Madhu

Story of a girl who had drug-resistant tuberculosis

Madhu gave a gentle push to the window blades outward and took deep breath. The fresh air of the morning rejuvenated her in a moment.

 

 

‘Morning is the best feeding time for your lungs.’ Javed often told her. ‘Don’t deprive them of the unadulterated oxygen of the morning air.’

‘Are you an early riser?’Madhu couldn’t help asking him.

‘My day usually starts at four. This is a habit my father had inculcated in me.’ replied Javed. ‘Don’t ever miss your morning hours. They are the right time to initiate a perfect day.’  He said with a sense of deep pride. ‘That’s what my father used to tell me off and on. I am still practicing that.’

‘Your father? Is he still with you?’

‘No. He left us five years back.’ Javed said with his smile intact.

‘I am so sorry.’ Madhu said apologetically. ‘But this must have been a very early demise. What happened to him?’

‘TB.’

Madhu got a shock. ‘But….’ She couldn’t continue.

‘Doctors took three full years to diagnose his TB of the intestine. But it was already too late. TB had spread almost every corner of his body by that time. He was also diabetic.’

She didn’t know what to say.

‘But don’t worry.’ Javed gave him an assuring smile. ‘TB is a curable illness. My father was extremely ill-fated to die of TB.’

‘I may be also ill-fated like your father! Who knows?’ Madhu said shedding a depressing smile. ‘My TB is not an ordinary one.’

‘But you know what? Your disease was diagnosed on the right time. You are responding well to the medicines. Your recent test report is encouraging. I am more than sure you are on the way to recovery.’

Recovery? Even a year back Madhu was not sure of coming out of her illness.

 ‘Your treatment will continue for two and half years.’ said the Medical Officer of the TB-treatment centre.

‘Is my disease so bad that I need to gulp so many of those pills for such a long time?’ Madhu asked the doctor in tearful eyes. She lost every bit of faith from her life that time.

‘There is no other option Madhu.’

‘Will she ever be cured?’ it was the turn of her father then to ask the Medical Officer. ‘She is my only daughter. If something happens to her…………….’ He couldn’t complete his sentence and broke down in heavy tears.

‘Madhu, this is a big fight of your life. You have to win it.’ Instead of consoling her father the Medical Officer patted her back and said to her, ‘We will be with you in every single second of your fight. Be positive. Don’t lose hope. I am confident of your success ………..our success.’

But it was a real tough fight. The side-effects of multiple pills and daily poking of painful injections left her nearly dead. Almost every of those sleepless, tiring nights she heard her father lamenting aloud in the adjacent room, cursing himself left to right for the mishap that crippled his daughter.

Bad luck! She was quite convinced then about her sheer bad luck. Otherwise how come someone can get straightway drug-resistant TB without having the disease before? ‘Very few people have drug-resistant TB as the first-time TB.’ said the Medical Officer of the TB-treatment centre. ‘It’s your hard luck that you got it Madhu. I don’t have any other explanation for that.’

She came to know by that time that TB can happen to anyone, at anytime and in any place because the germs of the disease float around the air. You get them easily while breathing the air in your lungs. Few of those germs are resistant to normal TB medicines. They cause drug-resistant TB.

Normal TB medicines can easily cure a normal TB patient within six to eight months. Drug-resistant TB needs treatment for over a couple of years. Daily pill counts generally double up in comparison to normal TB. Not even fifty percent of such patients get cured.

To many it is a death sentence.

Madhu many a time thought of killing herself. What’s the point of carrying a severely distressed body and entirely hopeless mind till an uncertain end-point of an unguaranteed cure?

 

On one such gloomy day Javed knocked at their door.

‘The Medical Officer of the TB treatment centre sent me here.’ He said to her father.

‘What do you want? My daughter is already half-dead by TB. The medicines and injections are destroying her every day. We have lost all hopes on her.’ Her father shed all his frustrations on Javed.

‘It is neither TB nor the medicines that are killing her.’ He replied to her father straightway.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Sorry uncle, I am a bit straight forward person. Let me tell you something on a frank note. Looks like it is you who doesn’t like to see your daughter alive.’

‘How dare you say this to me?’ Her father burst into fury. ‘She is my daughter, damn it?’

‘Every particle of your house is saying that. Not me.’

‘Have you come here to demoralize us further?’ continued her infuriated father.

‘I have come here to prevent you from demoralizing your daughter further. Please take me to her room.’

Her father couldn’t believe the arrogant boy. He immediately rang up the Medical Officer of the TB treatment centre. ‘Whom had you sent to us? What he is going to do to my daughter? He is already talking rudely with me.’ His complaints stormed over the phone. ‘Don’t worry Mr. Mahato.’ replied the doctor from the other side. His name is Javed. He is a councilor and he is the best in the business. I do feel your daughter needs some more good counseling to pull up her sleeves to fight the disease as I told her before. Javed will help her in that.’ ‘You mean to say he will visit us daily?’ her father asked the doctor with deep concern. ‘I don’t like the way he just talked to me.’ ‘Believe me Mr. Mahato. Javed counseled a number of TB patients before and did a splendid job. He won’t dishearten you.’

