Mute witness to four deaths

Chapter 4

Death is the only inevitable eventuality of life. Rest all is fluctuating but not death. You can call it destined. I have seen many deaths in my life. The first was the death of two old women a floor below in my rented one-room flat of 49 A Kamla Nagar. Both the women were in the last phase of their life. In fact just waiting for the last moment. One was the mother of the landlord Pt Ramdev Sharma, a retired State bank employee and another was the mother of his wife who was living with them. They were dragging on because they had no choice. Nobody heard them talking. It was a pathetic sight.

The daughter-in-law of the family was a doctor in a government hospital. One day, we heard that both the old women died in their sleep. It sounded mysterious. Neighbours were talking in whispering tones. It turned out that both were strangulated by the lady doctor. The bodies were hurriedly taken for cremation. And the matter was over. It was my first introduction to death. I felt scared for some days but soon overcame the whole incident.

I was living with my grandparents. They were getting old. Had indifferent health. I got them admitted to Irwin Hospital which is now known as Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital. There I came across a friendly young doctor Rajiv Lochan who went out of his way to have them treated. Nothing serious was diagnosed. The age was against them. Soon they were relieved and returned home. We had a homeopath doctor Goyla in our locality. We started his treatment. He didn't charge any fee but kept a coin box on his table. It was left to the patients whatever they wanted to drop in the box. I even dropped a base coin to save the good one. It was fun and trick both. My father had an immense faith in that stream of medicine. Also because, we couldn't afford the costly alopathic doctor Raghuraj Kumar Bhatnagar. Whenever homeopathy didn't work as it was a slow process, I opted for Bhatnagar. He had a smiling and friendly face.

Soon the grandfather's condition started getting deteriorated. No medicine was working. Every evening, when I used to return from my school, I would apprehend, he might have been dead. I didn't know how the death comes. I would get nightmares. About its arrival. I was told that Nigambodh Ghat at Yamuna bank was the final destination. One day, I decided to visit that ghat. I saw many pyres burning. I sat near the one which was left unattended after the cremation rites were over. I sat near the pyre to overcome my fear. I found, the burning body was harmless. I returned home with a calm mind.

When the whole family realized that nothing could be done about the grandfather, he was left to himself. The worst part was cleaning him as he was able to move out of bed. This job was left to my father. He did it reluctantly. It was a pathetic situation. I started wishing that he should kick the bucket. Perhaps he heard my silent wish and one day he was no more. I sat on the floor near his body and sobbed. My cousin Mahendra had also come on hearing his news.

We all went to Nigambodh Ghat. My father lit the pyre. And the father went to Garh Mukteshwar to immerse his ashes which were picked up from the cremation ground. After his death, my grandmother became a lonely widow. She had the moral support of her husband but a widow is looked down upon and left to fend for herself. But I was very close to her. I paid more attention. But she was fast losing the will to live any more. She also went in the same fashion. First to Irwin, then to Homoeopath and then to cremation.

Ironically enough, both my mother also met the same fate at the hands of his daughter-in-law as she has treated her own mother-in-law. It was a vicious circle of Hindu families. May be all families. That is, the old age homes have become better option. But we could neither afford nor reconcile to it.

I saw more deaths thereafter in the family. The most tragic was that of my elder brother-in law who was my classmate at Hansraj and I was instrumental in fixing my sister's wedding him. Unfortunately, he developed some mysterious ailment when he was only around 50. I gave him the best of treatment at PSRI and many other hospitals. But his condition kept on deteriorating. He went into a coma. The doctor gave up all hope. They were charging a bomb every day. The family was coughing out money but for how long. The doctor suggested euthanasia. Everyone looked at me. I checked with my sister. She in turn threw it back at him. I told the doctor to pull the plug.