Of Leaders and Losers - 2. Diagnosed with cancer – So what? I can fight it- Part II

      (contd from the previous post)

       Sundari felt a lump on her chest.  She thought it was just some inconvenience.  Her younger son’s final year degree examination were fast approaching.  She thought she’d wait for Ravi’s examinations to be over, before she paid attention to her problem.

                                        
                               

Dr. Rani advised a biopsy and the result was positive.  Sundari was a very helpful being so many relatives and friends shed tears, lamenting that she did not deserve such a harsh treatment from the Almighty.

Sundar and Sundari’s elder son, Ram, was away in the U.S.  He offered to give up his job and assist his father.  But the problem was with cooking.  Neither Sundar nor Ram Junior (let’s call him that way, to differentiate him from his grandfather) was good at it.  So, they decided to go to Chennai, where they had relatives to help them out.

Dr. Raj visited the family on the day of Sundar and Sundari’s departure to Chennai.  ‘Don’t worry, Mrs. Sundari will be well’, he told Sundar.  ‘Your mother will return healthier than she is leaving today’, he told Ram and Ravi.

* * * * * * * * * *

Those were the days when information was not available at the click of a mouse.  Sundari took a leaf our of her sister-in-law’s book.  She too maintained her equanimity.

Ram, the Senior, had jotted down important slokas of the ‘Aditya Hridayam’ (an invocation of the Sun God, said to have been recited by Lord Rama Himself) which, he believed would restore his daughter-in-law’s health.  He had told her, ‘Sundari, please recite the slokas whenever you are up to it.  I’ll pray for you everyday, but if you can recite them even once in a way, you’ll be at peace’.  Sundari never forgot what Ram Senior had said.  She could not recite those slokas regularly, though.

The treatment started off with chemotherapy, and in a few days, Sundari found herself bald.  The oncologist assured her of hair renewal.  But it took some time for a traditional Indian woman to accept her head without its strands of  silver.

‘My sister-in-law is taking ayurvedic treatment.  She’s better now.  Why don’t you try it?’ suggested a friend.

‘No, thanks, I’m  happy with the treatment’.

Ram Junior discussed his mother’s condition with a doctor friend of his.  ‘It’s pretty precarious’, said his friend.  ‘It means the disease is in its third stage’.  The son was worried.

The mother wanted to be as active as possible.  Though she gave up cooking for the time being, she wouldn’t sit idle.  She would arrange the racks and do other miscellaneous work.  She kept herself cheerful  and spread cheer around her.

During her evening walks in hospital, she would make it a point to greet other patients she came across.  ‘You are in the best hospital in the country.  You are in the safest hands.  So you will go home healthier’, she would say to them. 

During her hospitalisation she became friends with one Aparna, who was the mother of two girl children in their early twenties.  In the initial days of their acquaintance, Aparna once told her that her elder daughter’s wedding was fixed with a famous orthopaedician of her town and was worried that her treatment would delay the wedding; she often wondered whether she'd be able to give her best for her daughter.

One day, Sundari found Aparna in tears.  ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be well’, Sundari tried to console.

 'I’m not crying about my health.  My daughter’s wedding is called off’.

‘How’s that?  Did you not tell me he’s a doctor?’

‘Yes, I did.  During one their talks, he had asked my daughter whether I was the only cancer-afflicted person in our family.  She had told him that both her paternal aunts were also survivors of this disease.  This morning, we were informed that our daughter ran a higher risk of cancer, and therefore the alliance was being called off'. 

Sundari was shocked at human pettiness.  She consoled Aparna, ‘What if he had known about it after marriage and then decided to dump the girl?  I know how painful it can be, but after a few days, you’ll thank your stars.  A person who’s driven by possibilities does not deserve to be your son-in-law.  You and your sisters-in-law did not have a family history of cancer but you all were afflicted.  It looks like the boy has gained only knowledge to treat but lacks a humane heart, which is also essential for a doctor’.  Aparna felt better, at least for the time being. 

Sundari would do the prescribed exercises (post-mastectomy) regularly, without anyone having to push her.  Sundar stood by her and took all the stress, but encouraged her.

Sundari’s hair started growing but she had seen the worst – it did not matter at all.

As Dr. Raj had assured Ram Junior and Ravi, Sundari returned home healthier.  She had survived with faith in the God and her doctor, a positive attitude, and, of course, the best wishes of near and dear ones.

* * * * * * * * * (to be concluded)