User:Prasannamanoharan/sandbox

THE CASE - INTERESTED WITNESS Last Saturday I’d been to Tambaram to visit my sister who’d been admitted in a private  nursing home for delivery. Sister has been getting the pain at intervals, so I decided to wait and see our family’s new comer. The tension in the maternity ward made me move out of that place and took a seat under a tree and opened my book on child psychology. I heard somebody calling from behind. A lady in a two-wheeler with a middle-aged man in the pillion was calling out for an attender. I rushed inside and called the ward boys. The swelling on the man’s right foot was surely a sign of fracture or an air crack. The lady was explaining to one of the staff that Sir(that’s how she addressed him) was her neighbor and he had fallen off his bike as it skid on the road. She left after admitting him and assured to return with his wife and children. I took a stroll around the different blocks, in verandas and of course near the reception to have a look at the T.V. news. On my way to the second floor I happened to see Mr.’ Sir’ in the ortho-ward. He was flocked by some 4-5 people, probably his relatives. One of them was very restlessly looking at his watch again and again. Something made me feel curious and I decided to spend my time sitting on the sofa facing that ward at least till I get a call from my mother who was near my sister. They all left in not more than 20 minutes. Sir now had only his wife and 2 children by his side. Again there were visitors for him. In this way for every ½ hr he had visitors till it was 6pm. From the conversation I understood that they were all his siblings (8 or 9). As it is a rule that women were not allowed to stay in the men’s ward, Sir’s wife was pleading with the duty doctor for her permission to stay back at least on the sofa outside(‘Oh’ my seat)but in vain.. Sir was coming back on a wheel- chair after a scan test. Hearing heavy foot steps near the staircase I stretched myself to see who it was, It was a sumo sized man, literally running up the stairs... And now the man looking at Sir held his hands above his head and calling him (En Dhaivamae) God, he prostrated at Sir’s feet... The nurse came running saying that he might hurt the patient’s leg. My cell got a missed call from mom indicating that I need to go. ”Is he drunk? “ I could hear a staff nurse murmuring as I came out of the floor. It was a tension filled night. Thank God my sister delivered a baby girl at around 2am in the morning .Even though I was outside the gate of that ward I could feel a  sense of happiness. Next morning, I fetched milk and coffee for my mom and sister and as I handed over the flask to my sister somehow I was reminded of Sigmund Freud and his theories, and like a flash came the thought of my book that I’d left near the Ortho ward Yesterday. I went up to the next building and as I’d thought the book was not there. In the meanwhile Sir was strictly telling Mr. fatty to leave. But he didn’t seem to listen. After some time” Are you looking for this book” the fat man came up and handed over my book to me.” I thanked him; grabbing the opportunity I asked “You stayed with him in the night?” he nodded. ” Is he your boss”, I asked him. He looked at me and said “He is my God”. ”That you said yesterday, but why?” He continued after a silence.” Yesterday night my wife, sisters and our children would have had a good meal, I had bought them fish in the morning.” How irrelevant!!! I thought. He continued,” Yes we are living a good life today because of G.B.Sir” (what would be his full name? I thought).He pulled out a paper from his shirt and showed it to me. It was a photo copy of an order dated about an year ago, stating that he (Arumugam) would not be given the next 2 increments as the punish ment for his misbehavior. I looked at him puzzled. He went on to narrate how a verbal fight with his manager forced him to go on a punishment transfer. He continued…. “I could not take it easily, I went straight to the manager's cabin, pulled him by his collar and gave him a slap and I asked him to complain to the head office now. I was not aware of the consequences. I was dismissed! It was then that did I realize that I had shown my anger at the cost of my living! It was too late to realize. But G.B. Sir intervened, he at first scolded me for my misbehavior but then took me to the manager and made me apologize, but the manager was stubborn. Taking into consideration my family situation, Sir asked him to lessen my punishment to a suspension or a cut in benefits for a certain period of time. Although he respected Sir who was an efficient leader and an amicable person to workers of all cadres, he refused to step back from his stand. Sir took the case to the notice of senior officers and obtained permission to represent the case in an internal court inside our office premises. When the permission was granted he took so much pain to collect various informations, related to my case, he even stayed back after office to discuss the case with his friends. I really felt guilty about myself. I knew my fate was decided and even paid the advance to a small shop near my house. On the day of case presentation the manager described every thing that happened in his cabin, but G.B. Sir took every body by surprise by saying that every thing was correct but for the fact that Arumugam had only-” raised his voice and not his hand”. At this juncture the manager called the witness of this incident. And as everybody knew, manager’s personnel secretary who was the only witness came up to say that the manager was correct and she had seen the incident. Sir was just waiting for this. He pointed out that a personnel secretary should be viewed as an INTERESTED WITNESS as she /he in that position are expected to speak only in support of their bosses. G.B. Sir argued efficiently. The committee agreed with his point and cancelled my dismissal order. But cut 2 of my increments. When the manager himself said that he never expected G.B. to twist the case like this, he calmly answered that he was not against the punishment but not to an extent that will shatter a whole family. Now he is angry with me as I postponed the function back at home for my new born girl which was fixed for today. How could we rejoice when he is not well? He has spent so much of his time for me, why not a night for him”- wiping away his moist eyes he took the paper from me and bid good-bye. I was reminded of the continuous visitors yesterday who didn’t even have the courtesy to stay back with their brother. I looked at Mr.G.B. Our eyes met,we exchanged friendly smiles. God gives us relatives; thank God we can choose our friends. Is there anyone still repeating the same old dialogue-“blood is thicker than water?”

By Prasanna Manoharan. Chennai