Brain Death

By SR

The story has been sculptured at the backdrop of scenic beauty in a typical Indian village with overwhelming farming community. It develops current reluctance of people to transform into the nuances of the modern world naturally embedded in the story.

A twist to highlight the impoverished views of the society on casteism and agony faced by a girl and her parents during the marriage had been picturized. This then graduates to the evils of female feticide and unethical medical practices. Further, it develops into the male chauvinism in administration of religious places. The misinformation about Down syndrome is brought out and that of lack of attention given by parents and father on a challenged female child is painted. Illegal methods to terminate pregnancy have also been injected without confusion.

Thereafter, lack of attention given to school buses and poor state of affairs in that sector is brought out and simulated into an accident. This is then graduated to give an insight in emergency evacuation and treatment. Finally, the subject of brain death and organ transplantation has been brought in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Mar 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781482889147

SR

SR is an emerging writer. He has through the medium of the book brought out many social activities which require attention of the society. Rather than making the subject appearing mundane, the subject matter is lacerated with fiction and has been interspaced with humour,romance.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by SR.

ISBN:      Softcover   978-1-4828-8915-4

                eBook        978-1-4828-8914-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/india

Contents

Disclaimer

Prologue

Chapter 1 Lamand

1.1   The Village

1.2   Phalak’s Tea Shop

1.3   Marriage Proposals

1.4   Dowry Hassles

1.5   Elephant Running Amuck

Chapter 2 Marriage

2.1   Preparations For Marriage

2.2   Ornaments For The Marriage

2.3   Phulmati’s Wedding

2.4   Finding A Match For Shabnam

Chapter 3 Pregnancy

3.1   Visit Of Girl’s Father

3.2   Pregnancy

3.3   Ct Scan

3.4   Swathy

3.5   Plan

Chapter 4 Differently Abled Child

4.1   Misadventure

4.2   Misadventure Unsuccessful

4.3   Delivery

4.4   Differently Abled Child

4.5   Shabnam’s Marriage

4.6   Death Of The Mother

Chapter 5 Child Grows Up

5.1   Father’s Remarriage

5.2   Child Orphaned

5.3   In The Care Of Stepmother

Chapter 6 School Bus Tragedy

6.1   Makar Sankranti

6.2   Condition Of School Bus

6.3   Journey By School Bus

6.4   Bus Tragedy

6.5   Assistance By Locals

Chapter 7 Organ Transplantation

7.1   Hospital Scene

7.2   Quick Evacuation By Locals

7.3   At The Multi Specialty Hospital For The Second Time

7.4   Religions View On Organ Transplantation

7.5   Organ Transplantation

7.6   Brain Death

7.7   Transmigration Of The Soul

Endnotes

DISCLAIMER

This is purely a work of fiction and all characters and events narrated are purely the imagination of the author. Inadvertently if it matches any living or dead or organisation or profession and in any way relates to reality which may be completely different from the actuality it is only coincidental. Certain ideas from professional knowledge and scientific terms which contributes to authenticity which are the work of research have been endorsed from bits and pieces available in various pieces of work have been adapted to improve and impart knowledge. The aim has been purely to eliminate incorrect analysis.

Gratitude to my mother, wife & son who are my constant companions and friends for their support

PROLOGUE

People of village Lambard are to a certain extent straightforward and conformists. Their life revolves around the activities of few institutions in the village like the tea shop, pond, village temple and the primary health center. Geographical location of this place is unique. It has vast expanse of land and people with large land holdings. Banyan tree at the village junction is the hub of activities, under which people gather around especially the chess addicts. Chess is an interesting past time for the villagers and they are keen on the game. The roads built long back in the village will match the modern planning system.

Village life was disrupted for quite some time due to prolonged agitations by various groups against the commissioning of the nuclear plant citing safety and health reasons. Albeit cases of nuclear power plant mishaps are rare, but the strike by various fringe groups gained momentum when political parties extended support.

The village has other water bodies, which include the fast flowing rivulet, which joins the main river few kilometers ahead of the village and of course the life of the village, which is the pond. Pond is surrounded by habitat on two sides and the other two sides have roads; one leading to the village school and the other to the town. It is said that after winning the battle against the local king of this place, invaders adopted a scorch earth policy and executed the able bodied male; children and the women were taken as slaves. The present population of the village is from, people who returned after hearing about the destruction, but cautious enough not be caught by the invaders.

After four O’ clock the village school closes and it is fun time for the school kids. The village school provides education till sixth class and as for the village elders that much education is sufficient. Now itself they do not have sufficient helping hands to take care of the mango orchards, so by educating children beyond basic education, they were encouraging more children to migrate to town, which in the long time will create an imbalance by introducing outsiders in to the village.

Temple in the village is generally the meeting point of the villagers. Marriages are strictly as per caste and inter caste marriages are not prevalent. At some distance from the pond on the way to the village school was the ‘tea shop’. The ‘tea shop’ is the hub of activities in the village. By about six in the morning, people start trickling down to have a cup of tea. ‘Phalak’ the owner of the tea shop was the heart throb of the village. Raja is the stud bull of the village. Some of them say that the process of engaging Raja with a cow takes almost a day and incase the male member of the house was out somewhere visibly far not to interfere, Chokan the handler spends longer time. It is also rumoured that he has saved so many marriages. In villages a woman without a child is never liked and considered as inauspicious and generally not invited for functions.

