A golden Ordeal by Hamsini Arya (read my book .TXT) 📖

brother. She had no clue how to visit the doctors here. Since the Tetanus shot could be be taken in the evening, after Arihant came from work, he took Mrigakshi to the emergency room at the hospital near their home. The nearest hospital was 10 kilometers away. Mrigakshi could not have gone there by herself, because she could not see any cabs in the vicinity, and she was not aware of the bus routes. The first thought that came to her mind was, 'How can one survive here without knowing driving?'

The emergency room had a long queue. They had to wait for an hour before their turn came. Arihant was famished. Mrigakshi could understand that. She was already crestfallen. But then, did she have a choice? Just when they reached home, after the hospital episode, she remembered, she forgot to take the keys with her. They were locked out. With her head down, she said meekly to Arihant, 'I am afraid, the keys are inside'. Arihant was tired and worn out. Without saying anything, he called up the supervisor of the apartment. The supervisor said he will be there in half an hour. While they waited, Mrigakshi did no have the courage to look at Arihant. The supervisor came and spoke something with Arihant. He opened the apartment door, and Arihant gave him 40 dollars. Mrigakshi asked Arihant 'what was the money for?' Arihant said, 'since we forgot the key and he had to come at his off duty hours, he charged that much.'

Days went by. Mrigakshi got absorbed in day to day household chores. She did not know how to cook. She googled all the cooking websites and started cooking. Initially, the food was horrible. Arihant was not at all happy with her cooking. There were times when he complained. It took her a month to learn cooking.With not a single soul in the neighborhood to talk to, she used to call her mom and talk for hours.
When the mailman came to deliver mails, she looked and read those word to word. The bill for the tetanus shot was 100 dollars. Rest was covered by insurance. Most of the mails were bills. Sometimes credit card bills, sometimes medical bills, sometimes house rent bills and sometimes telephone bills. After seeing the bills, she used to get astounded.She wished she could help Arihant with some financial support. She tried hunting for a job. Here, with her academic qualification pertaining to literature, she was getting calls only for Admin jobs, which she had no interest. For school jobs, a certification was necessary, which called for a course of two years, which called for educational loan. Mrigakshi did not want the burden of any loan on her or Arihant's shoulders.

Just a year later, Isa came to their lives. When Mrigakshi was expecting Isa, Arihant had to go to Geneva for three weeks. Arihant and Mrigakshi had planned to call Mrigakshi's parents for six months so that, post delivery, they had family support. Unfortunately, their visa processing did not work out and they could not come. For three weeks, with her pregnancy reaching the 25th week, Mrigakshi could not sleep. 'If any emergency popped up, who will take care of me'? They had Indian friends, but none near their home. 911 will defintiely help. But then, there were no friends or family members in the vicinity Her only rescue was her 'Almighty'. Her prayers worked..Fortunately, everything was fine . Arihant arrived from Geneva. And, on the due that,without any complication, Mrigakshi delivered Isa.

When Mrigakshi came home from Hospital with Isa, the house was upside down. Arihant was busy getting stuff for Isa and winding up hospital formalities. Mrigakshi was drained, weak and famished. Carrying little Isa in her arms, she put Isa in the crib, Thankfully, Arihant had kept the crib ready. Isa was fast asleep. Mrigakshi dragged herself to the kitchen, put some rice in the rice cooker and boiled some lentils. Arihant looked haggard and worn with all the leg work. With all the sleepless nights and running around, Mrigakshi and Arihant had dark circles underneath their eyes, both of them just hoping and praying to get some sleep. After they had dinner, Mrigakshi told Arihant to sleep in the other room, lest Isa woke up and disturbed his sleep. After all, he had to go to work the next day. With the stitches in her body, sleep engulfing her eyes, she had just lied down on the bed next to Isa's crib, when Isa woke up and started crying. Mrigakshi dragged herself up, carried the crying baby, fed her and while she was feeding her, tears rolled down her eyes . Mrigakshi cried and said 'Maa, I wish you and papa had got the visa. I wish you and papa were here. How am I supposed to raise an infant all alone.?' While she fed Isa, she thought , after feeding Isa will sleep. However, Isa did not sleep a wink that night. Mrigakshi carried Isa to the living room. Her body was weak and some parts were writhing with pain with all the stitches and medicines, yet she carried Isa because the moment she put Isa in the crib, Isa would start crying. Mrigakshi could hear Arihant snoring in the adjacent room.

