Will see it through, a day at a time

Rajesh Sharma

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Whenever faced with a moral or philosophical dilemma, I always tell myself that ‘One day in proper time, I should know’, a line that I once read in The Hobbit.

I eagerly wait for Sundays, as all other days are spent in the midst of students and patients. I always wish not to have to make a didactic lecture on Monday, lest Sunday is invested in preparing for the same. How people live alone is really difficult for a family man to understand. Even more difficult is to understand those meditating in jungles or in the mountains. To me, meditation is a dialogue with self, as and when required. Deeper meanings belong to the realm of philosophy.

Going to temples or similar places of worship is a habit with most of us humans, exceptions apart. But what to do in times, like the present coronavirus pandemic, when it is practically wise to keep places of worship out of bounds. The pestered gods must be in peace. No desperate worshippers seeking undeserved favours.

Following the lockdown, a 1,000-bed hospital where I teach, is an eerie place. Only the wing where new life is born is witnessing the usual activity, reassuring that come what may, life will go on. To be without regular human surroundings came unexpectedly. There are no patients in the wards. There is only preparedness to receive more potential patients undergoing quarantine at other places.

The super-specialty building is now home to a few patients having corona infection. What must be going on in the minds of those isolated? What thoughts come to doctors caring for these patients? What must be the strain like among the on-duty nurses, as also the supporting team rostered to isolation? What goes inside the mind of a person when physically and mentally strained — be it a patient or caregiver?

Some young colleagues are exhausted mentally and physically. A young resident is quarantined for attending to an infected patient. Another one with symptoms is being tested for. Today, when people are expected to stay home, it is time to have a dialogue with self. How many of us will do that? For some time now, the approaching date of superannuation had prompted me to indulge in the idea of formal meditation, but the times being what they are, all retirement in the department stands deferred.

Something like driving along a switchback has happened in my professional career and I need to do my calling. Meditation can wait. To all those staying at home, I make an appeal to have a dialogue with self. It will help. One day, the troubles will be over, but the unexpected isolation from crowds should be put to constructive use. Remember, ‘One day in proper time, I should know’. And so should you!