The Legend Vaidyan and the Spokesman Lawyer: True Story of a Blood Cancer Patient

By K. C. Eldho

This book throws an insight into the wonders of Ayurveda. Many ailments which cannot be treated by Allopathic or Homeopathy could be treated by Ayurveda. How a girl suffering from blood cancer or leukemia could be treated by Ayurveda when their parents could ill afford to offer her other treatment. This book is an asset to ones library and which should be read by all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Nov 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482859256

K. C. Eldho

K. C. Eldho, born in 1965 at Kangarapady, Ernakulam, Kerala, India, is the youngest son of late K. V. Chakkappan, a businessman, and Mariamma Chakkappan, a retired school teacher, belonging to the Kochery family. Eldho is an alumnus of Maharajas College, Ernakulam. He completed his bachelor degree in Philosophy and was the 1st rank holder in the stream. He obtained his law degree in 1991 and Masters in Philosophy from the University of Kerala and was conferred Master of Research in Philosophy from the University of Manchester in 2009. In 2010, on a special invite, he attended the World Conference on Prevention of Terrorism at the London Olympia. Eldho is a regular columnist in various law journals. He is a litigating lawyer in the High Court of Kerala and is the CEO of BC-370 Law Associates, a full service law firm. His first book, ‘Suicide Terrorism – A Solution’ was published by Penguin Partridge in 2012. ‘The Legend Vaidyan and the Spokesman Lawyer’ is his second book.

Book preview

Chapter 1

It was 10 a.m. on a hectic day. I glanced through the day’s files before setting out to the court. Many cases in different courts. Some last-minute instructions to junior lawyers.

The phone rang suddenly. It was Zachariah on the other side. His voice sounded very disturbed. The agonising news that Ruby, my niece, had developed some deadly disease. Doctors in the local hospital had certain apprehensions, and they wanted her to be taken to a major hospital in the city. I could feel a sense of terrible despair in his trembling voice. I put the phone down, instructing him to bring Ruby to the city hospital straight away.

Many thoughts flashed through my mind on my way to the court. Requests for adjournment of cases posted for that day were to be made. Ruby, whose life was in peril, deserved immediate preference. Death loomed large before my mind.

I recalled how the advocate Madhusudhanan had once argued a case. It was public-interest litigation on patients in government hospitals who died of deadly diseases as they did not use disposable syringes there. The judge seemed reluctant to take a favourable stance.

At that time, the advocate said, ‘My lord, we are dealing with a case where people die, and for death, there is no appeal.’

How true! We cannot set it right by appealing against death. I felt that Ruby’s case deserved more immediate attention than any other case today. One can make a review petition or an appeal and set things right in any case.

I managed to leave the court by 11.30 a.m. Leaving my coat, gown, and band in the car, I rushed to the hospital.

I hurriedly walked through the corridors of the multistorey hospital situated in the heart of the city. I found Zachariah and a few other uncles and relatives in the second floor of the hospital. Some could not suppress their tears. I enquired about Ruby’s condition. She was in a very bad shape. Scenes from her school days when she was an active athlete and the number of prizes she had won then flashed through my mind.

The doctor who came out of the ICU said that a biopsy was needed urgently. He explained the procedure of bone marrow biopsy. Then, looking at the small crowd standing there, Dr Krishnamoorthy said, ‘I can’t talk to all of you together. Select someone from among you and send him to meet me.’

They didn’t have to think twice. I was given the responsibility to deal with the situation. In a way, I was a little surprised at the confidence they had in me. At the same time, I was filled with anxiety as to how I would manage everything.

As I stepped into Dr Krishnamoorthy’s cabin, I noticed ‘Oncologist’ on the board. My knowledge about allopathy was rather limited. However, I knew that oncology is about the study and treatment of cancer. Oncologists deal with terminally ill patients a lot. We think more about death when we deal with the oncology department as death is imminent in many cases.

Actually, what is death? What happens after that? The philosopher in me became active. Isn’t death the only truth, the only truth that we are certain about? In that case, all the rest must be mere illusions—our relations, love, obligations, everything.

