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Tale of Coincidences. Paulo Coelho is an Alchemist who has given a simple formula of turning any metal (sadness ) to gold ( happiness). He says,happiness can be attained by knowing the universal language. This language is akin to computer language and is only binary. The two main components of binary universal language are love ( 0) and Fear(1). The moment one learns them well, the whole universe starts conspiring for ones happiness. Beauty is that this language has no grammar, it can only be expressed and felt. You can always express and feel love and fear.
This tale of Bimal and Satinder is a tale woven with these two emotions in plenty. Both were dieing from the fear of death a decade ago and are now alive and living with love surrounding them all around.
It was almost the same time when their respective worlds were crumbling.
Bimal’s wife was sick like death itself and was reduced to bones only. Her fever , reduced weight and some swellings in neck and axillae ,misguided, as usual , the most enlightened. She was taken in the lane of a Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. The path was suggested by none other than a specialist on the presumptions alone. It is not so uncommon,to not bother about evidence for over confident people with a Masters label as suffix. The only vision many masters develop is tubular. Same happened in her case ,the over confident specialist ,started treating her with DOTS ( Daily Observed Treatment of TB , the treatment modality adopted by WHO at that time – which of course also has fallen from grace ,naturally ,now because of its faulty design ) , missing the cause of immunosuppression and refusing to look beyond his own vision. He was like an ox with shields around his eyes and going round and round for extraction of oil (कोल्हू के बैल की तरह ). Somehow , Sukhwinder, was brought to me one day.
She was married to Bimal since 1997. She was only 27 ,when she was found to have HIV in 2006. I sent her to VCTC a govt. Agency to confirm me fears and her diagnosis. The confirmation came too for the couple , although. Further investigations found a store house of cryptococci ( a deadly fungus) in her totally immunocompromised body. She was offered best of the treatment by me ( VCTC specialists lacked the knowledge and material then ) but it was too little too late in her war against survival. She succumbed sooner than expected and left behind a helpless Nirmal and her seven year old son . Bimal went into te pence mode instantly , he felt guilty for her death. His repentance, of one night stand without protection ,was however meaningless. It was he who actually died that night wen lust took over love. He remembered the night which looked bright at that time, the night whose one moment of pleasure darkened his many nights ahead. His suffering from Herpes Zoster a viral infection after sometime of that pleasurable moment was a pain for him and his physician both. The alert Physician , in his case was pained to inform his HIV status to him in 2003, itself. Destiny forced him to shut his eyes to stark reality of death and he overlooked the danger. He passed on and lost his partner in life to the death , deservedly . Her death made desperate and he started looking for ways to sign off from this world. His world , however, was now limited to aging parents and a lively son. All of them ,drew boundaries around him and he became determined not to invite death for them. He started his own antiretroviral medicines in the form of Zidouvudine plus Lamivudine and Nevirapine from govt run ARV center. He insisted to have medicines from
market as he has not only lost his wife but also faith in govt. agencies. I was as determined as him. I forced him to go to ART center considering his economic status. His health and economic status both started becoming pink. So much pink that started investing in his physician that is me. He used to bring costly pens , knowing my love for them , as Diwali gift for me. He was unaware that pen was my strength too and the same strength may one day write his own story too. Anyways , he was back on the track and his life acquired an engine, full of steam of energy. His love for life and son and parents was enormous. It was love all over except a small corner , once occupied by Sukhwinder. The vacancy in his world started bothering him at times. It was in one of such times that he came across SAATHI DOT COM and Satinder Kaur’s number. He gave a missed call to her.
Satinder Kaur, an aanganwari worker was found to be HIV + in 2003. Her husband , an intra venous drug user failed to cope up with the stress of the presence of a deadly virus in him and preferred death over life. He refused to live with the drugs and ran to the rail lines. The engine driver of the train running on the lines although applied brakes yet could not save him from death. He left behind Satinder with the virus and a seven year old male child. Shattered Satinder however preferred to live on. She was put on antiretroviral drugs ( Zidovudine, Lamivudine and Nevirapine) in 2006. Coincidentally she was also taking treatment from same center as Bimal but never met him. It was the missed call she got from him ,which led on to their meeting. It was year 2010.
Their hearts, souls and bodies kept meeting for next six years. The lives of two of them was like two banks of same river or rail tracks going side by side yet not together. Their children were also growing ,playing on two banks of the river. Initially Children never thought about the similarities of two banks but as they grew older, they started imagining impossible and at times even guilty because of their own ” banks” going bankrupt on grounds of morality. Bimal and Satinder , started failing to look straight into their own progeny’s eyes , despite doing nothing wrong. Their only fault was that they had come a long way in life with the virus. Gone were the days of death was looming large over them. Now they were alive and the struggle was to live with the virus and live like any other homo sapiens. Both with a will to shed darkness and attain “light” spoke to the children. The univers started conspiring to fill the gaps in their lives. The bridge between fear of death and love for life was almost complete. The language without any grammar was writing a new essay. Bimal and Satinder tied the knot no one likes to open. Both got
married in January 16.
The tale of Bimal and Satinder which was once woven with one single emotion of fear has now full of other emotion ” love” . The Alchemist, the Almighty , some say Universe has unearthed Gold in their rusted life. Both were dieing from the fear of death a decade ago and are now alive and living with love surrounding them all around.
My story ends with the same tag line as the all grandma tales used to end. My Nani ( grandma) used to say “as their life changed for good , may everyone’s life changes for good. ”
Amen Nani.
Long live Bimal , long live Satinder. May you both live happy always and live to see your progeny , feel happy about you.
May your story never end. May your story inspire many to live.
Rakesh Bharti
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