My Father’s Son

People were running all around a small dingy room at the St Mary’s hospital in the heart of Baramulla, I could hear a woman scream and howl in pain, I could also hear doctors and nurses working furiously. Sweat was slowly forming on the forehead of otherwise an extremely calm Doctor Melony while her fingers steadily worked on a screaming Kashmiri. I could barely see anything, I was partly conscious,

I was hanging upside down and someone hit me really hard, I screamed in pain,

There were rifle-yielding soldiers everywhere, I could faintly hear shouts of command from Dr Melony who was in-charge, but that didn’t stop the soldiers from nervously moving around in the room. “Nothing could and should go wrong with this one, he had to survive come what may or else a lot of explanations would be given”. Dr Melony thought to herself.

I was still in pain, but more than anything else, very confused. I could sense panic in the room, I abruptly burst into a series of crying spells, the pain of being held upside down was unbearable. I tried to break free but the tight clutches of the hands holding me down were too much for me to fight. I finally reconciled to my fate and gave up. My face turned red. Blood started pushing my eyes so much that at one time I thought, my eyes will burst anytime. I tried to speak but couldn’t, there was so much inside me; literally, I went back into my semi-conscious state.

Someone rudely shook me up two minutes later. I could see Dr Melony bending and staring into my eyes, she was speaking to me, I could hear her but couldn’t understand what she said. Dr Melony had a kind face, someone who genuinely cared, a few strands of hair fell over her face which she immediately pushed back. I wanted to tell her not to do that but couldn’t speak her language. Dr Melony had been in the hospital for decades. Her love for serving humanity was known all across the state. People trusted her judgment and sincerity. A good Christian, Dr Melony served the sick and poor endlessly in this small town of Baramulla. Sadly that was the only time I ever saw her.

Dr Melony was saying something to me, and then she started to nod approvingly. All this was so confusing, luckily by this time those horrible people holding me upside down had decided to be less inhuman and put me in some makeshift bed. I liked her face, it was gentle and kind, it was the face of a person who gives herself to humanity without expecting anything in return. She was a servant of god and worked effortlessly towards securing her place in Heaven,

Suddenly all the shouting stopped, Soldiers stopped moving around the room, patients stopped screaming, a nurse put down the scalpel she was about to pierce inside a human body. There was that kind of silence that hurts your ear. A man wearing an army uniform entered the room. He came straight towards me. I could sense a nervous twitch in Dr Melony’s body. She stepped back as he approached her. I was scared, my heart started beating faster. He was a very powerful man, he stared straight into my eyes.

 It took Dr Melony some time to muster the courage to say something. She took a step ahead, nervously cleared her throat and announced, “Err hmm, congratulations Major Madhok, you’ve been blessed with a healthy son”. The painful silence still continued, my ears were hurting. Everyone waited with anticipated breath. The other patients in the room ‘almost’ started screaming again. All the other newly born’s were staring at the Major for his approval before they could start clearing their throats by wailing.

That’s when it happened. The Major smiled, and then everyone smiled and seeing them smile, I smiled.

 It was the 30th day of the seventh month, a funny day indeed.