Read Author’s Note in the previous post 🙂

—

“Good morning doctors,” Dr. Ashutosh Mathur welcomed the new interns to his ward in a professional uptight tone.

“Good morning, Sir,” came the reply in chorus as if it was a school classroom.

“Let’s have a quick round of introductions please. Starting from left.”

“Priyanka.”

“Abhijeet.”

“Sonali.”

“Nidhi.”

“Kabir”

“Kamal”

“Great! I am Dr. Ashutosh, in-charge of children’s ward at Dr. Kotnis General Hospital. Dr. Rangnath se aap log pahle se hi touch mein rahe honge. He is the senior administrator of our ward. Dr. Mallika, senior doctor. She would be responsible for assigning your duties. Clear?”

A few ‘yes’es and other nods came his way, after which he continued, “Aaj se aap log apne professional life ki practice mein utarne ja rahe hain. Hamare profession mein hamare haath mein zindagi aur maut hoti hai. Yahan mistakes ki, carelessness ki ya inefficiency ki koi gunjaish nahin hoti hai. Aur khaas kar ke is ward mein bilkul nahin. So, imaandaari aur mehnat se aap apna kaam karein. Dr. Verma? Aap itne dhyaan se kya note kar rahi hain?”

Ashutosh had tried to ignore Dr. Nidhi Verma doodling on her notebook, but it was too distracting and finally he had snapped.

“Woh… Sir… Wahi jo aap bata rahe the. Imaandaari aur mehnat se…”

Ashutosh gave her a sharp look and took the notebook away from her. She bit her lips at being caught. Ashutosh found a badly sketched face, which was probably his. He threw the notebook in the dustbin and without glancing again at either the dustbin or Nidhi, continued with his introduction and instructions for the interns.

Nidhi looked at Priyanka, who, in turn, was giving her a “I-had-told-you-so” look. Nidhi and Priyanka had been together at the medical college. They were happy, when both got the internship offer from Dr. Kotnis General Hospital together. They could keep each other company. Nidhi had jumped with joy, when she had seen that their posting was in the children’s ward.

“Wow! Priyanka. Bas ye hi ek cheez sahi hui hai mere saath. Children’s ward mein posting. Medicine mein to mujhe interest nahin tha. Lekin bachche mujhe bahut achche lagte hain.”

“Bachche achchhe lagte hain to shaadi kar ke paida kar leti. Children’s ward mein posting achcha idea nahin hai. Tuhje pata hai Dr. Ashutosh Mathur India wapas aa gaye hain aur children’s ward ke in-charge ban gaye hain phir se.”

“Woh kaun hain?”

“Terror.”

“Mujhe nahin pata tha ki wards ke in-charge terrorists hote hain.”

“Main mazaak nahin kar rahi hoon. Meri ek cousin ne kuchh saal pahle yahan Dr. Ashutosh ke under internship ki thi. Bata rahi thi ki khud bhi workohalic hain aur poori duniya se waise hi kaam karwate hain. Aur agar kissi se zara si bhi galti ho jaye, to uski khair nahin.”

“Achchha!” Priyanka had managed to scare her, at least for a while.

Nidhi came out of her thoughts, when Ashutosh announced that it was time to take their first visit to the ward. Dr. Mallika also accompanied them.

—

“Dr. Verma,” Ashutosh lost his cool with her again in the ward. While he was explaining the case of a patient, an eight years old girl, to the interns, Nidhi was busy talking in gestures to the patient. Her mischievous smile disappeared when she heard his voice.

“Yes Sir.”

“Kya administer kar rahe hain is pateint ko.”

“Sir, Zofran.”

“Frequency?”

“6-hourly Sir.”

“Okay,” he was surprised that she had been listening to him even while busy in her silent tete-a-tete with the child.

—

“Nidhi. Teri ye shaitaaniyan na Medical college mein chal jaati thi. Kyonki classes bunk kar ke aur class mein so kar bhi tere number theek thaak aa jate the. Yahan Dr. Ashutosh ke saamne tu thoda bach kar hi rah.”

“Dekh Priyanka. Mujhse aisi roni si surat bana kar nahin raha jaata. Kya farq padta hai yaar? Zyada se zyada nikaal hi denge na.”

