The Last Wish

“Dr Sandhya, the patient in ward no. 31 wants to meet you.”

“Me? But why? Why does she want to meet me? I think she is under Dr Astha’s observation.”

“Yes, Mam. But she wants to meet you. Moreover Dr Astha is on a vacation to her home town and in her absence her patients are entrusted upon you.”

“Fine. I will go and meet her.”

Curious about the patient in ward no. 31, I decided to check her details in the patients’ register.

 

Ward No. 31
Name: Mrs Urvashi Ganguly
Age: 82
Place of Residence: Singhania Old Age Home, Kolkata
Diagnose By: Breathing Problem and Mild Heart Attack

“So Mrs Ganguly, how are you feeling today?”

I must admit being the age that she was, she still was the second most beautiful woman I had ever seen. First best was, of course, my mom. Mothers will always be the most beautiful people of the earth for their kids. Leaving aside my mom, I could not help but notice her slightly wrinkled but radiant skin.

“I am feeling good.”
Saying this she gave me a smile. I don’t know about you but I had never seen a smile more refreshing and innocent as her. I did not know octogenarians had such a sweet smile. While I was busy in admiring the lady sitting before me, she continued,
“You know what, dear, I feel today something incredibly exciting is going to happen.”

Incredibly exciting. I found this word quite interesting.
“Incredibly exciting? What can be incredibly exciting in a hospital? ”, I asked sarcastically.

“Well! That is the problem of today’s youth. You guys are so much in a hurry that you forget to look at the small but worth looking for gifts of life. Incredibly exciting is a very relative word. For an event to become an incredibly exciting one you just have to believe it to be so. I can say meeting you can also be termed an incredibly exciting event.”

She smiled.

I am an admirer of people who can talk and not just talk but talk in such a manner and grace that you are, before you can even realise, completely bewitched. I believe if anyone can captivate you with their talks in an instant they are kind of people you should hang around with.
And in this case I was captivated.

“Anyways, Mrs Ganguly you wanted to meet me; any particular reason for that?”

“Oh! Yes! Sorry I completely forgot about it. I want you to contact my son and tell him that I am in your hospital and I want to meet him.”

Silence. I was appalled. I could not think of anything to say. I continued to stare. Blankly.

“What happened? I know you guys are quite busy and have a very tight schedule but I can’t do this myself. Firstly because I don’t own a phone, secondly, even if you allow me to access your phone, I would not be able to talk to my son.” Pause. “I-I-I will be sobbing and I know that.”

A tiny tear beamed in the corner of her left eye. Thinking for a while, she continued.

“I know what is going on your mind. You must be thinking that he sent me to the Old Age Home and so he does not care about me anymore. But I know him; he must be repenting. After all, he loves his mother a lot. I just want to give him a second chance. This is his phone number.
Will you help me?”

Observing the disagreed looks on my face, Mrs Ganguly confessed.

“You see Dr Sandhya I am getting older day by day. Death is approaching. I am not at all afraid of it, but I just want to see the face of my son, my grandson, my family before I die; Even if it is for a minute or so. And then I can die peacefully.
This is my unfulfilled dream and I want you to help me fulfil it. I need someone to call my own when I will be on deathbed.”

Having said all this, Mrs Ganguly could not stop the tears anymore. She took out a photo from the covers of her pillow and showed it to me.
The photo was of a middle-aged man along with a really cute baby boy. Looking at the man I envisaged him to be an executive in some MNCs.

Pointing to the middle-aged man Mrs Ganguly said,
“That is Sandip, my son and along with him is my grandson. Isn’t he cute?”

The photo brought back the smile on the face of Mrs Ganguly. Memories alone, in their best form, could make you smile anytime.

Suddenly, Mrs Ganguly looked at me, thinking for a while as to figuring out what to say next.

“So, will you help me?” She blurted out.

Sigh. I could not help but agree.
“Is he here?”