That was the beginning.

On the very first day they watched a movie in Madhu’s laptop. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s ‘Golmaal’. A top to bottom entertainment comedy. ‘I will load several of those super-hit comedy movies in your laptop soon. Watch them time to time. Soon you will start going to your college and hardly find time for the movies. When is your part one exam? Not even six months left, right?’ he said after the movie. ‘How is the prep going on?’

‘Going to college? Giving exams?’ Madhu couldn’t believe her ears. ‘Are you joking with me?’

‘No.’ he said. ‘It is you who is joking with yourself.’

‘Why are you saying that?’

‘Because you have made easy things so difficult for you.’

‘Easy thing? I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t relax. Everyday seems to be the last day of my life. And those awful medicines and horrible injections �" they almost kill me every second. My father has been completely shattered for me. I had lost my mom when I was just three. Since then he brought me up without letting me realize the absence of mom. He will die if something happens to me. Don’t you know that? Are they easy things?’

‘Of course they are easy things.’ Javed argued.

‘How can you say that?’ Madhu said with her eyes filled with tears.

‘It is always easy to surrender but equally difficult to fight back and win the battle. You have chosen the easy thing Madhu…..to surrender.’

She kept quiet this time.

‘Am I wrong?’ he asked her.

She didn’t answer.

‘Think about this Madhu. You have the whole night to think. We can discuss more about it tomorrow.’

‘Are you coming again tomorrow?’

‘Of course. That’s my job.’

‘I don’t want to discuss anything on my disease with you.’ said Madhu.

‘Fine. But I think you have no problem to watch another movie with me tomorrow. What about ‘PK’? Aamir Khan’s latest blockbuster?’ a broad smile shined across his face.

‘You have downloaded ‘PK’?’ a sudden glow blinked in Madhu’s shrunken face.

‘Have you watched it?’

‘No.’ Madhu suddenly sounded super-excited. ‘When the movie was released I got to know about my disease and could never make it after that.’

‘Are you a fan of Aamir Khan?’

‘Of course. I never missed his movies.’ The glow of happiness broadened in Madhu’s face.

‘Oh my goodness! I never knew you are such a movie buff! Ok, tomorrow will be ‘PK’ day for us.’

That night Madhu as usual didn’t get her sleep, but with a different thought that kept her totally puzzled.

Is she surrendering to her disease?

 

The movie show continued for a week.

One day Madhu’s father asked Javed, ‘You come to our place every day and leave after showing movies to my daughter. Are you someone from the film industry promoting their products to my ailing daughter?’

Javed asked him an out-of-context question. ‘How many chapaties you daughter took last night in her dinner?’

‘She can’t even complete one.’ replied the disgusted father.

‘I am asking about last night.’

He cooked chicken last night. Madhu is very fond of chicken.

It suddenly struck his mind. Madhu took one and half chapaties with chicken last night. But he kept quiet.

‘Uncle, have a count on her chapaties.’

After a couple of days while watching Salman Khan’s ‘Kick’ he all of a sudden asked her, ‘So what have you decided?’

‘What are you talking about?’ Madhu exclaimed.

‘Are you still in the agreement with surrendering to your disease?’

Madhu didn’t speak a word.

‘Speak up Madhu. Tell me what you want. Surrender or to fight?’

‘Do I have a chance?’ she asked very slowly.

‘If you fight there is a bright chance. If you surrender you have no chance. The decision is entirely yours.’

Madhu didn’t utter a word again.

‘Think over. You have a full night for that. Tell me tomorrow. Then I will show you a very special movie.’

‘Which movie? How is it so special?’ Madhu sounded curious.

‘A movie about someone who never gave up in his life.’

Madhu made up her answer that night.

Next day when she told Javed she would like to fight back TB he asked her a funny question, ‘How do I know you prefer to fight not surrender?’

Madhu didn’t know what to reply. Javed’s next question perplexed her further.

‘How many chapaties you take in your dinner?’

‘I don’t even feel like taking one of them.’ She said to him.

‘Make it two. Fighters need to eat. And that’s how they can only survive and win the battle.’

‘I can’t. I will puke it out.’

Then he showed her the film made of a man’s life who was born without arms and legs. His name was Nick Vujicic.

‘You are in much better state and shape than Nick. If he can lead a complete life with such extreme level of disability can’t you take two chapaties in dinner? You should be ashamed of yourself if you can’t.’ He said harshly on her face after the film.

After a couple of days she watched a film on a girl named Arunima. She was a national level volleyball player who was thrown out of a running train by a group of assailants as she had protested while they tried to snatch her gold chain. She survived but at the price of one of her legs which doctors were forced to amputate. But Arunima never looked back. She made up her mind. She would climb on the top of Mount Everest to show the world that even a disabled can make impossible possible just by sheer mental strength and will power. She took just two years since her accident to fulfill her dream. Mount Everest was conquered.