Samar is the village Sarpanch. There are no black-top roads in the village. Sarpanch like other villagers also thought it best to leave the choice of further studies to his daughter Phulmati. She reads a lot and spends most of her time in the fantasy of books. Every time she gets lazy, her mother reminds her of in-laws house and the responsibility of preparing good food for the husband and his parents. It is often a mystery and not easily understood about Samar’s hunger for amassing wealth when there is only one child to enjoy or bequeath. On the other hand it is true that he helps people in distress with money and kind, which is the reason for him being elected successively as the Sarpanch for the past fifteen years.

At noon water in the pond generally remains warm and a luxurious bath is in the offering for the village women. Women in the village usually undress at the bathing point then wash their cloths along with those of the family members and then spread them on the ground for them to dry up by the time they finish their bath. Bathing point is the venue for village gossip.

Sarpanch knowing the village comprehensively made it a point to have a mental assessment of potential grooms for his daughter. On his list were three village boys. In villages caste plays an important consideration for marriage and intimate social functions. Inter caste marriages are generally considered a taboo and in some extreme cases they are ostracized from the social set up and boycotted for family functions. Unlike the cities, the customs and practices in villages are quite different especially with regards to marriage. Generally girls get married at a very young age, even though it is against the established law. Meeting between the parents as a prelude to formal engagement with each side projecting their list of demands, counter weight and conditions was to take place soon. In all marriages the ceremony begins formally with the boy’s parents seeing the girl. At the first sight Phulmati found that her parents have gone grossly wrong in assessing the age of the bride groom and was not at all happy with the arrangements. She had heard of Harinder, but never thought that he was so old.

To be honest with one self, the age old system of dowry has to be cracked with the same vigor as sex determination test, for eradicating from the life of people. It is assumed that a man gets married when he becomes capable of running a family and a girl when she comes of age. So, if the case in point is that the boy has assumed the responsibility of running the family, then why the marriage expenses and dowry should be borne by the bride’s family. Aren’t we ashamed of ourselves to hear the cases of bride burnings and newly wedded girls committing suicides?

The betrothal ceremony was to take place at the bride groom’s house, which was a much simpler event, but was a necessity and preceded the marriage. The date for the marriage was also fixed during this function. Considering the pitiable financial health of Harinder’s family, both the parties had agreed to go on a reduced scale. Something which is traditionally associated with the marriage for the bride is ornaments. In some cases due to strong arm tactics of the bride grooms family, bride’s family is often put in to shame by insisting on huge amount of gold ornaments. Unlike other children, Sarpanch knew that his daughter was never demanding and often she had to be coaxed to make some purchases even for herself.

Wedding is called vivaah sanskar in the village and the villagers attach a great deal of importance to marriages. So was Phulmati’s marriage. Harinder’s and Pulmati’s home - entrance, doors, wall, floor, roof - were decorated with colours, balloons, and other decorations. Primary witness for Harinder’s and Phulmati’s marriage is the Sacred Fire, in the presence of family and friends. Post-wedding ceremony was the welcoming of Phulmati to her new home. Phulmati was ceremoniously decorated, as in Hindu weddings, by her friends and family in regional dress, jewelry, and body art called Mehndi. Variations were based on family traditions, local customs, resources of Samar, and other factors. After Saptapadi, the couple is considered to be husband and wife.

Precise reason for the need of separation is not known in the case of Shabnam’s first marriage, and people don’t speak in public being too personal an issue. Instead of waiting for him to arrive on leave, Sarpanch went a step ahead to interact with the family of the prospective groom for Shabnam. Saajan’s family had gratitude to him by way of his constant support at the time of the demise of Saajan’s father and to some extent aiding him getting enrolment to the Army. When Harinder’s mother indicated such a proposal to Shabnam, she was more than happy because being a fauji, Saajan would be home only for a month or two, and so could continue working from the same place and with him away most of the time and could carry on her romance with the school teacher.

In villages’ lot of meaning is attached to bearing a child by the newlyweds, as it is almost like authentication of a successful marriage, so it is a misery for the girl who cannot conceive a child. It is beyond their imagination that some girl cannot bear a child and if at all it happens it is blame on the girl and not that of the boy. Similar is the case of a woman who cannot give birth to a boy. In reality, Phulmati has not taken her marriage seriously and Harinder was never complainant of her playful mood. Her parents and in-laws were concerned of their lack of interest in having a baby, so decided to visit her. On seeing her parents she rushed inside the house to warn her in laws and called them which were indicative of her excitement. Even though Phulmati’s exuberance was not appreciated by her mother-in-law, she chose not to express it. On finding that they were not interested to listen to their parents it was suggestive that assistance of either the village doctor or Nada baba was required to break the ice. It was believed by both the parents that three years wait for a child was too long and unacceptable.

On reaching the Nada baba’s abode, much to their surprise they found it to be a quite place with lot of trees and birds all around. Second time when the staff of Nada baba started massage she voiced protest of dissent, but soon realized that, the staffs of Nada baba who gave massage, attending them were blind. As soon as they reached their room after evening meal, the sudden urge to sleep was replaced by the inner desire to romance after seeing so many young couple walking freely hand in hand. When they reached home was warmly welcomed and there was a sense of victory on the face of his mother, after all they were responsible children who obeyed the parents. Unlike Shabnam, who always acted the way she feels like?

For Samar and his wife the news of pregnancy of their child was the best they could ask for. It was customary that after few months of identifying that their daughter is pregnant, the parents make a ceremonial visit to the in-laws house with dress and assorted sweets for the in-laws, the bride groom and of course Phulmati. So as enthusiastic parents they made it to Hajinder’s house after consulting the village astrologer on the fifth Saturday of the fifth month of pregnancy.

