Will COVID-19 also take away humanity?????

22^nd May 2020

05:00 PM

I left the home on bike to go and pick Deepak. We had planned to go out to distribute kits to the Banjara community leaving in a basti near Jalgaon. As soon as I came on the main road, I saw a young girl (14years old) lying on the ground and a women crying beside her. There were few people around them but nobody was willing to go near her due to fear of COVID-19. I stopped and went near them to check what happened. The girl was being hit by the bike few minutes ago, the people who hit her ran away. There was no injury but the girl was unconscious.

Since then her mother was trying to get help but nobody even bothered to stop. We tried to stop cars but nobody stopped. There was even a car passed by which has a emergency services sign of medical shop. Looking at me one man on the bike agreed to let her sit on his bike and came with me to the doctors. But the girl was unable to get on the bike, people were mute spectators (I guess yesterday I saw few more Nero’s Guest) I somehow tried to pick her up and succeeded in getting her on the bike. I went ahead to call out the doctor. I waited for some time for the bike to come but they didn’t came, so I went back to check what happened. The guy had brought them to the other clinic but the doctor didn’t even bothered to open the doors and asked him to take her to the civil.

The girl was trying to vomit. She had eaten a sachet of Guthkha. I asked her to walk few step and went back to bring the doctor. The another doctor came and looked at her and advised her to take to the CIVIL hospital. Between the other guy who had brought them on the bike had vanished from the spot. The girl was lying again on the road. I had no time to wait for an ambulance. I called my friend Deepak, to check what we can do. Currently we have an Omni Car at our office, given by one of our supporters to distribute relief material. We decided to take her to the hospital in our car. I asked the mother to stay put and I will come back in 10 minutes. I went to get Deepak.

Meanwhile I had called my friend Honaji Chavan, who is currently working as a Public Relation Officer in G.M Foundation. (A trust by MLA Mr. Girish Mahajan, specifically working to provide medical relief). He told me that as currently CIVIL hospital is working as COVID relief center, we had to take her to the Godavari Medical, which is around 20 KM from Jalgaon. But meanwhile he asked us to bring her to the another hospital to have a basic check-up.

We got the car and went back to realize that the girl and mother was still at the place where I had left them and again there was a crowd of mute spectators. Deepak and I picked her up and put her in the Car. Honaji Dada has reached the hospital. We did basic check-up and started for Godavari. Meanwhile the girl had vomited in the car. But she was bit conscious now. After inquiring I realized that they are from Samata Nagar (A community where we run Anandghar), So I called one of our teacher. She told me that the girl and her mother lives near her house. The women is not mentally stable so as the girl and a elder son. They do not have any relatives and lives on their own.

We reached Godavari. They admitted her in the Casualty ward. The interns told her that it is necessary to take Chest X-Ray. Before going to Godavari hospital Honaji Dada had took a referral from CIVIL hospital, so that the treatment will be free of cost. But still the doctors asked us to pay Rs. 300 for X-Ray. Honaji Dada called the medical coordinator, who said that we need to pay only Rs. 150/- but meanwhile the receipt was generated and we have been told that now they cannot do anything. After wasting around half an hour they asked her to shift to the surgical ICU. She again vomited on the stretcher. She was not keeping the hand steady. In the ICU they asked us to take her back for the CT-Scan. There was no ward boy, so we drive the stretcher to the CT-Scan Unit just to see that there is a lock on the door. Deepak and Honaji went back to get the boy. They somehow managed to find the guy who said we have to pay Rs. 2000/- and said that referral from Civil will not work. Now we were furious. It was already almost 2 hours since we had brought her to the hospital. Deepak directly called the District Collector and asked him to talk to the head of the hospital. I called Mr. Anil Bhokare Sir, Deputy Director of Agriculture Department. He also called the head. From then things moved really fast. Immediately the bell rang in the room. We have been told that the whole treatment will be free of cost. The other guy asked me to go back to the counter  and take the money I had paid for the X-Ray. The guy who was unable to give back money earlier, immediately gave me the money back. Post this we got all the support and help from the administration. 

Now the girl is getting treatment in the hospital. The coordinator from Honaji Dada’s organisation is permanently stationed in the hospital to help others is now looking after the girl and the mother. She is stable now.

It was 10:00 PM when we reached back Jalgaon.

(I also have to mention our friend Kunal and Yogesh Dada who were with us till we left for the Godavari hospital from the local hospital.)

But this whole incidence raised many questions. Its true that the poor is the sufferer in this whole pandemic. They are silent, just watching painfully the inhuman treatment from others. In how many years we will be able to finally create a better health care facility for the poorest and weakest person of this country so that they can get a treatment without referrals.

Yes, we had reference and we could use them for the girl. But what about the million others?

Also, whats wrong with the society? The Corona has become a Taboo now. You can debate on whether we should call it ‘physical distancing’ or ‘social distancing’ but it for sure have created a ‘distancing of hearts, humanity’. We all are reading news about how migrants are dying on the rail tracks, near road, collapsing on the footpath. People are literally dying in front of our eyes. But nobody is willing to give a helping hand. Guys it is better to die while helping rather than watching someone die from distance like a coward.

You might have heard about Pulitzer award winner Cavin Carter and his famous photo ‘Vulture and the Girl’. He clicked the photo of the vulture waiting for a malnourished girl to die from distance. When someone asked what happened to the girl. Cavin had no answer. Because he had left after he clicked the photo. Filled with the grave he soon committed suicide.  We all know the story but don’t learn from it.

The Gandhi has once said that, 'we should think about the poorest and weakest person we may have ever seen in our life and ask ourselves will he be able to take control of his own life. In other words will it lead to the ‘Swaraj’ for the millions’. The question when we will start to ask this question to ourselves?????