Three hours past the time I called Sandip, this was the 101th time that Mrs Ganguly has asked me this question.

Yes. Sandip had told me that he would be visiting his mother today.

“No. Not yet.”
I replied for the 101th time.

The entire hospital staff was rejoicing. And why should not they be happy? After all, it was the homecoming of a son; Reunion of a mother and her child after 7 long years. We were about to encounter a happy ending to this prolonged story.
And you could not help but notice Mrs Ganguly beaming with joy.

“Sandip will be here in a moment or so. He is such a charming boy and he loves me a lot. We had some issues in the past but I am sure hearing about my illness he would leave all his work and would come running and would embrace me. And who knows bahu will accompany him too. You know what my grandson, Mayank, would be 7 years old. He was such a cute brat. I don’t know how he would be looking now.
Whether I would be able to recognise him or not? Whether he would be able to recognise me?
Oh Sandhya! I am so happy. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.”

“Mrs Ganguly, your son told me that he would be here by 7 in the evening. It’s just 5.30 pm. Please calm down.”
I said reassuringly. I was more concerned about her rising blood pressure pertaining to all the excitement she was dealing with.
But Mrs Ganguly was not concerned about her health today. She knew that embracing his son after 7 long years would act as the best medicine for her.
She was getting more excited with each passing minute. Her eyes were constantly glued to the door. A slight sound and she would think her son is here. If she would hear any footsteps in the corridor, I could see the growing expectations in her weary eyes of her son coming.

But as hours passed by, her joys started diminishing. I could see the hope in her eyes slowly dying. We all knew in our own mind that Sandip would not come.
The hospital that was beaming in joy some hours ago had turned gloomy again.

“It’s 10.30, Mrs Ganguly. You must go to sleep, now. I think Sandip can wait till morning to meet you. If he comes we will ask him to wait while you sleep.”

“No, Sandhya. I will go to sleep but you need to promise me that you will wake me up as soon as Sandip comes. It’s been 7 years since I have seen my son. I don’t want our reunion to be delayed even for a moment more.”

“Fine. I promise I will wake you up when Sandip comes.”

She smiled to me. But, this time the smile was different. I could feel the weariness of her entire journey of life in this smile. She was tired. Tired of waiting. Tired of hoping.
All these years she was alive, hoping that one day her son would return.

Today that hope died too. I saw it dying in her eyes. Mrs Ganguly did not cry. She refused to take her medicines. She just wanted to close her eyes and rest.

As, I was about to leave the room Mrs Ganguly called out my name and asked me to sit with her for some time before she sleeps.

We did not talk. Uttering Thank You, Beta in a very low voice Mrs Ganguly gave me a smile, held my hand like a baby and went to sleep.
She seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Sandip did not arrive.
The next day, as I was making arrangements of Mrs Ganguly’s last rites, I received a message on my phone. It was from Sandip.
It read,
“I am sorry I could not come yesterday. I wanted to but an official dinner was suddenly planned. I had to attend to that. I would be visiting Mom this Sunday. Convey my message to her.”

“Your mother died while waiting for you last night but of course your official dinner was more important than her.” I replied.

After about an hour I received a phone call from Sandip.

“Hi. I am Sandip. Mrs Ganguly is my mom. Am I talking to Dr Sandhya?”

“Yes. I am Dr Sandhya.”
“Sorry. I was in a meeting, so saw your message now. Well, so when are you guys planning the last rites to take place?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? But I would not be free tomorrow. Could not we do it today? Akansha, my wife, would also be free from her kitty parties today. So, what do you say?”

I wanted to reply. But for the sake of Mrs Ganguly’s departed soul I silently disconnected the call.
Sandip did not attempt to call me again.
I guess he must have become super busy again.

“Dr Sandhya, who will perform the last rites of Mrs Ganguly on behalf of Mr Sandip?” Nurse Swati asked me.
“I will. The son who consider official dinners to be of more importance than his ailing mother has no right to perform the last rites of her.”

__END__