The story of Joban running amok was a surprise to all the villagers as he was a very docile elephant and friendly with the villagers.

Among the better looking buildings at this place are the hospitals run by the state government. Harinder thought let me look at the village through the lives of its people and find out what lies within -- just as this baby is born. In the hospital a group of women were sitting on the floor, chatting. In the ward, a woman lies on the corner bed. There are other women in the ward. A visiting senior health worker gives instructions to a new mother. Why don’t you change the wrapper on the child? If the wrapper is not clean infection will set in. The village health worker, hearing that says she has two girls, but wants a boy. Harinder thought ‘I wonder what kind of message she was giving to the illiterate women with that attitude towards the girl child. Majority were of the view that male children are a better investment. The age-old dowry system puts a damper on the spirits of those who are blessed with a girl child and when a girl is born, the parents begin to calculate the expense of her future marriage, the lump sum that will have to be paid to the future groom’s family. The cost of an abortion is nothing compared to the expense of having a child, especially a girl. It is an established fact that these makers of high-tech equipment and gadgets benefit from the preference for male children.

The role of CT in diagnosing non-obstetrical emergency conditions during pregnancy and the risks and benefits to the mother and fetus are important considerations. Ultrasound is an imaging test in pregnancy. It has no known adverse effects on the mother or fetus and is the first-line imaging test in pregnant patients. In both the mother and fetus, this is carcinogenic. The mother or father may pass on genetic abnormalities to a baby. A defect may be present throughout the family history of one or more parent. Women with pre-existing medical conditions, such as diabetes, are at higher risk of having a child with a birth defect. Screening options such as blood tests and amniocentesis were offered to Phulmati. Phulmati’s mother tried to consult the village Dai after finding abnormalities in fetus to find a solution to the grave problem surrounding her, but unfortunately for her the village Dai had gone to her son who was working in construction business in Mumbai.

Messages spread all around regarding Phulmati’s attempted suicide and people started reaching the hospital. Next morning Thanedar from village police chowki arrived at the hospital urging to meet Phulmati and record her statements as per the law of the land. As per him the case was of an attempt to commit suicide which was punishable and the marriage was barely a year old which makes the case more complicated.

Bano confided to Sarpanch that she had promised to the almighty that in the event of Phulmati returning to normalcy the child will not be aborted. She also reasoned that it was for the child that Phulmati’s life was spared by God and it is her second life. She also reminded him that Phulmati is all they have and if she is gone rest of their life would be meaningless. However true her feelings were, Sarpanch was in no mood to accept a child with deformity that too a girl child and had other plans.

Based on exam results, the doctor recommended Amniocentesis. Even though Dr TP Das explained about Amniocentesis but Phulmati was reluctant to go and insisted on waiting for her husband’s return. After having a cup tea and while returning home she was convinced of birth defects. Shabanm used this opportunity to bring out the problem associated with the child she was carrying with a rare deformity called Down syndrome. Now after coming to know about it Phulmati thought that if she turns a blind eye, the child he or she when realizes that all of them were privy to the information but did not take the correct decision, will curse her. How many people are born with defects? They flourish and medical support is adequate these days, so her child will also be safe that was the belief she had. In all cases of this nature the child is born with deformity, so it is a clear case within the acceptable conditions of MTP. As everything was fine with Phulmati, she and her husband went back to Harinder’s house, informing that he will be back soon after settling down things. First one of the controversies was that on the right of a woman is to decide whether they should bear a child and if the answer is yes, then at what age?

Phalak was given a gift during the marriage by her partner Reenu. The dress was exquisite. Oblivious to the parents a dangerous plan was being hatched by Dai and Phulmati left it all to God to keep her child safe and healthy. In this plan the new born child was to be suffocated soon after delivery, when Phulmati either goes to bathroom or while at sleep. It was after a fortnight that the child was brought to the hospital for the next medical checkup. At this time the doctor had a detailed discussion with the young parents. Doctor was matured enough to regulate and moderate the problem associated with the child so as to avoid any alarm or panic situation. Constant check up of the child was becoming a problem, as Harinder was most of the time preparing various details for his trip abroad.

Saajan returned to his duty station and requested for accommodation to bring his wife to the station. It was a big complex with Children Park and located at walking distance from vegetable market and picture hall. Most of the families of his unit were housed in the complex. Shabnam was good looking, well maintained but voluptuous. Her neighbor was from the hills, which used to spend reasonable time on makeup. As shops were established and games organized Saajan proudly took his wife for the function which she heard being called as ‘Mela’. Few days after the event, there was a sudden increase in the visitors to Saajan’s house. This definitely accelerated the number of visitors but also ensured that they had no time for themselves. During the first week or so Shabnam remained confined to her house and rarely went out to meet her neighbor whose husband had also moved out. During the investigation, this time the doctor who was monitoring Phulmati asked for a report on the creatin level.

Whole village mourned the death of Phulmati but the little child Swathy oblivious to the happenings was smiling. May be that she understood the agony her mother was facing and thought it best to provide her relief from the misery. A large funeral procession brought her body to the village. Phulamati’s death was a tragedy and definitely a great loss to the family. However life never stops. Bano and Sarpanch were under shock and to retrieve themselves from the crime they had committed against their daughter, proceeded to spend some time in Hardiwar.

