Ram Bharose

Trust me…but that’s how we are living!

Don’t get me wrong here, I am a patriot but now ‘des’ is getting to me!

Rewind!

I had the most amazing week in Delhi, the only thing wrong with my vacation plan was the time frame. Swine flu is on the rise, and airports could not be a party.

I reach home, and develop some sort of an irritation in my throat. The ‘significant other’ being significantly paranoid starts thinking on the lines. Calming him doesn’t help, I got a little scared too!

We go to bed, me with a sore throat and him with a heavy heart. We toss and turn and hope for the morning to be normal. It isn’t, my throat has worsened, I have started to sneeze and paranoia has spread.

A call to the boss, saying the vacation hasn’t ended yet and a call to our mentor gets us on our feet. We scout out, to get ourselves tested. The ordeal begins, most probably I don't have it, but what if I do?

In our country it’s better to be safe than sorry. I mean really, 33% of India would get infected in any case. And that’s a sorry figure I must say!

I start calling hospitals, some bang my phone like I am speaking Latin and some shoo me away like I said a word they didn't recognize. Sorry I must say!

We find out that there is just 1 government hospital that has the kits needed with them, so we hurry before they get over. If you’ve forgotten am ill, but then am fighting… . It’s a shady place with a 2 hour line, people with masks and panic all around. To top it all, the local media are there to cover it. I am on TV today, I swear I didn’t want it this way!

After a long wait, even if I didn't have fever yet, now I do. Even if the ‘significant mine’ was absolutely healthy, he feels an itch in the throat. We worry more just to hear from the doctors that it’s nothing and that they are not going to test it after 2 days “if need be”. Why? Cuz’ they basically don’t want to waste the kits so fast!

Is it our fault that we can afford the treatment in time but the hospitals don't have the facilities to support us?

For all those who worry, I don’t think it’s that…it’s just a throat infection. But what if it was or if it is…after all we are all living “Ram bharose”.