With every passing day, all Mrigakshi longed for was some rest and some sleep. She did not want to disturb Arihant's sleep because he had to start his day at 6 every morning with a bunch of stress full work at workplace. She used to long for saturdays when Arihant used to take care of Isa . It was only on Saturdays that Mrigakshi got two long hours of sleep in the afternoon.

Isa's doctor's office visits were a nightmare for Mrigakshi. WIth Arihant unable to take leave, Mrigakshi had to take Isa for vaccination doses all by herself. When Isa was 5 months old, the pediatrician asked Isa to pick up some toys. Isa was nonchalant. The pediatrician told Mrigakshi to observe Isa carefully. he said that Isa has not reached the milestone which a 5 month old should reach. Mrigakshi's brain went through a whirlpool of worries. She came home and googled all the websites pertaining to children's growth. At 5 months, what is a baby supposed to do? As per the details given on the websites, Isa, actually did nothing. She did not snatch objects. She did not make eye contact. Mrigakshi felt a chill down her spine. When Arihant came from office, Mrigakshi told him all about what the doctor said about Isa. Arihant coolly said, ' Every child grows at a different pace. Let's give Isa some time.' Every time at doctor's office, Mrigakshi had to listen to some or the other thing about Isa's growth. Arihant paid a deaf ear to all those. Mrigakshi used to worry day and night about that. She ended up suffering from Stomach Ulcer due to stress. When Isa was two and a half years old, she started going to a play school in the neighborhood. Just after a week of joining, the teachers called up Mrigakshi and said, 'Isa is not at all social. She talks in monosyllables. She needs 'speech therapy' and counselling sessions.' Mrigakshi was taken aback. She told herself 'My daughter is not a special child. Please God, this can't be true'. She rushed home with Isa. Isa used to understand whatever Mrigakshi and Arihant told her. But they failed to understand, why is it that, in school, she does not respond to the teachers' instructions. With all these woes and worries, Mrigakshi spent time googling all about kids, their growth chart, and all kinds of diseases in the world. She became a hypochondriac. With every passing day, Mrigakshi felt, she was not well and she was suffering from some terminating illness. Every Saturday, she sought appointments with doctors. Sometimes for ear check up, sometimes for eye check up, sometimes for headache and so on. Arihant was puzzled. He did not know what went wrong with Mrigakshi. Everyday, after he arrived from office, she used to talk about Isa's growth, what complaints the teachers gave . During dinner all Mrigakshi used to talk was, about her ill health. Arihant got seriously concerned about Isa and Mrigakshi. He thought if Mrigakshi got engrossed in some job, she would feel good. However, Mrigakshi was not willing to leave her daughter in a day care after school, and work.
A year after, Arihant decided to move back to India, primarily, because he felt Mrigakshi and Isa needed a change. After moving back to India, Arihant and Mrigakshi bought a home close to their parents' home. Mrigakshi joined a college as a lecturer of literature. They hired a full time maid to take care of the house hold chores and a full time driver for office/school/college commute. Isa loved her grandparents' and cousins' company. The first Parents Teachers Meeting in Isa's new school in India was certainly not what Mrigakshi had expected. She was anxious because she thought Isa would be lagging behind in studies, in sports in socializing, and the teachers will suggest counselling and therapy. But, to her surprise, the class teacher said, ' This kid is super intelligent. The lessons in text books tend to make her feel bored. Hence she used to keep quiet when we used to teach her alphabets and numbers. She knew all these way before. She wants to learn something new. Hence we want you to put her in a senior grade now. She will love it there. The principal and the school teachers ensured that Isa's double promotion was a boon for her. She excelled in studies, sports and music. Mrigakshi's day used to start with hindi songs, stories from Isa about her school and end with her telling a bed time story to Isa and a beautiful song to cherish.

After all these years,today, when Isa is getting an award from the President for her trailblazing research on medicine, Mrigakshi's ordeal abroad still seemed like yesterday. She never thought that Isa would actually be Dr. Isa and would be getting a coveted award right from the President.

Just then, Mrigakshi's phone rang, It was Isa. She was screaming on the phone. 'Guess what Mom?' Mrigakshi was perplexed. She said ' What baby?'. Mrigakshi shouted, 'My application for the the Andrews School of Medicine has been accepted. I am going there for higher studies.'.'Andrews is one of the best schools of medicine in the entire world. Mrigakshi did not know what to say. She said sounding excited ' Congratulations Baby'. After Isa hung up, Mrigakshi mumbled to herself, 'I don't want any more torments.Life abroad is not only about beautiful infrastructure and pollution free day to day commute. All that glitters is not gold. God, take care of my baby. Do what you think is best for her. Please..no more golden ordeal abroad please....'

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Publication Date: 06-24-2017

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