A Lesson I Learnt

It all began when my mother decided that it was time for me to go for a routine health check up on a Saturday morning. To be fair she had concerns in her mind regarding certain developments that had surfaced up during my previous test. So without any further delay we set out to one of the most renowned and esteemed hospitals in the National Capital Territory on June 2, 2018. Being as sunny and hot as it possibly could be the roads were buzzing with cars and people. The lanes were lined up with local vendors selling cool aids for people to quench their thirst. After all the sun was at the top of our heads.

When we finally arrived at the hospital, now was the time to search for the right department that we needed to go. Trust me that was no easy task either. With people at every corner of every corridor nobody, especially the staff, really bothered what was what and who was who. My mother and I sighed in relief when we finally saw the board that clearly said “Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics”. But to our misfortune, our wait had just begun.

Since we had taken an appointment on a weekend, all the doctors were on a round about in the hospital checking all the patients specifically assigned to them so that they too can take a day off for themselves the next day. While they were performing their duty, it was time for us, especially me to put my patience to test. For a person who is not at all fond of waiting and whiling away time doing nothing, it was really perilous for me to lay there waiting for the doctor to finally come.

After 2 long years, I mean hours the doctor finally showed up. She saw our weary faces and put on a gentle smile and asked “Are you the ones who called? “. We finally rose up from our waiting chairs and she guided us to her cabin. We followed without any second thought because all 3 of us wanted to get things done with at the earliest. What happened inside the doctor’s cabin is not at all the important part of the story. But what happened next will always be one of the most significant and memorable experiences of my life.

As we left the doctor’s room, I suddenly realized one of my hands was empty. The next moment I nearly had a heart attack when I remembered my purse was not with me. I interrupted the kind doctor who I had just implicated all my problems with. She was locking her cabin. When I told her about my purse missing, she immediately opened up the door for me. I had a quick but thorough glance through the entire room especially the spot where I sat but alas, the purse was nowhere to be seen. I ran towards the waiting room as fast as I could, but what I saw there was literally heartbreaking. The door had been locked.

The series of events that my mom and I went through after that are really worth knowing about. Some of you may find it funny, some of you may find it annoying or rather for some of you it must be quite normal. But for me it was a lesson I learnt the hard way.

As I was completely dumbfounded for a second there when I saw that huge giant golden lock hanging on the door’s latch, all I could think about was how in just a matter of few minutes I lost my whole life. All of my cards, my ID proofs, my cash everything a person needs to maintain his/her identity in this world was in there. The thought made me shiver to my very bones even in that heat of June. I immediately turned to the doctor and asked her politely where we could find the key to that door. She told us to contact the Private Secretary (PS) of that floor who managed all the accounts and data of the doctors for that department and with that she left. We went to him right away.

A middle aged man who sat in front of dilapidated computer (as expected in a government organization), feeding in some already present data while pretending to be doing the most important work of the hospital. For him he was one of the most valuable employees for the hospital without whom the hospital would cease to function. I walked up to him, summoning all the kindness and good manners that I had learnt in my entire life and narrated the whole incident to him. He at first got a little annoyed as he was disturbed from writing the laws of string theory and dark matter which would help him make a great discovery in the field of theoretical physics. But then he told us the whole procedure in his mundane voice of how we could get the key to that waiting room to which was attached to the cabin of one of the senior most doctors in the hospital. So no one would even dare to open that door not even if the president himself came to the scene.

So according to the PS we first needed to go and contact the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) who will then call up the Chief Security In charge  (CSI) . The CSI has access to what is known as the Cloak room where supposedly all the keys are deposited once the rooms are locked. Then the CSI along with the CMO would accompany us to the waiting room along with the key, open it in front of us just to make sure that no tricks were played and I could finally get my purse. Sounds easy, right? Well the answer is a BIG NO. Let me tell you why.

Well, for starters the CMO sat at the other end of the campus from where we were and we had to walk all the way to that building in that scorching heat. To my delight, the building was none other than the emergency casualty room. You have to understand as a person who is horrified at the very thought of blood and gore and also who's a germophobe, it was no picnic for me when I entered that room filled with people who were either sick or were with a sick person.  Somehow we passed through all those people and found the CMO who was surrounded by 10 other people and with their grievances. I went straight up to the CMO and asked him for his help. I told him how I had forgotten my purse inside that waiting room and if he could just call up the Security In charge and get the keys it would be really great. But no, as I had feared the CMO gave a nervous smile and said the only task he was responsible for handling was the casualty department and that he had no clue of how to get those keys. He, however directed us to the security in charge office.

After much trouble, thanks to the poor directions he gave us we were able to find the security office where it seemed like all the officers and some police personnel were having a party. As soon as they saw us coming they started whispering among themselves and one of them stepped forward. This time, my mother talked to the officer and told him all about what had happened. By this time, both of us had grown tired of telling the story over and over again because every time we went to someone for help they directed us to someone else. It’s like nobody wanted to or knew how to help. After listening to my mother, the security officer and his “buddies” gave a smirk and that’s when I realized that my purse and everything inside it was gone forever. He gave us some vague answers about how he had no access to those keys and that only the security manager could help us only if we think our purse was stolen. To me it sounded like a cue for some extra money that he wanted to make from us so that he could join back the party and this time actually contribute something.

After I realized that things were no longer under our control, my eyes almost welled up and we decided to go back to the PS who had made us go through all this and leave our contact details with him so that on Monday when the door finally is unlocked I could get back my purse, provided it was still there unharmed. When we reached there and told him that nobody was ready to help us or tell us where this imaginary and mysterious cloak room was, he probably decided for once to let go of his façade and help us as a human being. He finally dialed those magical numbers on his phone and rang up the officer who sat in the Cloak Room. Well if there was any such room. After a short conversation and lying to the officer about misplacing his own personal things inside the room the officer agreed to give him the keys.  So he left and told us that he’d be back in 10 minutes.  At this point I really wanted to get optimistic but with all that happened with us that day, I wouldn’t dare until I got my purse back.

The PS came back and instructed one of us to accompany him to the waiting room. He opened the room right in front of me and my happiness knew no bounds when I saw my black purse for which I had gone through all those charades. My mother and I thanked him with all our hearts. While leaving the hospital, I thanked the universe for finally returning my purse.