I recalled what a teacher had told us once: ‘There is nothing called love.’ I was a bit stunned. He continued, ‘We say that two people are in love with each other. Each says that he or she cannot live without the other. After a few days, the young man says, I know that you love what I love and you are always concerned about me. Now, I am in love with one more girl, and you should not consider that improper. Suddenly, the girl reveals her true nature. They quarrel and go their separate ways.’

The teacher went on like that. He proved with his philosophical argument that love is a mere illusion. If we analyse this critically, we will realise that what he said is right. Each person gives his selfish interests different names like love, desire, affection, care.

I told the teacher that I had a doubt. ‘In that case, does the love that parents have towards their children arise from selfishness?’

There was no delay in his reply. ‘Why doubt?’ And he went on with an example. He described a scientific experiment which used a chimpanzee.

There was a mother chimpanzee along with its baby in a glass chamber. They started filling the glass chamber with water. As the level of water rose, the mother held the baby high. Finally, they reached a stage when water would enter the mother’s nostrils. Breathing became very difficult. At that time, the mother dropped the baby down, stepped on it, and continued breathing. So much for the mother’s love!

I listened to his argument with shock. How selfish man is! Everyone does a lot of things, but selfishness is at the core of his behaviour. If that were true, I felt that the world we live in is a horrendous place. Why should one live in such a world? My thoughts strayed that way.

Dr Krishnamoorthy’s sudden appearance brought an abrupt end to my thoughts. He said, ‘Ruby’s condition is quite bad. The count of platelets has gone down considerably. Now it is less than 20,000. The platelet count of a healthy person would be at least 1,50,000. Samples have been sent to a reputed lab in Mumbai for tests. It will require at least three days to get the results.’

Noticing my worried look and anxious appearance, he said, ‘There is nothing to fear. Most probably, there won’t be any problem. Sometimes, even certain types of fever might show such symptoms. We shall keep replenishing the platelets. Let the results come.’

As I did not have anything more to ask him and as many were waiting to see him, I went out of the room. The relatives were anxiously waiting for me. To them, I was Dr Krishnamoorthy. I explained everything to them and tried to console them. All of them were praying deeply for her.

I walked into Ruby’s room. She was terribly weak and exhausted and didn’t even have the strength to have her food. The doctor had advised that she needed to be given only some fruit juices to drink. I noticed a young man with a sad and dejected look standing outside the room; he was not any relative known to me. I thought that perhaps he was a friend of some relative who had gone there. Still, the trauma and the agony clearly visible on his countenance left an indelible impression in my mind.

I left the hospital, praying that Ruby’s illness would be just a fever or some minor ailment. I met a few of my clients at my office in the evening. Since they had good faith and confidence in me, they behaved in a congenial manner. My mind revolved round Ruby, the hospital, and the lab report which everyone anxiously awaited.

My wife looked quizzically at me when I reached home earlier than usual. She felt deeply pained when I narrated the details of Ruby’s illness. She had always been a very compassionate person, capable of empathising with others. She was particular that she should not be the cause of anyone’s sorrow.

‘Anyway, we won’t be able to do anything until we get the report from Mumbai,’ she sighed.

Though I retired to bed, I slept only much later.

Zachariah called me early in the morning. Ruby’s condition was getting worse. She was not eating anything at all. I got ready quickly and reached the hospital in no time. Ruby looked very weak and tired. The relatives in and around the room were engrossed in conversation, presuming that nothing serious would happen. My own prayers were that she was not affected by any deadly disease.

It was a lab based in Mumbai that had to test her marrow and detect the cause of her disease. They had collected a huge sum as charges for this test.

I thought of the traditional vaidyans of the olden days, people who, by just feeling the pulse of the patient, can declare accurately what the disease is. What a far cry modern medicine is from this traditional system as it involves manufacturing drugs for various diseases, designing and making highly sophisticated machinery for detecting diseases, distribution of these drugs and equipment, and huge hospitals which provide all ultra-modern facilities and super specialist doctors!

There are super specialists trained in the care and treatment of each and every organ of the human body. This involves research related to that and various academic programs that will lead to such research. Is man’s body so complicated