Dammu went and sat next to her and started moving her
hand up and down her back. The woman seemed have become little pacified by
Dammu’s silent action.
After a few minutes she wiped the tears which were
running down her weak cheeks. Yes, the lady was very weak. Nammu Aunty and I
were standing opposite them.
“Now tell me, what is the crying for? Are you happy to
see me? Or are you unhappy that you saw me again?” Dammu asked in a casual
manner. There was a tinge of teasing in her voice.
That lady turned to Dammu and hugged her. Then she said,
“I am sorry that I was rude to you when I met with you in the cancer hospital.
God punished me for making fun of your artificial breasts!” her voice choked
again.
“Oh, come on! God gave me the original. Then the breasts
were removed due to cancer. Now I am wearing the artificial breasts. You told
the truth. But why you are feeling bad?” asked Dammu.
“Damayanti, I have been diagnosed with pancreas cancer”
said the old lady in a low tone.
I felt pity for her. Nammu Aunty had become very dull.
Dammu was her usual self. “Hey, you are saying as if you have common cold! Do
you know it is very difficult to even reach the pancreas for any treatment? But
you should not worry. Your son and daughter adore you!” she said.
The old lady seemed to have found her voice back. She
nodded affirmatively.
“See, you have no worry in life. Your contacts are good.
Meet some doctor who could give you some pain killers which help you to
overcome the pain”
“You are right Dammu. I am one of those lucky ones. I am
in fine hands. The kids treat me very well; I am being treated by one of the
best oncologists. Of course, the grandchildren are making me feel like living
for some more years. That is anyway not possible. I am just waiting for the
call from HIM” she said and pointed her right point finger towards the sky.
“See Nammu, do you call her lucky that she has loving
people around or unlucky because she has very less time to live?” Dammu asked
looking at Nammu Aunty, but holding the pancreas cancer affected old lady
lovingly with her right arm.
Nammu Aunty was just watching the pair. I felt I knew
what she was thinking. One lady has all the love in the world which Nammu Aunty was deprived of. Her children treated her like rag. They
simply are not caring to even communicate with her. So sad! The other (Dammu)
was mentioning that she was pregnant. But what happened next... still not known
to us.
The other lady smiled looking at Dammu’s face. “I still
feel bad that when I learnt that you had cancer, I showed off that I am fine
without any problem. But now I also have cancer” she said.
Dammu still was patting the back of that lady. “Don’t
worry, you know very well that cancer is curable nowadays. It is not like olden
days when a person was diagnosed with cancer, it was almost like writing that
person’s death sentence!...” Dammu looked at Nammu Aunty and said, “Like I
said, if we come to know about the symptoms of cancer in early stages, cancer
can be cured. I hope that the educated people give courage to the uneducated by
teaching them about cancer. I have seen a lot of ladies succumbing to breast
cancer because they are shy to go to even a lady doctor!”
Nammu Aunty looked as if she is learning new lessons.
The other lady said, “Damayanthi, I want to you to meet
some people who are sitting there.” I could see a few old men and women sitting
and chatting at some distance. “In fact,
it is a club they have made bringing together people of this area who share the
same taste” she ended her talk with a dry smile.
“Oh, is it a laughter club?” I asked, since I had seen
some clubs like that.
“No young man! Cancer affected people’s club” she saidW h
No comments:
Post a Comment