As things were moving in this direction, Harinder decided to spend the morning hours at the tea shop and enjoy a cup of tea and catch up with latest developments. Explanation for his absence at the opportune time did not receive any taker as the villagers felt that he deliberately ignored a mother and child in pursuit of amassing wealth. In such cases of dilemma it was better to keep quiet, his parents maintained silence. Feeling hungry on one side and the humiliation he faced in the shops, he took the bus and went off to the town.

Swathy started sleeping with her grandparents ever since she lost her mother. The child who was talkative maintained a unique silence, somehow realizing that her mother like her father has gone and will never come back. Swathy was nearly five years old when her mother breathed her last. The parents were so surprised by Harinder’s attitude and found that he has changed a lot from the time he had gone abroad for work. After her mother’s death her paternal grandparents did not show any interest in her even though the village elders insisted on keeping the child in his house. So at breakfast while having tea, Harinder’s father brought out the topic of maintenance of the child.

The betrothal ceremony for Harinder’s was planned in a week’s time and marriage after three weeks. Harinder’s parents committed that they would have a very small barat and expected the same from their side. Under compulsion from Saajan, Shabnam decided to attend the marriage. Exactly three months after the marriage, Harinder left for Middle East to renew his contract, and his wife Shobha was circumspect as to where she should reside, with her parents or in-laws. Her son from the first marriage was with her parents and did not find much interest with the newly found step father. His mind always had the fear of dastardly acts committed by step father or mother.

After seeing off Harinder, Shoba went back to her parent’s home. What was worrying Harinder’s mother was that since the second marriage he has been sending money home, which was directly in the name of Shoba, who in turn used to hand it over to her, but with Shoba having gone to her own house, they would have no access to the money. At that time she did not forget to mention that due to the poor financial condition they are in after Shabnam’s marriage, the house was being run on the money sent by their son. Shoba was not committal and assumed as if she did not understand the conversation.

Shabnam with her brother in-law returned around six in the evening after attending her brother’s marriage. During the meal even though she felt vomitish; all events related to the marriage were exchanged. At the hospital she was examined, and when the doctor saw her with the husband he was pretty sure of the reason for this woman to have a crush on him. Next day with the test report she with her friend went to the doctor. The doctor congratulated her and diagnosed her discomfort with pregnancy. In the village she had monthly periods for sure. Except that the brother in-law was little bit darker, they resemble in appearance, so if the child takes on him, there would not be much of contrasting features. As per her calculation, it was her brother in-law’s child. She was in double mind whether to be honest and abort the child and open the Pandora’s Box or keep quiet and enjoy the jubilation being expressed by her husband. Saajan informed his mother the good news about his wife and that he would be a proud father in four months time.

At the marriage, they crossed each other, and recognizing Shoba, Swathy said Hello to her step mother. She was overwhelmed by the gesture and went to her and spends some time with her. Upon reaching a stage of reasonable comfort, she thought it as prudent to introduce her son to the child. As a special gesture, the owner of the school allowed Swathy’s admission in the school without any charges which a parent usually needs to pay as monthly fees. Phulmati appeared in her mother’s dream and supposedly told her that it was Swathy’s birthday and she was sleeping.

Samar was soon elevated as a minister, a rare mark for a first time MLA. Soon the word spread around the village about Swathy’s mystical power.

The annual day of the school went off well as planned. For once Shoba decided to support the child. So she met the film director and agreed to be with the child anywhere to shore up her talent. Reluctantly Swathy’s grand parents gave consent. So in the company of Shoba the child found a guardian who was not only confident but also caring. The child was often surprised when some of the cast or crew members addressed Shoba as her mother, so to avoid confusion she started calling her Mummy. When she called Shoba for the first time, it took time for her to realize, but soon it became natural. Time flies of at a rapid pace and Swathy too grew with time. For Shoba also the school was acceptable. School was in the town and not far from her house.

Shoba took upon herself entire responsibility of attending to the child’s needs. Once inside the house, realized that she missed her periods which was forgotten by her and asked herself Is it the indication of her pregnancy? the only relief if the case was true then the child would be handsome too. Time flies fast, because by now she was five weeks pregnant and the doctor during the check up put the stethoscope in Shoba’s ears.

The news came up that Shabnam was blessed with a baby girl.

Children were transported by a locally arranged school bus. The school bus was in actuality not a bus, rather a derelict. On top of all the driver of the bus had engaged more children than the capacity of the vehicle. This school bus has thirty seats and takes almost sixty children in it. There is no front door, but a side exit, and there is no emergency exit at the back. The word School Bus is not written but "Basanti’ in Hindi is written across the rear as well as front of the bus. Life carried on in the village with this school bus as no one else was ready to start a school bus which met all the conditions. The school authorities also found it economically not viable a proposal to start a school bus in this route.

After the school trip the bus transported grocery items from the ‘Biswajit’s Kirana shop’ in the town to the retailers in the village. In the evening after the last trip the driver and conductor slept in the bus and completed the morning rituals in the village sugarcane fields and washed themselves in the village pond.

‘Basanti’ the school bus was in a better shape after the repair, but the owner wanted to charge extra money for the repair. The school bus for the children was a place to chat with their informal circle and exchange vital information. As scheduled the routine of the school bus staff start with their morning tea, which was followed by a gossip at the tea shop, but unfortunately it did not go that day as per plan, because of the rain.

