Amol’s wife entered Amol’s room to serve him breakfast. “Come on dear, take your food at first and do your work. Besides, I have more work to do. I have to go out for buying some essential stuff. You know that nowadays shops remain open for a limited time owing to lockdown to contain this pandemic.” She noticed that Amol is entirely engrossed in his laptop, not even aware of her entering the room and her speech is falling into a deaf ear.
Amol abruptly screamed at his wife, “Get out of my sight and let me do my work” and once more became busy with his work on his laptop.
Amol’s retaliation in such a wild manner clouded his wife, Bina’s mind with fear and his weird expression engulfed her with sheer amazement! She knew that Amol is a diabetic patient and suffering from this ailment for more than ten years. His level of anxiety increases his sugar level which is inversely proportionate and due to lockdown, he is much more stressed. Under him, more than twenty employee works and presently his business being badly affected due to lockdown, enabling his anxiety to mount up inordinately, which is instantly taking toll of his health, physical and mental, both.
Bina silently left Amol’s room without picking any fight with him. But, she became more concerned and worried about Amol’s health and felt utterly helpless. Afterwards, when she gained her due momentum, in terms of her mental state, which was being paused momentarily due to Amol’s rude behavior, she immediately contacted their house physician, who routinely check Amol and fixed an appointment on the very next day. Thereafter, she went out for marketing with a dismal state of mind.
After taking his breakfast, Amol was thinking about how the pandemic has hampered his business. Besides ensuring the salaries for the employees who are working under him, how he will manage the overall expenditure and what devise he would adopt to manoeuver this situation. He cannot figure out how to combat this abrupt adversity which he is confronting now.
Amol is my friend since my childhood and I know intimately how modest and the kind-hearted person he is. He is very helpful and compassionate to others and his sense of empathy and attitude towards people in and around him even draw our veneration. Today when his wife contacted me through phone and conveyed about the weird attitude of Amol, I too felt amazed and I thought of meeting him at my earliest and try to realize what actually the nature of problem Amol is facing and obviously I will try my level best to mitigate his distress.
Meanwhile, Amol is too thinking how abruptly she became rude with his dear wife, with whom she is enjoying a conjugal life of more than twenty-five years. Their only daughter is married off and enjoying a happy life. His misdemeanor with his wife is now buzzing in his own ears and he feeling extreme guilt for an act which he intended to perform in any pretext. His abrupt tongue is causing amazement to him too, as after taking his breakfast with citrus fruits and butter and bread and thereafter his daily medicines, as he is a diabetic, more than an hour passed, he is presently feeling a sweet taste in his mouth, which is utterly contrary to the acerbic tongue he exercised almost more than an hour back to his dear wife. He could not envisage why his mouth is filled up with utter sweetness and his words became wild and bitter! While ruminating about his sudden misdemeanor, he became more lonely and captivated in his own designed room, and a state of restlessness making him more uncomfortable. Gradually a sense of drowsiness engulfed him and he just leans into his table and lost in a short slumber.
“What happened Amol? Why you are sleeping now?” Bina, Amol’s wife asked after entering the room. She came after complying with her outdoor work and became more worried while taking notice of Amol sleeping untimely on his working table.
Amol suddenly woke up and replied, “No dear, I am fine. Just feeling a little tired. I am really sorry for my rude words to you in the morning.”
Bina replied, “You don’t have to feel sorry. I could understand your level of stress. Listen, I have already fixed an appointment with our doctor tomorrow morning. You must comply.
Amol at first tried to pursue Bina, “Listen dear nothing has happened to me. I am absolutely fine. You need not worry about me”, but, observing the shadow of resentment on Bina’s face, he agreed and replied, Ok dear, tomorrow I will surely visit the doctor with you”.
The next day the doctor checked Amol and expressed his deep concern for him. When Amol told him about his feeling of sweetness in his mouth, despite not being consumed any sweet food, the doctor immediately advised for certain pathological tests and quickly asked him to visit him with the reports at the earliest.
After going through Amol’s test reports, the doctor affirmed that Amol is having lung carcinoma, though not in a much-advanced stage, and assure him to be fine by taking medication. He advised Amol to take a rest and follow the rule as per his directions. Amol replied, “Look doctor, due to the pandemic we are forced to take adequate rest. what more is needed?” The doctor replied, “Listen, dear, as you are my friend, not being a mere professional, as a friend, it is my duty to make you aware of your alarming physical condition and you have to reduce your stress level which you alone can do. You have live longer dear. Besides, your sugar level is too high. So for the sake of you, your wife as well friends like us, you need to extend support to us, precisely me, so that I can keep you healthy for a longer period. You will surely be fine. Nothing to be worried about.” Amol replied, “Sure doctor, I won’t let you down.”
After returning from the doctor’s chamber, Amol became more reticent. His wife became more worried about him and conveyed the message to me along with the entire development about his ailment and health condition. I am nowadays too busy due to the ‘work from home’ being followed by the company where I work, and sometimes my work demand more time to be engaged. However, I have decided to pay a visit to his house by the weekend.
While Amol, after coming back from the doctor’s chamber, encapsulated in his own room and entirely engrossed about his ailment and how the level of sugar has aggravated the progress of aliment and caused detriment to his health. Suddenly he took the X-Ray film of his chest and intently observing the picture of his lung. His lung to him appeared as a tree along with its root and shoot which he imagined gradually facing death. Osmosis and reverse osmosis along with the human endeavor with pollutants and chemical fertilizers causing damage to the soil where the tree is standing upon. He is visualizing as if a tree, his lungs too are getting damaged and gradually becoming non-functional. He is feeling gasping in immense agony. He cannot fathom how the news of carcinoma abruptly affected him, and neither it has all of a sudden happened. Accidents only paved the way for further acquiring freedom which is inevitable. In search of freedom perhaps he abruptly breathes his last breath. One may intend to get what he may require at a certain time, which he may define as ‘Freedom’, but the inevitability perhaps nobody could get rid of and to fight against any adversity one may confront with what Chemical energy required to recharge one is truly a Mistry!
In the wee hour suddenly I found my phone is buzzing. I immediately attended and from the other side Amol’s wife voice I heard who in a faint manner delivered the news of his demise in a sudden heart attack which made me nonplussed! I immediately prepared myself to reach his residence. While taking notice of his face I tried to guess why he cannot Amol cannot bear the reality of his ailment which has appeared like an accident to him. He abruptly too escaped from the world of accident which we are accustomed to facing. I knew Amol out of his material entity which bears the testimony of certain unique quality which can distinguish him from many. But, from the world of reality to what realm of freedom Amol suddenly embarked I cannot able to gauge. But in our mundane realm, we will surely miss him. A friend like Amol suddenly become a friend of the past who was a friend indeed. But his abrupt demise certainly an obfuscating episode to me which I hardly could comprehend!