Madhu couldn’t sleep again that night. ‘All you need is the killer instinct to achieve your goal. You are your best helper and support. Never lose a battle till you carry the last drop of your blood.’ Arunima kept her awake across the night.

She was feeling the change. The side-effects of the drugs were slowly coming under tolerance. Daily prick of the injection became  not-so-troubling. She could easily manage two chapaties in the dinner without puking. The body was still weak but not devastated like before. And most surprisingly her father stopped shedding tears for her at the dead end of the night.

She started her fight against TB.

Soon she picked up her books and notes and did a little bit of study. ‘When can I attend my college-lectures?’ she asked the Medical Officer on her follow-up visit.

‘So you are feeling better these days, right?’

‘Not very good but I can go to the college.’ She replied confidently to the smiling doctor.

‘So Javed showed the wonder again!’ said the doctor.

She felt surprised. What Javed did other than showing her some films and giving lectures like an all-knowing professor? She only fought the real battle by herself.

She also observed drastic change in the behavior of Javed. His arrogance and rudeness became invisible. He started talking to her father sensibly. She never knew before that there can be also a good friend in him.

They spent hours discussing on various topics starting from politics to professional career. Javed gave her a number of references and tips for professional growth. Madhu always wanted to be a teacher. ‘Do your masters and bachelors’ training of education without a break. You can quickly go up the ladder.’

‘How do you know all that?’

‘I saw my elder sister.’ He promptly replied. ‘she is now leading a big private school.’

‘But I am quite concerned with the TB thing. If it comes back again….I believe it would be only drug-resistant TB in my case…..’ Madhu found it difficult to overcome the fear of the relapse that sometimes happens to the TB patients.

‘You know the three ‘Ds’ of keeping TB away?’

‘Three D’s?’

‘Diet, Discipline and Dum-bells.’

‘Oh my God, you suggest me to be a wrestler or what?’ Madhu burst into giggle.

‘No, it is not like that. Dum-bells stand for regular exercise. Along with that take the right diet and lead a disciplined life-style. You will soon revive your body-immunity and TB won’t find any crack to break that.’

‘You know what? I am feeling much better today. Doctor has also stopped my injections. I can tolerate the medicines much better. But fear of ill-health still haunts me.’

‘Don’t let it haunt you. Madhu. It is all about mind-game. If you can train your mind things will automatically ease out. This is the time to tame and train your mind.’

Javed suddenly stopped visiting her after that.

Madhu felt restless. She tried to call him in his mobile but every time he disconnected. He didn’t reply to her SMS either.

‘You are a sick guy Javed. When I am getting well you stop your visit to me.’

She concentrated into her study and college. Part one exam is knocking the door. She has to do well in the exam. The Medical Officer has recently told her the medicines need to be taken only for few more months. After that her TB will be conquered fully the way Arunima conquered the highest peak of the Himalays.

One day she got a shock of her life discovering Javed in her college.

‘Where the hell were you so long? You didn’t even answer my calls and SMS. What do you think of yourself? The champion counselor?’ Madhu felt like giving him a tight slap.

‘Looks like TB has already run away from you. You are looking terrific. Must be taking four-five chapattis in the dinner, right?’ A naughty smile appeared in his face.

‘Just shut up. I don’t like to talk to you.’

‘Ok, fine, sorry for what I have done. But I need your small help.’

‘What help? I can’t help you.’ Madhu was feeling hitting Javed on his face.

‘Not me but my patients. TB-patients.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I never saw a brave girl like you. Can’t you share your braveness and spirit with others who are suffering the way you suffered in the past?’

‘You want to make me a counselor?’

‘A teacher is also a counselor. Why can’t you start your teaching with the TB patients? They will be happy to see a beautiful and brave girl like you helping them to pull up their sleeves to fight their disease.’

‘Are you joking with me?’

‘I never joked with you. Now tell me, yes or no.’

‘I have my exam very soon. What will happen to that?’

‘Can’t you spend just an hour of a day for someone who so badly needs your support and help? Is your exam more important than that?’

‘I should talk to my father.’

‘I already talked to him. I went to his office before coming to your college. He has no objection provided that doesn’t hamper your study-time.’

Madhu kept quiet.

‘So what is your final call on this?’

‘Let’s go then.’ She held his hand.

‘Where?’

‘To your patients.’

‘What’s the hurry? We can start from tomorrow.’

‘We can wait but TB can’t.’ she poked him. ‘You only told me, forget so fast?’

 

They started their mission against TB.

Together, this time.

Author's Note

Taken from the short story collection named 'ELIMINATORS - crusaders against TB' by Sugata Mukhopadhyay

Reviews

[Lyndy]

Wow, this story is amazing and truly encouraging! Thanks for sharing this. ;)

[Leslie Philibert]

This is a great story, I really like the background, and the way you tackle such a difficult subject...keep up the good work Sugata !

[Coyote Poetry]

A powerful story. TB is a bad sickness. Steal the people from us too soon. I like the storyline and the reason for the story. I like the history shared and the strong ending. Fight to stop a terrible sickness. Thank you for sharing the excellent story.
Coyote