Insomnia

The time is 2.28 a.m & I do not have the slightest inclination to hit the hay.. Is it my sudden change in lifestyle or a general apathy towards discipline puts me in suc awkward positions.My parents obviously are appalled at the thought of their son staying up late and for no plausible reason.I don't blame them.

Okay I think I figured out what it is...I've been busy helping out my aunt who just got an operation done at the local hospital.I hate the hospital now but i guess I might reserve that for another post.Anyway, so the two days I saw my buaji in the hospital ward,I had a number of revelations.Just next to her room, an elderly man was admitted the very same day. Apparently he had his leg operated upon for soem infection.Now to be honest I was not so much concerned for his general well being as for the  discomfort his prescence might cause to my aunt. (They were to share the same washroom for the night) So through some general conversation with the gentleman's family, I reminded them of the potential problem.

The night went by peacefully, barring his constant screaming and coughing that kept my aunt awake most of the night. Naturally I was irritated thenext and couldn't wait to get my aunt checked out of the hospital.As we checked out, I was the last one to go, collecting all the medicines and knick knacks left behind.While I was about to leave, I snapped at the man's family, blaming them for my aunt's lack of sleep. There was a third lady today accompanying the gentleman.The answer she gave me will probably remain with me for the rest of my life.

The man was a farmer from Khunti, one of the suburbs of Ranchi.He had come to the city to get medicines and apply for a routine check-up for his wife.At the OPD center he had met this lady who needed a bone marrow donor for her 5 yr old daughter. Since nobody was willing to help her out, she approached the CGHS centre at the hospital.they too at best offered her a subsidised operating fee from the doctor's side.But that still left her without a donor.Desperate she somehow appealed to this man for help.And he obliged, even though he knew nothing about except the reason why she needed the bone marrow.

This man a farmer, who was probably the only bread-winner for his family agreed to an operation that may possibly render his right leg weak,or worse...And why?? For a  stranger??

In a country where literate people kill each other for petty reasons, here was the greatest irony of them all- An illiterate man risking it all to save the life of a "stranger's" child.All I could do at that point was apologize. As I came up to the car,my father kept akiing what took me so long. What could  I tell him? I had no answer.

"Truth is stranger than fiction" Every word from this oh-so cliched proverb makes sense to me right now. And yet even as I lie awake in my room, typing away, I cannot help but wonder about how our life is built upon the choices we make. I wonder what is going on in the minds of the man's family..In some strange way,I believe it is God's will that I stay and ponder on the events of the day. And suddenly, insomnia doesn't feel weird anymore.......

I guess I got carried away a bit.But its been an emotional 5 hrs for me after that conversation.I hoped to narrate this incident to the world, for those who care.I hope I did justice to the same.

Peace.