Being to hospitals in big cities, I rarely saw any commotion or anyone crying there. But making rounds of hospitals in small towns where rural patients come, gives a completely different picture.
The other day, near the elevator I saw three women sitting on the ground and one of them was crying while the other two consoled her. One of them said something like "theek ho jaitan" (he will get well) which indicated that the crying woman's husband was hospitalized. Now, the woman's wailing was heart wrenching. Standing there for a few minutes while the elevator reached the floor, it felt like universe had stopped and the woman's grief-stricken cry was the only thing to matter. It is said in Hinduism that women can get salvation merely by being faithful to their husbands (pati-vrata) and this woman's wailing left no doubt about it. The woman crying for her husband's wellbeing was the saddest and most touching expression of love ever possible.
And then I heard a woman crying for her child. It was a young boy hospitalized. Surprisingly, I have seen many boys being brought to the hospital down and injured on a stretcher, perhaps they fall down from a height or touch electricity wires and get burns. I can't make out what they suffered from, but from the wounds and bandages all were accidental cases for sure. Again, the woman's cry for her child was something I had never experienced before.
Such experiences from the rural world can't be gained in a formal and cosmetic environment of the palatial big cities. It is a side reaction of living in a small town. Life is fragile and emotions are high. Things and sentiments are raw and pure.
- Rahul
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