Today the bus was late, so they had lot of time to discuss among themselves about various topics, and surprising none connected to the other. Seeing that few of the children were not in the bus, it was assumed that it will be almost like a holiday in the school. As the luggage was less, the movement of the bus was easy. The standard creaky noise of the gear being shifted and the jerk the bus takes while starting were not experienced by the children. While crossing the bridge on the river, driver experienced an exceptional pitch and roll of the bus. The school bus was fully loaded and the basket behind was filled with goods from the town. To compensate for the loss of income due to fewer luggage during the onward trip; driver and conductor encouraged the shop keepers to load maximum items cautioning that rains may be soon in the town in few days time, recommending them to stock items in the village Kirana shops before the next rain.

While the school bus was crossing the bridge suddenly a speeding motor cycle came from the opposite direction. In order to accommodate the motor cycle the school bus was steered to the left. In a matter of seconds the school bus fell down in to the river. The squeak of the school children was so pronounced that it could be heard over few miles. Due to rain the previous night, water level was high and definitely added to the agony. Collapse of the portion of the bridge as a result of the accident leading to the drowning of large number of children is a reminder of the shoddy neglect of rules on safety and conduct of school buses.

Headmaster of the village primary school informed the police, and it was at this time that the police came to know about the incident. As the door of the school bus was open it was least likely that anyone would be trapped in the bus. Finally a head appeared out of the water and it was that of a school child. By then the district administration had mobilized the police, fire, health and other departments to the village. Nearby three more houses were provided by the Lambardar for establishing a control room for rest and recovery.

The first child who was recovered seen floating in water was brought back to senses by the doctor, he was disoriented. By the time the ninth child was saved the fire department vehicle, doctors from the town general hospital arrived. Arrival of these doctors was a blessing. A team was earmarked to safely cross them over the damaged bridge to the other side so that they can attend to the children, who have already been evacuated. As soon as the doctors and paramedics reached the make shift hospital, they got on to their job. It was something worth watching; they were quickly in to their working dress and started attending to the children.

Phalak had established her tea shop at the accident site. The biggest problem she faced was privacy. Twenty four hours she was busy at the shop and whenever she found some time to take bath, there was always the fear of someone peeping.

Driver was not alive, and the children were far from being in a frame of mind to take on any question. Here the possible conclusion was; the bridge was weak and bus was overloaded, so when the complete load was on the weakest portion of the bridge it collapsed and taking along with the collapsed portion of the bridge was the school bus with the children.

The primary school was evacuated and made into a make shift hospital. At the triage and resuscitation of the seven children who were evacuated in the make shift ambulance on the recommendations of Dr TP Das was being done. The trauma unit was set with the task of attending to the care of the remaining children. The children were evacuated by the fastest means, but owing to rain and circuitous route they had to follow delayed the arrival of children. Only essential first aid was provided to these children. For the villagers, the only breathing space or hope was Sarpanch. He was contacted, by the attendant and parents of the injured children, who got the Superintendent of Police on line and requested his immediate attention for the children. This removed all the obstacles and children were admitted for treatment.

There were two children who had head injury. They were the first to be attended to and transferred to the intensive care. It was a difficult process, but the requirement was there, so the hospital administration supported the decision. Two other cases had excess water still retained in the lungs. The medical specialist was tasked to attend them. The remaining fifteen children, who were fortunate to escape the bad side of accident, were handed over to their parents for further care. Seven more children who were shifted to the specialty hospital were conscious unlike the other six who were already admitted and have been operated upon. One of the critically injured children presented an acutely depressed level of consciousness and signs of headache, vomiting, convulsions and coma. The intern who was with the specialist to help him as well as gain experience constantly reminded the authorities on the deteriorating condition of this girl child.

Organ transplantation is one of the most complex procedures in medicine for several reasons. All major religions either accept organ donation or recognize the right of individual members to make their own decision. It’s not clear that brain death is a form of death according to Buddhism. Life after death is a strong belief of Hinduism and is an ongoing process of rebirth. The Church of England takes its support for organ donation even further and declared organ donation a Christian duty.

One of the parents told the exasperated mother of the child who was comatose and on treatment that You should insist on an EEG, which will be flat in case of brain death. It is true that this is sometimes also observed during deep anesthesia or cardiac arrest. No other tests are required for diagnosis of brain death in case two assessments of brain stem impulses and a single apnoea test are convincingly performed. This entire procedure is then considered to be totally a clinical procedure and conclusive. In the absence of either complete clinical findings consistent with brain death, or confirmatory tests demonstrating brain death, it can be diagnosed and certified. In this case all tests were prolonged for some more time as the patient to be observed in this case was a child.

However convincing was the Doctor attending to the child’s reasoning, the head of the neurology department could not understand as to why the hospital administration was in such a hurry to declare the child as a case of ‘brain death’. As they have taken care of her for the past ten days, they could have reasonably waited for some more time.

It is likely that when the bus turned over losing her balance the child must have hit her head on some blunt object causing hemorrhage. There were no superficial injuries on the child. Severe head injury, are potential causes of irreversible loss of brain function. Understanding their financial condition it was thought that even if some medical miracle can retrieve the child, it will be out of the reach of her parents to sustain treatment. As the patient was certified as brain dead and the ventilator was to be disconnected, the family was informed officially.

Since the previous morning the hospital authorities have shown extreme solidarity with this family. It was not magnanimity, but because of a well thought out reason. In most of the cases the problem was that the family members should be prepared for the possibly disturbing clinical activity that they may witness when organ donation is contemplated. Ventilator support will conclude in the operating room and family attendance is not appropriate. The facility must make diligent efforts to notify the person closest to the patient that the process for determining brain death is underway. Patients classified as brain-dead can have their organs surgically removed for organ donation even though not everyone agrees with this practice, preferring to limit organ donation to those individuals who have suffered the death of all of their brain and the death of their cardiac and respiratory systems.