“Arre. Nikaal hi denge matlab? Tujhe koi fikr nahin hai?”

“Tujhe pata hai na. Mujhe ye doctor-woctor nahin banna tha. Sirf Baba ki zidd ki wajah se main yahan hoon. Ab Baba to mujhe resign karne nahin denge. Hamesha Mummy ko le kar emotionally blackmail kar hi lenge mujhe. Lekin agar Dr. Ashutosh hi mujhe nikaal dein, to phir Baba kya kar paayenge, haan?” Nidhi’s eyes brightened like that of child who has been promised her favourite toy.

“Tu pagal hai Nidhi. Itne saal mehnat kar ke padhai karne ke baad profession ko aise hi chhodna chahti hai.”

Their conversation was interrupted by another intern who reminded them that the break was over and Dr. Ashutosh was expecting them back in the ward.

—

Ashutosh entered the ward to see the other interns discussing cases of patients amongst themselves. Nidhi, however, was busy playing with a kid. He shook his head in disbelief. How the hell did the hospital manage to hire her? He was about to chide her for what she was doing when he saw her picking up the glass of milk from the table and making the kid drink it. He stopped in his tracks. He recalled that this particular boy always created a fuss in drinking milk. If he was ready to scold for unprofessionalism, he was also ready to praise for a job well done. So, he approached her with an intention to complement her, “Dr. Verma.”

Nidhi, however, got startled on hearing his voice. She almost jumped away from the patient’s bed and dropped the now empty glass of milk on the floor. The sound it created had everyone looking at them. Not only that, as she turned around, she hit the table by mistake and dropped a medicine bottle.

Ashutosh hit his forehead in frustration.

“Sorry Sir. Main ye… ye saaf karwati hoon. Aap kuchh kah rahe the?”

“Never mind. Aap ye sab saaf karwaiye. Aur dhyaan rakhiye. Itna shor patients ki need kharaab kar sakta hai.”

“Yes Sir,” she ran out of the ward to call the housekeeping staff.

—

“Wah, wah! Dr. Nidhi. Aap to pahle hi din se chha gayi hain,” Dr. Rangnath had joined the interns in the common room during the tea break. He was the one who had helped her locate the housekeeping staff to clean the mess she had created in the ward.

“Dr. Rangnath. Aapko mazaak soojh raha hai. Meri to jaan nikal gayi thi.”

“Nikalni bhi chahiye. Agar aap aise medicines gira gira kar barbaad karti rahengi, to pahle patients ki aur phir aapki jaan nikalni hi chahiye.”

“Arre. Aapko medicine ki padi hai. Main la doongi ek bottle aapke store ke liye kal. Dr. Ashutosh ne jaise mera naam liya, usse meri jaan nikal gayi thi. Daantne hi aaye honge. Achchha hi hua medicine gir gayi. At least unka dhyaan daantne se to hata.”

“Wonderful. Wonderful. I like your positive attitude. Dr. Ashutosh ko survive karne ke liye iski zaroorat hoti hai. Agar aapka ye attitude Dr. Ashutosh, also known as Dr. Hardstone, ko survive kar jaaye to.”

“Waise Nidhi. Tujhe kissi se finally dar lagne laga?” Priyanka teased her.

“Kyon? Kya ye kissi se darti nahin?” One of the other interns asked.

“Ab tak to yahi claim tha. Lekin I think…”

“Lekin kya? Lekin kya?” Nidhi interjected, “Main ab bhi kissi se nahin darti.”

“Achchha! To aise badhawaas kyon ho gayi thi Dr. Ashutosh ke aane se.”

“Woh.. woh dar ki wajah se nahin hua tha,” Nidhi said unconvincingly. Then an alibi struck her, “Woh to main bas chaunk gayi thi achanak unki aawaaz sun kar.”

“Achchha!” Priyanka chuckled.

“Aapka pahla din to kaafi evenful raha. Aur kaafi lucky bhi. Jwalamujhi ke itna kareeb se ho kar aa gayi aap, par woh aap par fata nahin. Aage se zara saawdhaan rahein.”

“Thanks for your advice Dr. Rangnath. But Dr. Ashutosh bhi insaan hi hain. Jwalamukhi nahin ki yun hi fat jayen.”

—

To be continued