So, he went with her with a confused look on his face. They went to the hospital again, going through a tiring journey, a local train to Byculla and a bus from Byculla to Peddar road via Hajiali. Yes, the mosque we all know that is built in the middle of the sea. Looking at it from the winddow of the bus Samir prayed to Allah, “GOD, let this all be over soon, please. Let peace be back in our lives once again.”
Once they reached the hospital, Samir saw his mom with other relatives in the lobby. So he asked her, what happened, she would not say a word. Once again, he asked, “What happened, tell me.”
“It’s all over.” She said with a despair look on her face. That was the time when Samir felt numb.
He knew deep within his heart, that it was probably a good thing for his dad because, he saw him in so much of pain everyday. Samir’s biggest phobia after what he had witnessed his dad go through was the fear of pain when one dies. Slowly, Samir went into the ICU, where they had kept his dad’s dead body. He did not know how to react. He went into the ward with his mom and grandmother. As soon as he entered, he saw his dad with his eyes closed. By now, they had taken off the saline, the needles and the bandages were gone. He was wrapped with the white sheet used at the hospital. That is when he saw something dreadful and it stayed in Samir’s memory forever. There was a container, a medical apparatus, sort of a beaker. A beaker that was filled with his dad’s blood. At leas a litre of it. Samir tried to make that image disappear, but that never happened. Once again, Samir had a tear in his eyes. March 12th 2001, a day that he would remember his entire life. He did not know if that was the last time he had shed a tear, but in his heart, he was ready. Ready for the future unknown, for in his heart he thought he was strong.
Child of the Windd
I hope all of you like the book so far! For the rest of the book… Keep watching this space and this book will be soon out on paperback. You can also contact me at:
Email: srini2k7@gmail.com
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Child of the Windd 