THE SILENT CORRIDOR : AN ADDRESS FROM THE HOSPITAL BED! –Creative Composition by Kunal Roy

History is always repetitive by nature. A couple of years ago I was admitted in a city hospital after complaining on the excruciating abdominal pain! The immediate medical attention helped me to survive! Malicious pancreatitis wreaked a havoc in me. The memory still manages to haunt me in the lonely hours of a summer afternoon.
Years rolled by. The waves lashed against the shore. And once more I was admitted in the same city hospital after the doctor advised me, owing to a sharp hike of the creatinine level. Since a couple of weeks my health had not been fit and fine. There a sort of discomfort in the stomach. Foods taken were spewed out. Nothing could be digested. The water balance was disturbed. Realising the gravity of the situation, I consulted my physician to tide over the problem that seemed not to leave me at ease!
Last Tuesday the whole medical procedure was conducted smoothly. From the emergency to the ICU, where the treatments followed including some of the painful medical tests. It was an “unexpected halt”. A change in the scenario. A shift from the general codes to the pent up feelings! However, I didn’t lose my nerves nor reduce to a bundle of nerves. The physiological ambience was gradually getting stabled. The creatinine level dropped. The vomiting stopped. I could take the food and pills without any further complain. There was no increase in the level of mercury. And after an immense discussion I was shifted to the general ward in the afternoon, two days later! Yet the process didn’t stop. The medical attention was given on some equal measures! Situation improved. The doctors visited, consulted and reached the conclusion of my release!
In this entire span there was not a single thought that would trigger me to follow an off beat path. I sharply observed the surroundings and its people. They cracked jokes, laughed and enjoyed their assigned tasks. The staff attended me, talked to me and left no stone unturned in keeping me safe and sound!
Some of my colleagues rang me up to talk at length on my welfare! My younger brother visited me every day to keep a track of my improvement. Really he took care of me and managed the other sectors with perfection and efficiency. Besides, one of my cousins visited me for a short while after he received the news of sickness. But most of the relatives didn’t enquire of me. Though informed they took the matter to be petty and therefore didn’t attach any mode of importance to the whole. The whatsapp text was absent too. In place of mental stimulation, there were empty and baseless advices!
There was no tinge of loneliness. I discovered the men and women sharing an amicable bond with each one of us. But I missed my home, my bed, my inspiration and my lovely pet! At times I simple fail to fathom the prime reasons behind such repeated health hazards! They are more of an embarrassment than an eye -opener! Every time a new story is woven, much to my dismay and discomfort!
I fight my own battle and this time was not an exception. Monetary issues cropped up, but were resolved in an unperturbed manner.
My days on the hospital bed aided me to understand life from a different perspective.

Gratitude to those who helped me breathe afresh under the potean sky! It was a break I believe, from the conventional nods rather than an unforeseen punishment! And once more the known faces, the known surroundings as I gradually feel to be healed from within!!

– Kunal Roy (Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Communication, George Group of Colleges, Kolkata)

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