THERE ARE GOOD DOCTORS

It’s okay, I suffered from some sort of depression. I had to go to a doctor. We chose a doctor too. I went to his house. It was quite a scene. The waiting room was full of patients. The verandas of adjacent houses were crowded with people. I had no prior appointment. I had to wait as the numbers were being called. A person accompanying a very young girl was helping her into the toilet. It’s not abnormal to see people shouting, crying, screaming, muttering or rambling. All were suffering from some kind of psychological disorder. There only I heard people talking about the doctor, a psychiatrist. And came to know that he does not take a single rupee for treatment and he sits there till he has checked all the patients. I was utterly surprised at this. The newspapers are full of stories about doctors who are responsible for the death of patients because the poor people could not pay them their fees, even in government hospitals. I entered inside. The first thing my eyes fell on was a beautiful painting of a woman. There was a bed for patients too. I really couldn’t believe that a doctor has kept two rooms in his house for the treatment of mentally ill patient, he spares his time for them, and doesn’t ask for a single pie. His only joy is his work, his desire to help people who need help, and also people who don’t have the capacity to pay the doctor. The patients who were waiting outside were talking about the doctor whom they considered God who never cares about money. I was astounded by the patience and love with which he investigated the cases. He sat there, writing prescriptions, advising the patience and often scolding them lovingly. Can anybody imagine that such doctors exist in a time when doctors have turned into vampires and sycophants who never care about a patient who cannot pays their fees. News channels and print media everyday report about doctors who have made it a trade and turned themselves into money-making machines. Innumerable people through out India die or suffer because they cannot afford the fees of the doctors. Do such people have the right to call themselves as doctors? They are insensitive Shylocks who wait for their extra pound of flesh because their greed and their wants are greater that human lives. Bur that day I felt humbled and thanked God when I saw a doctor treating people and reprimanding them with affection, treating them as his children and taking responsibilityfor them without any expectation from. He quoted from Engish novels and chanted poetry while writing prescriptions and pointed at the painting he had put up in his chamber. He was a philosopher in the guise of a doctor. May be he would be neglecting his family, may be neglecting his own health, but there was a joy of celebration on his face, the joy of giving and loving the larger humanity. God had given him an opportunity and he had made use of it. We are living in a time when no body cares about human values. People who swear that they would serve the people are later driven by greed and are transformed into blood-suckers. But looking at that man, I thanked God that still there are good people on this earth. The world is still made beautiful by the efforts of people who have compassion and love in their hearts and they never shirk from their responsibility ofspreading it. Such people make the world worth-living, they are the hope for the poor and the downtrodden.