"Tu idhar aaya kyun?? Tu chala jaa " (why did you come here??go away)
I, the quintessentially mild-mannered , soft spoken final year medical student, was reeling under this unrestrained barrage of orders from ........hold it.....a THREE YEAR OLD child in the hospital ward! It was the day of my Paediatrics exam, where the child was allotted to me as my exam case. Ensuring his complete cooperation & examining him to get hold of the underlying pathology was of immense importance , as it was the duty of the student himself to win over a child, and also complete the huge patient history-cum-examination sheet within a span of a meagre 40 minutes! No excuse would hold in front of the examiner if the child didn't comply ; it's certain that you are going to be in the firing line as a communication failure with your patient!
Desperately, I tried to plead with him , bringing out small toys and chocolates , that I had brought with me! Well, he took one glance at the models of birds,elephants,crocodiles, and threw them away , saying "nahin Chahiye! Tu ja ....avi ! "( I don't want ! Go away....immmediately)
He only seemed interested in my stethoscope , but after a brief trial period of handing it over to him, I retrieved it hastily, since it was too much to withstand the attempted pulverisation of my beloved stethoscope by a devil of a kid! This led to even more indignation on his part, and he started making such a huge fuss about it , that the whole ward was filled with his wails!
I was at my wit's end as to how I would escape failing my exam, and I took out my handkerchief from my pocket to wipe my sweaty brow. My dream of graduating to become a doctor was in major jeopardy and I was on the verge of giving up to destiny, accusing God for his misjudgement in handing me out such an ordeal. As I stared down upon the smiling face on my hanky, I got the shock of my life as the face appeared to wink at me. Before I could recover from the unbelievable event that happened , I found that the child had stopped his crying and was staring curiously at my handkerchief .
His eyes lit up , his facial expression changed . I had no clue as to what was so interesting about my white handkerchief , that just had the smiling smiley :-) painted on it.......out of curiosity , I extended my handkerchief to him, and he grabbed it with urgency , laying it on the bed . A radiant smile spread over his face; he was actually hooked on to the smiley on my handkerchief . Tentatively , I asked him " you want it??" He was amazed at my generosity , and I was amazed at the transformation that a smiling face had brought !
Rest of the time,he didn't make a single problem , and allowed me to examine him fully,enabling me to pass the exam!
I could bet my life that before I turned away from the patient bedside , I saw the face on my handkerchief wink at me yet again. It was such a massive turnaround of events that I understood, I met God , face to face, before handing Him over to the little kid. I hoped that he would soon recover from the illness he was suffering , courtesy the divine piece of clothing that he became the owner of!
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