Finally the mortal remains of the child reached the village by noon and were cremated. Even some of the doctors present as well as some who attended the case and other bystanders who were aware of this case were not convinced that due process was taken to ensure that declaration of ‘brain death.’ Was it not for ulterior motive a question which will linger around for some more time and when the next case comes up the present case will be forgotten?

It is for sure that what is scripted in Bhagawat Gita is correct Physical integrity of the dead body is not seen as crucial to reincarnation of the soul. As a person puts on new garments, giving up the old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies giving up the old and useless ones. Probably the child’s good deeds in her life made the transmigration of the soul and its reincarnation in to a wealthy family and her suffering, fight against poverty was put to an end, whereby her deeds in this life determined its fate in the next.

JARGONS

*Dhobi=Washer man

*Mandir=Temple

*Panch= Village Elders

*‘Laffandars’= Loafers

*Naga Panchami=Auspicious Day for Worshipping Snake God

*Panch Nag=Five Headed Snake

*Puja=Procedure of Worship

*Mahant = Head Priest

*Panchayat = Village Local Administrative Body

*Mathi = Salty Biscuits

*Salwar-Kameeze=Dress Worn By Girls

*Mangalik = Born On an Inauspicious Day

*Kurta =Top Worn By Men

*Fauj =Military

*Pandits=Priests

*Ghats=Cremation Ground For Hindus

*Totawala = Fortune Teller

*Lungi = Apron

*Pakora = Refreshments

*Dal = Lentil

*Sarpanch = Village Head

*‘Masala = Spicy

*Pallu= A Cloth Traditionally Worn By Women to Cover Their Bosom

*Kangan = A Type of Bangle

*Aarati = Decorated Lamp

*Baraat = Bridal Procession

*Mandap = Seat

*Kumkum = Red Powder,

*Chandan Tilak= Sandal Wood Paste

CHAPTER 1

Lamand

1.1   The Village

Lamand was a small village on the outskirts of the recently commissioned nuclear power plant. Mango orchards on the riverside and the gulmohar trees along the roads give a picturesque sight. It has a population of over sixty five thousand. Majority of the villagers are on agriculture as their chief source of income and way of life. So here the day starts few hours before the sun rises and finishes by seven O’ clock in the evening. Since mid nineties the area had received lot of prominence being not too far from the industrial capital of the country. Availability of water and land at reasonable rates has prompted many entrepreneurs to set up industries. The government had given the ten year tax holiday. Their hard work and grace of God combined made almost all the industries successful and now a large number of them are export oriented units. The industrial area is towards the South and that area was barren, uncultivable, so the local self government decided to give the land on lease to industries for a small sum.

The money so received was to be used for infrastructural development, but that did not happen due to lack of involvement. This has resulted in a skewed infrastructural development towards southern portion of the area dedicated to industries, leaving the rest of the area untouched. Apparently this was the most dominant reason for the bridge over the rivulet connecting the domestic portion of the village to the town not coming up in time despite the project being sanctioned few years back. From the side of the industries town is slightly far off and journey is fine with the fact that river does not transgress through this area. Hence the need of the bridge is obviated, but for the villagers access to the nearby town adds three to four hours to their journey which can otherwise be made from the eastern side. The only problem with the eastern side is the presence of river and its rivulet, which have steep banks and are perennial. During monsoon the river is in full might. Apart from the industrial production which is of recent origin, the village is famous for the best of mangoes in the country, which are generally exported by business houses. The mangoes form these places are in great demand, because of its taste and with the fact that no chemicals are used as fertilizers.

People are quite simple and orthodox. Their life revolves around the activities of few institutions in the village like the tea shop, pond, village temple and the primary health center. The geographical location of this place is unique. It has vast expanse of land and people with large land holdings. A perennial river which provides them water throughout the year flows nearby. The Banyan tree at the village junction is the hub of activities. A mud basement has been created all around. Here people gather around especially the chess addicts. Chess is an interesting past time for the villagers and they are keen on the game. It is exactly not known as to since when the craze for this game got in to the life of the villagers. The basement is still made of a mixture of lime, essence of herbs etc and not even a small amount of cement has been used, but still it is strong even now, without any visible crack.

There were plans to renovate all the four of them, but owing to resistance from the villagers the project was shelved. It is said that even during the devastating flood there was no damage to these structures. These structures may be age old and no one is there to find out the exact age. Some say that they are more than hundred years old. The roads built long back will match the modern planning system. They are broad and well laid out. All the roads in the village are straight with hardly any bend. They cross at right angles. Unlike the hustle and bustle of modern day roads there is general quietness probably due to the use of cycles by the villagers as the primary means of personal transport. Occasionally these roads are resurfaced, but due to lack of quality control, the state of the road is quite bad after monsoon.

Along the road we find number of shady trees which gives an impression that at that time it was planted in a planned way to cater for the requirements of pedestrians. These people are generally on foot and balance of people who travel by bullock cart. So these trees were ideal place to give rest to the beasts of burden. These gulmohar trees which blooms in spring and turns the complete village in to crimson colour. This with the backdrop of setting sun is an awesome sight to watch.

