As usual in the weekend i was out on one of my several missions which is sometimes shopping ,going for classes etc etc. and i boarded a rickshaw (I hate walking alone!!!) and was seated cursing the heat ,cursing why the rickshaw driver had to wait for so many customers.Obviously all questions were answered with "Myadam(Madam) mehanga padta hai sirf do logo ko leke jane ko(which means Madam its costly to take only two customers on a ride to the station) and i was like as if you are the only one whos affected by the inflation bug.There i sat all grumpy making faces when suddenly i heard someone asking the driver " Tumhi east madhe janar ka??"(will you go to the east direction?) and my driver all happy that he could pocket more money said a YES with all his excitement.I was least interested to even see who was boarding the rickshaw.Five minutes passed away and the rick still didnot move.I came back from my dream world and i saw that our third customer was someone special.
The fellow who had asked my driver was on a cycle with a kid(this was something which I could see from the place where i was seated) and i was like he has got a cycle why he needs a rick.The next thing that i see is he pulled his cycle ahead very close to my rick and a man just crawled in.I was shocked to see this fellow crawling in to the rickshaw.The sight made me felt weak.He had no legs!!.
Finally my "inflation bug infected" driver with his moron kind of smile started the journey.The second customer was an old uncle who was very much interested in our third customer.The third customer i.e the fellow who had no legs was someone in his early thirties and quite young.He introduced himself as Ramesh.Our uncle then started talking to him and I was also a bit more alert as to what they where talking.
Now the conversation went this way:
Oldie Uncle(Its justified to call him Oldie because his hair was all salt and no pepper.)
: what happened did u meet with an accident ? Where u a driver?
Ramesh: Yeah i was a driver but didnot meet with an accident.Got some kind of fever and the doctor gave me some injection which spoilt my life.
Oldie Uncle: What happened actually?
Ramesh: The dosage was wrong and it affected one of my legs and the doctor ended up cutting both.I have no relatives and by the time I realised i was limbless.The man who came to drop me is the only help i have
Oldie (in a defensive mood): You didnt file a case??
Ramesh :By the time we filed a case against him he just absconded somewhere.shut his dispensary ..Still no idea as to where he is and I cant move around in courts with this condition.
(My heart just melted ,as also i was super angry on that dumb idiotic doctor who did this to him)
Oldie:So now where are you going.?
Ramesh: I work in a school .I do all the petty jobs there and earn a decent income which is sufficient for me to live.I am Limbless but i dont want to beg or bother anyone.I have lost my legs but other body parts are still working fine enough to take care of myself.
By the time he said this ,I got down at my destination from the rickshaw.But that was an eyeopener.He just taught me a lesson which i would have never learnt if taught in a proper way.There are millions of people in our country and a considerable percentage of them beg ,borrow and steal for their income .Majority of them are fully well built with all their body parts functioning.If there would have been atleast 10 Ramesh's the condition would have been different.We sympathise on the handicapped people.Its not their inability that affects them,its our sympathy that makes them even more handicapped.And kudos to the institution who have created such doctors who spoil innocent lives.Hats off to the authorities of the institutions who take students on the basis of donation rather than merit...Do not worry your chance will also come. When you bring out 100 more doctors like this,you leave yourself with no other option than be treated by them.
Ramesh had so much enthusiasm,zeal to work and an undying spirit in him and his respect for himself which was commendable.That made me wonder what if he had both the legs.
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