Journalism of Courage
Past midnight,a stretcher zooms into the corridor of the hospital,and a group of panic-stricken people rush to the elevator. The five-minute ride in the lift to level 4 is full of moments of chaos,but one consolation that awaits the group in the 8X12 space is Haridas Videshi Das’s comforting words. The lift operator at Kotabagi Hospital,Aundh has been soothing frayed nerves of people hit with catastrophes. And patients at the Hospital vouch for Das’s encouraging words.
A week after a nightmarish midnight accident,22-year-old Padmaja Dandekar who is still recuperating says,”I was semi-conscious,in pain,panting heavily; everyone around me was crying and was panicky. Das was the only calm soul around,who said to me,’These look like minor injuries,don’t be tense as that will worsen the condition’. Those words of his came as such a relief,” says Dandekar.
Mangesh Shantaram Ghanekar,a lift operator cum ward boy at Ratna Mem orial Hospital agrees. “A blend of both can ease people’s tension. It is not just the mental turmoil but also the physical pain that should be taken care of. Injuries can happen while shifting patients into the lift. For example,if the oxygen cylinder’s angle is not maintained,it can malfunction. So is the case with saline. A little jerk and the needle’s position can shift. We are of course trained to handle all this,” he adds.
And very often these small acts of kindness and comforting words,act as balms for their own souls too. Das who has been steering wheelchairs and stretchers into the lift of the Kotabagi Hospital for the past three years took up the job after retirement to keep himself busy after the tragic death of his daughter’s and wife. Today,he feels this job is the only respite from the barrage of mental turmoil he underwent after the death of his loved ones. ” When I took up this job,I was still mourning the loss of two loved ones and to add it,I had just taken retirement. The empty time that I had was killing me,” says Das. “After coming here,I realised that my plight was nothing compared to the many people who come here. Recently,there was a family who lost three members in an accident. One five-year-old met with an accident and sustained head injuries. Whenever I see all this,I realie joys and sorrows are a part of life and one needs to accept all that God gives,” he says.