The village life was disrupted for quite some time due to prolonged agitations by various groups against the commissioning of the nuclear plant citing safety and health reasons. General public sentiments were not with them, because of the shortage of power in the area. Shortage of power resulted in unprecedented power cuts. The industries which were started with the promise of uninterrupted electricity in few years time, was delayed by two years. They had invested quite a lot in the capital and were in no mood to accept the demands of these fringe groups preventing the commissioning of the power plant. So they went in to the grass roots causes of the agitation and found that these protests were orchestrated by vested interested foreign firms who were against commissioning of the project. For majority of the people living in that region and to the villagers ten to twelve hours of power cut imposed by the State electricity Board not only affected their livelihood but was also unbearable. It was quite rampant that the shops which installed invertors to cater for electricity during power cuts also failed due to insufficient charging of the batteries. They considered themselves to be the lucky few as in this country there were over eighteen thousand villages which were still not connected in the electricity grid, but had electricity in their village.

There was no house in the village big or small which did not have electricity connection, but being miserly in their natural behavior or rather one can say ‘penny wise pound foolish’ they reluctantly used the electrical equipments to save on the money. Albeit cases of nuclear power plant mishaps are rare, the strike by various fringe groups gained momentum when political parties extended support. The industries group on finding truth in the rumour of foreign funding stepped up the campaign which made most of the villagers back out from the protest. Government tried its level best to remove the apprehensions of its people but was generally not been successful. There was news in the air that the protest was at the behest of a dominant political party which wanted to sabotage the completion of the nearly completed plant and its commissioning on the coming Republic day of the Nation. Till the time the entrepreneurs stepped in, which was supported by the media that there was truth in the vital intelligence reports that parties striking against the project were linked to some foreign agencies there was lack of success. Its disclosure in the electronic and print media with adequate publicity has of late softened the stand of these groups. Hence there was a hope that in few months time the commissioning of the power plant would take place.

This area has many entrepreneurs, who rather than adhering to the common philosophy of getting a Government nine to five job and spend the rest of their life unaccounted for, started small ventures, which have grown in size over the years and become production units, which are now prestigious exporting units. During the last two-three years they suffered production losses owing to interruption in power. Hence they were on the forefront to give momentum for the commissioning of the plant. The plant is ideally located on the banks of the perennial river and had the assurance from the agency that water in the river will not be polluted. The village has other water bodies, which include the fast flowing rivulet, which joins the main river few kilometers ahead of the village and of course the life of the village, which is the pond.

Focal point of the village is its pond. The pond is spread over six acres. At most of the places the pond is not deep, but to the center it is quite unfathomable and lot many stories about hidden treasures buried underneath are prevalent. It is surrounded by habitat on two sides and the other two sides have roads. One road leads to the village school and the other road to the town. On the route to the town is the river which flows north-south and is on the eastern extremity of the village. The stories about the treasures have prompted many treasure hunters to try their luck by getting hand to the riches. Till date no one has been successful.

One story goes on to state that when few centuries ago, the village was the capital of a kingdom. It was attacked by a powerful king. To prevent plunder, as a precaution, the villagers collected their wealth and buried in the pond. After winning the battle the invaders adopted a scorch earth policy and executed the able bodied male. The children and women were taken as slaves. The present population of the village is from, people who returned to the village after hearing about the destruction, but cautious enough not be caught by the invaders. There is also a belief that on the ninth day of the temple festival, if the day comes about on a Tuesday, at the middle of the night in the center point of the pond the King appears with all the gold and gems buried. Many years have passed since these stories have been the talking point of the village. These are considered as myth and carries on from generations to generations. Despite all these none of the villagers are ready to believe that these stories are possibly not true.

On one side of the pond is huge complex housing, adjacent to which is the village school, and two other sides are covered by roads which lead to the town. The other side has a huge complex consisting of the village temple and few houses adjoining it. Water appears to be clean and not muddy despite the fact that all domesticated animals and villagers take bath in this pond. May be due to the weeds or algae, colour of water in the pond is green. It does not smell of dirt and waste, but requires urgent cleaning. Of late people who take bath in the pond regularly complaints of skin rashes and so on. After a lot of deliberations over the years the villagers under the leadership of Samar decided to clean the pond. It was a mammoth project, so the first step in the direction was taken by getting sponsors for the project. With over fifty to sixty industries fully functional, mustering adequate finances for the project was not difficult.

Few of the specialists from the village who were capable and trust worthy were also roped in and by the end of that one hundred and twenty lakh rupees were collected through willing contribution over the year. Some people say that the money collected was more than the declared amount by few times. They say that the organizers worked under a man who was an artful operator in this job and colloquially called as temple fund manipulator a term which is used for people who are associated with the management of temple and assumed to have kept aside a large portion of the money provided for this purpose to their own personal use. Notwithstanding, in order to put an end to all these rumours, seven months before the temple festival, the committee decided to announce the commencement of pond cleaning. The village pond was being cleaned was a big news all around. This pond was spread over few acres and was the lifeline for the locals. Elders say that for three years when it did not rain a sage placed his Golden staff and by his mystical power the earthen pot of water became a pond. Cleaning of the temple pond is very exhaustive job, taking into consideration its spread. Before, the commencement of this job, alternative place for bathing etc. were to be arranged being the life line of the villagers. The river was the ideal place, because the water was a shade better being constantly flowing. Hence with that as the source or the rivulet, the bathing points have to be made for, men and women separately and then for the animals, out of which the bathing place for the women require to be covered to discourage peepers ogling at the scantily gladded women taking bath.

