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As
far as I could remember, it might be the month of November
'04. I arrived at school on a Monday, at about 11 a.m. I
saw a few students and one or two teachers crowding near
one of the rooms on the ground floor . News spread that
our beloved Bahadurda was critically ill. As time ticked
by, there were more students and more teachers enquiring
about Bahadurda's health. I rushed into the room and saw
Bahadurda lying almost motionless. He was gasping and
having serious breathing trouble.
An
ambulance was called in. He was immediately taken to
Baranagar State General Hospital. Condition did not
improve. Next day he was transferred to R.G.Kar Hospital.
Bahadurda was taken to the 6th floor of the new building
and admitted in the general ward.
It
was here, I met Narayan. On the second day after he being
admitted, I went there to inquire of the frail bahadurda's
condition. This particular ward is a large room with a
wide corridor. The room was packed with patients. Some of
them were lying on the floor. Some were groaning in pain. I
saw blood dripping from a patient's temple.
I
spotted our beloved Bahadurda lying almost unconscious in a
bed placed at one corner just beside the door. No sooner
had I reached near Bahadurda's bed than a man in his mid
thirties came near to me and greeted me with a smile. He
was wearing a whole T. Shirt and a loose trouser with his
tummy bulging out a bit. He introduced himself as Narayan
Sardar. He then turned to Bahadurda and called out "Bahadurda
open your eyes, see probably your sir has come ". I
saw the fragile frame of bahadurda with a wizened face. he
seemed to be very weak. he opened his eyes laboriously and looked at me. He muttered ' This is Gautam Sir' . I
saw Narayan keeping an eye on each and every patient of
the ward. He was alone managing so many patients - giving
medicine, injection, fitting the saline tube, placing the
patients head in right portion. He always maintains a
smiling disposition.
He
is the ward boy there with fair amount of knowledge of the
preliminary medical care - acquired more by experience
rather than anything else. On my third visit to Bahadurda,
I came close to Narayan. He told me that he lived in
Sodepur and is a temporary worker at this ward. I saw him
fitting a blood a flowing tube to a patient's body.
Narayan eyed me and told " Wait, I am coming".
He was attending to other patients lone handed. I saw him
how patiently he was attending to patients with different
problems. He managed time from his busy schedule and came up to me ' Sir
Bahadurda is improving, he will be
released within a day or two, do not worry'". -
Narayan flashed a smile. That day he talked more than he
had talked before. He said, " I am a casual worker
here, I work from 8 am to 8 pm on no work no pay
basis". For Bahadurda only, one of his trouser
pockets was stuffed with prescriptions and the other with
the money the school authorities gave him. He always kept
a clean account of the expenses he would make.
During
the conversation he told me - " Sir, I requested
doctorbabu to give such medicines that are available in
the hospital store as buying too many high priced
medicines from outside will be a costly affair. Bahadurda cannot
afford to spend so much". Narayan put one hand on
Bahadurda's head caressing his hair. Then he moved on to
attend the other patients. Bahadurda was finally released.
He was all praise for Narayan. Without his earnest effort
care, love and tenderness Bahadurda would be have come
sound so quickly. We whole heartedly praised the moral
support Narayan gave to Bahadurda. We were really glad to
have our beloved Bahadurda among us.
Now-a-days we hear doctors, nurses, attendants being accused
of negligence - an age where one can experience the
erosion of moral values in every walk of life, a mere ward
boy like Narayan is certainly an exception. He deserves
our plaudits.
Comments
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Narayan
Gautam
Banerjee stays in North Calcutta. He teaches English
Language in Ashokegarh Adarsha Vidyalaya. He likes to read
newspapers, magazines, periodicals, short Bengali-English
stories etc. He also likes outdoor games like football and
cricket. 