The bandage was being taken off, slowly, by the nurse under the watchful eyes of the doctor. Mr Bannerjee was looking at the proceedings with a fixed stare, tensed with anxiety, worries and expectation. The doctor then removed the pads of cotton and asked Shova to open her eyes ,very very slowly.Then the doctor asked her whether she could recognise any body.Pointing to Mr Bannerjee, she nodded her head slightly.The doctor then started to go ahead with his next course of treatment, asking others to leave the room and telling Mr Bannerjee that the operation of the eyes of his wife is successful and that he would give him all the instructions, after coming out of the cubicle. Till then Mr. Bannerjee is to wait out side in visitors complex. Along with Mr. Bannerjee, She was also allowed to go inside and was standing at a distance. She had been watching everything and presently took Mr.Bannerjee to the visitors' complex holding one of his hands,trembling with the relief of intense anxiety and fear. Mr. Bannerjee looks at her as his daughter and friend. Earlier he used to live in one of the rented pigeon holes, decoratively called flat, in the same building where in another such hole she lives. But recently he had shifted to another flat, in the same complex, bought with his savings but registered in the name of his youngest son, a medical representative.
Just to get acquainted with this gentle man, it is necessary to know something about him and his family. He is on the wrong side of eighty, so far as age is concerned. Apart from his garrulous, simpleton yet golden hearted wife,Shova, he has two daughters, both married and living with their husbands and in-laws and two sons both of whom are also married..The elder one is a doctor by profession and recently bought a new,spacious flat, suitable to his status and income,in the same complex. A retired assistant station master,Mr. Bannerjee is a very lively personality, having active interest in viewing all sorts of games, especially the telecast of cricket where India is one of the participants, but because of health, he no longer can take part in any role in any amateur theatre,which was his first love.He goes to the market,daily,to buy his favourite vegetables, fish or meat and prefers to cross the distance on foot, avoiding rickshaw, as far possible. When he was in the same building, She used to visit him daily but now her visit is still regular but less frequent. Generally it becomes once in a week but it increases if her local guardian, her foster father becomes sick. Apart from that, she keeps regular touch with him over phone.Recently, She had been there to talk to him although, some times, she finds it difficult to tolerate the act of his moron wife,tuning T.V. in ample volume,to cover up her hearing problem and unable to part with her addiction to soap-serials. With Her by his side, Mr. Bannerjee becomes more lively and prefers to discuss all the intricacies,tit-bits of his life. In this new flat, a smaller than earlier rented flat,he and his wife had to accommodate themselves at the corner of dinning cum drawing room.The other room is meant for his younger son, wife and grand daughter. Of-late,during her visit, She found that,off and on, the old man becomes some what unmindful and goes beyond her reach,fixing his gaze to some unknown distance and in a pensive mood. As if, the young station master in him is gazing at a fast,express train,crossing his station, blowing a whistle, as if to acknowledge his presence on the station and spewing tall columns of smoke which gradually reclines on the cushion of air making room for the next columns and mingles with the air. As if he is trying to find some analogy with his own life, seeking for reclining on the care of his children and grandchildren or perhaps he was thinking about something else regarding which she did not have any idea. During such moments, She never disturbed him nor ever she asked about the reason of his occasional unmindfulness. After one such visit when She wanted to take leave of him, he caught her hand and told her that He wants to come to her flat. After weighing the stress this visit is likely to affect him, climbing up and down so many stairs, She decided to give it a go as that might help this gentleman have some diversion from the monotony.
One day,Mr. Bannerjee came to her house in the evening, panting heavily although he had taken some rest in one of the flats belonging to one of his old acquaintances. He sat and drunk a glass of water, relaxed for some time and then asked for tea, a favourite drink of his. He enquired about her health, the health of her mother and about other members of her family. After spending about an hour,discussing different current happenings, in a very jovial mood he suddenly became silent and after a little pause, he rose and wanted to take leave of her. She was a bit perplexed, but felt that perhaps he had some thing else to discuss apart from idling some time with her but thought it unfair to ask about it, and so she requested him to spend some more time and after that she will go along with him up to his house.He pondered for a few minutes and then again took his seat. With a little pause and some fumbling,a very unusual thing for him,He started his monologue..meant of-course only for her ears."When you go to our house,I know you feel irritated by the full-volume tuning of T.V. by your Mashima but perhaps you are not aware of the reason behind it.Her eye sight is very poor, she cannot see any thing on the T.V.,apart from her hearing problem. But she pretends to the viewing of T.V. as out of shame, she can not divulge her agony to others. Both of her sons are aware of this problem but are unconcerned and never bothered to take any initiative to get her cataract operated upon. Now my body has become frail and I can not summon sufficient courage to take her to the Doctor and to the nursing home. So I have come to plead to you to take us to the nursing home for the examination and operation.But I request you not to tell this to any members of my family".He started sobbing. She, with clenched fist and tightened jaw controlled her rage , consoled him and told him that it will be taken care of. She, a widow with some provisions left by her late husband and her Masters degree as her capital for sustenance, has got one son who is still striving hard to establish himself to come to the aid of his mother.But this financial condition never could deter her to keep her head aloft on her shoulder neither she had ever asked for anything from any body.
Her resolution taken on that day and subsequent action had culminated to the incidence of this fate-full day. On the following day,after collecting all necessary follow up instructions and medicines from the Doctor, she escorted both Mr. and Mrs. Bannerjee to their house.Helping Shova to lie on the bed in the correct posture,as suggested by the the Doctor, she took leave of Mr. Bannerjee and headed for her flat.
To her surprise, she found that all the children of Mr.Bannerjee present in the house including the eldest son,the doctor.But none of them spoke any word to her.She came back to her empty flat, had a bath and sat quietly on a sofa in her drawing room. Rage,anxiety,exertion, irregular schedule along with sleepless night took a heavy toll on her health. Now ,although she was totally exhausted, she was feeling very light,both mentally and physically as she has been successfull to discharge the responsibility bestowed on her.
But something was gnawing the core of her heart.The doctor had done his job with success.But will the invisible "Ethical Scalpel" wielded by her be able to do its intended
job...Will it be able to remove the 'Cataract" from the eyes of any of the children of Mr.and
Mrs. Bannerjee?.
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