Stand by the hands that heal you
EVERY morning is a mini marathon for me as I shuttle between my son’s routine and my own. I have never felt guilty that I don’t spend the first half of the day with him; that’s because my job is fulfilling and gratifying. As a child specialist, I get to meet a lot of children, and these encounters give me solace. My work may not be glorious, but it is a wholehearted effort. Work is worship, and also a safe haven.
Sometimes, it’s baffling to see how no other profession is subjected to such disrespect. Do we beat up our tailor for getting our measurements wrong? Do we abuse our chartered accountant if our income tax returns are not filed in time? But doctors are subjected to all kinds of assault — physical, mental and now sexual. The one unfortunate thing that remains common is the gender of the person at the receiving end of the whip; women have to bear the brunt all the time.
Things haven’t been the same ever since a doctor was brutally raped and murdered in Kolkata. And I don’t think they will ever be. That girl could be me or you, and this thought will always cross our minds whenever we are on emergency duty, in the evening OPD or on late-night rounds. The hours won’t be filled with excitement towards recovering patients and devout prayers for the ailing ones; instead, there will be a sense of doom, a constant fear to look over our shoulders because our system has failed us.
These men only see our skin; our hard-earned white coats have failed to hide our physicality, because that’s what we are for these cannibals — just flesh and bones. Nothing else matters to them, neither whether we are on duty nor our education or background.
The solution to this lies not in covering our bodies, shunting us inside because it’s dark outside, not speaking to men because a few may be predators. It’s about shutting the eyes that see us in a demeaning manner, and assured security at the workplace, no matter what hour the clock is striking. It’s about instilling a strong sense of fear of the consequences in the potential offenders. It’s not about women or men anymore, it’s mankind vs monstrosity. We have not been able to save our girl child, we have failed to safeguard our women; at least stand by the hands that heal you.
When they said, ‘Betiyan sab ke muqaddar mein kahaan hoti hain, khuda ko jo ghar pasand aaye wahaan ki kali hoti hain,’ they didn’t realise that ‘ghar ke bahar wale bagh mein beti khil nahi sakti’.