Sabu and his friends had gone to take bath. After four O’ clock the village school closes and it is fun time for the school kids. The village school provides education till sixth class and as for the village elders that much education is sufficient. Now itself they do not have sufficient helping hands to take care of the mango orchards, so by educating the children beyond basic education, they were encouraging more children to migrate to town, which in the long time create an imbalance by introducing outsiders in to the village. This was seen when the construction work of factories were taking place. Owing to insufficient labour force it was decided to get people from outside places to complement the construction force. This was followed by theft and some molestation cases. Surprisingly there was even an attempt to rob the temple. People were averse to such a development in the past, so are not keen on higher education, but the present generation has again started showing interest in education. Once the school closes for the day indicated by the long bell, then the children gather at the pond to swim and also can be counted as that day’s bath. Children, adult, cows, buffalos, and elephants they all take bath alongside each other.

From the far end of the pond one can hear the harmonic motion of the village ¹dhobi washing the cloths by striking on the washing stone. More than the bath, it was playing around, swimming after a full day in the school which was interesting for the children. Because of the existence of pond and its utilization as swimming pool, most of them except few girls who are scared of water, are good swimmers. School and college girls do not frequent the bathing point except on Sunday, and it is on this day that most of the road-side Romeo’s position around the village pond to have a glimpses of the village damsels. Here also the moral policing have come to the aid of these girls, so it is very rare that young men are seen around the bathing point. Despite this still they manage to make it to the vantage point and have a view of their choice. This is one of the problems which are to compound during the time the village pond is being cleaned and the bathing point is shifted. With high and steep banks on the river, any one on the banks can seen all the activities going on in the river. At the pond, early morning hours are generally kept aside for the elderly and religious who take bath in the cold water and offer prayers in the ²mandir. These people start their routine as early as four O’ clock, which is the same time the farmers proceed to their farms to give water for the day. It is a belief that the best time to give water to mango trees is before day breaks and villagers follow it religiously. By day break they would have finished their ritual and the pond is left for use by others. Their bath is in total silence chanting verses from religious scriptures. It is changed every day. The temple has many deities and each day is devoted to one of them. Sunday for all goddesses, Monday for Lord Shiva, Tuesday for Ganesha, and likewise for the other days. There is no logic or theory behind these beliefs. It is passed on from generation to generation and they follow it with total belief.

A typical characteristic of the villagers is that they follow an unquestionable authority of the elders and the ³panch. All their differences are sorted out at these places and it never carries beyond this, however big or serious it may be. After the turn of these people is over, next is that of those engaged in various professions which include workers contracted for the construction of the nuclear power plant. It is at this time that the village school bus is cleaned and the driver, conductor takes bath. After their turn comes the slot for the women folk, who takes pretty long time, which often irritates Joban the elephant whose turn follows them. He often expresses his annoyance by blowing the trumpet few times, which gives an indication to the women to hasten up. He is sometimes mischievous. One doesn’t know whether these animals get attracted to human beings.

A difficult position maintained by the village panch was that when women are at the bathing point, no one except children under the age of twelve are allowed in the pond, which makes others wait for long. Even though the reasons may be valid but it is quite painstaking when time is at premium as most of the house do not have bathroom except for the few rich. These people engage the pond for comparatively longtime than others, probably caused by the gossips they have to fit into place including some juicy stories about extremely closely guarded personal life of people. Another reason is that they are usually tasked with the washing of cloths for the house. Rarely does one find a male doing this job except the village washer man. But he washes the cloths in the river and it is convenient for him. This is because there is no restriction and secondly there is ample space all around to clean up the area.

Of all the people of the village ‘Phalak’ has lot of stories to exchange. She had a natural way of telling stories and hence the biggest of lies could pass off as true stories. Her stories range from elopements, mother and daughter-in- law fights, marital discords, adultery and finally bigotry. Most of the stories are her creation, but as it was an amusement for the villagers especially ladies who generally have no past time in particular. It is also an occasion for them to giving vent to the exasperated conditions when they are at home in the company of their mother, husband and children. It is a fact these people never consider their existence except to get the timely food or washed cloths. So these stories, are encouraged them. In a way most of the women in the world are treated in this manner all over. Incensed with the civism each of the characters and stories narrated in these gossips had a matching relation to the condition they were experiencing in their own homes, but with no one to communicate. By noon these ladies make an effort to peel off stating urgent requirements at home. It was at this time the ⁴‘laffandars’, would occupy concealed vantage points at various places in order to have glimpses of the village women folk taking bath and changing their dress.

You cannot blame the women adding flab all around, because, they know the pain of making food, and for those who consume, it depends on appetite, mood swings etc. However for them to waste the food is painful considering the effort they had put in to it. So rather than wasting the food, they try and squeeze in a lit bit more appetite and finish it. This in turn turns in to unwanted flab. Every day there is an analysis of each one commenting on the others body. More so it is easy to assess, because after washing clothes, including the one they were wearing, they cover themselves by the small apron made of fine cloth which can be rinsed as and when they finish bath. This dries fast or else they use a big size towel as a wrap around. These fine cloths have an advantage that they can be dried very fast. Once they are under water they are bare, so have a complete view of each other. Now that it has been carrying on for years, they do not get embarrassed or typified and it all looks natural. After this it is the turn of the animals to take bath. Their masters including the mahout with ‘Joban’ the village elephant’ occupy places earmarked for their bath and they give him a luxurious bath. Once Joban is in the water cows and buffalos are taken to a separate location. These are places far away from the bathing point used by villagers so that water is generally kept clean. Elephant has a huge body and especially in summer, they cannot withstand the