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Pulse Polio Nightmare

Discussion in 'Stories (Fiction)' started by Tamrakshar, Dec 10, 2017.

  1. Tamrakshar

    Tamrakshar Platinum IL'ite

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    Fear of imminent death caused a constriction in my throat and a spasm in my chest. 20 to 25 very angry, red-eyed, bearded people with open swords and shiny daggers had surrounded me and Sabina. "Kill him, kill him", they were shouting. Crying copiously, Sabina was begging mercy for my life. But her efforts were going in vain, as the mob seemed to be in no mood to heed.

    When I ventured to Dhosa gram panchayat, about 15 km from my block head quarters in the morning, I knew that the mission was going to be fraught with danger. But even in my wildest nightmare, I couldn’t imagine that they would be hell-bent on taking my life.

    When I was posted as the Joint BDO in Joynagar 2 development block, my primary responsibilities were to look after the NREGS programme and the health matters. While NREGS was cool, heath became an unhealthy matter for my liking. There used to be a monthly meeting at the district headquarter, where various heath matters were discussed. Eradication of pulse polio had been a matter of grave concern for not only the country, but also the entire world. So, every state took the matter very seriously, and rigorous mechanism was introduced to achieve the objective. In this story, I shall not deal with the technicalities of the matter. But it would be sufficient to say that every district authority had identified some hamlets termed as red spots in the area under its jurisdiction where there had been no administration of pulse polio vaccine. Unfortunately, my block had 3 such hamlets. In the first meeting, the DM had asked me what did I do to cover those 3 spots. I was vague, as I had no concrete idea about the matter.

    When I went back to my block next day, I enquired about the issue. They told me that those spots were like mini-Pakistan: no body could go there without risking his life. A couple of efforts were made by sending some Muslim officers and Muslim nurses to persuade them. But every time they got back beaten black and blue by an angry mob. Since last 2 years nobody dared to visit those spots. I was young, energetic and enthusiastic. Besides, I had an ex-Muslim girlfriend with whom I spent time for about 5 years. That gave me some confidence to deal with Muslims. So, I decided to take the bull by the horns. From my experience, I knew I could not venture there alone; I had to take a female companion.

    I asked the ANM, but she reacted as if I asked her to walk barefoot on fire. On her refusal, I tried to persuade the ASHA of the region. She, too, tried to shrug off the responsibility. But I could not let that Muslim lady go. So I had to threat her that I would sack her in case she did not comply with my order. Thus, very reluctantly Sabina Shiekh, a young, good-looking, unmarried, poor Muslim lady, agreed to accompany me.

    Taking Sabina with me was a really good decision. We had to get down from the car at a distance of 2 km from our destination. From there onwards, we had no other option but to walk on a 4 ft narrow dirt road. Sabina, being an ASHA, often came to this areas to administer tablets to pregnant women. She knew ins and outs of this place. When I was very carefully passing a 2ft path very close to a pond -- I was really scared as I didn’t know swimming -- Sabina told me that our red spot would start after this place.

    I was pleased to note that as predicted by Sabina, the entire menfolk were on the field, busy in reaping paddy -- which took a delightful golden yellow colour -- with sickles. Only a few elderly men were gossiping together in front of a mud house, while the children were busy in playing. We tried to move as surreptitiously as possible. However, an old man sitting idly and smoking bidi on the veranda of a tin-shed house noticed us.

    He asked, "Hey, where are you going?"

    We were prepared for this question. Sabina said, "Jt BDO Sir will enquire about the proper implementation of the Janani Suraksha Yojana." The grumpy old man didn’t know me. However, he knew Sabina. So, he didn’t put any more questions.

    Almost all the houses were mud houses in this hamlet, mostly thatched, a few with tiles and a few with tin sheds.

    In front of one such house, Sabina said, "This house has 4 children below the age of 5. Let’s begin with this house, Sir."

    With a constriction in throat, I said,” Okay! Let’s begin."

    On thrice calling her name by Sabina, a mid-thirty, burqa-clad lady opened the door. Watching me, an unknown guy, she got scared. Sabina assured her not to panic and asked her to call her children, as she would give them chocolates. But before that they had to take 2 drops of a medicine. The lady angrily said that her children would not take polio vaccine, as her husband had told her that intake of polio vaccine would make them impotent.

    With a plastic smile on my face, I lied through my teeth, "This is vitamin drop, very good for health. This is a special initiative from our block development office. It has nothing to do with polio. "

    Perhaps, my suited-booted demeanour made her rethink. She stammered a bit and very reluctantly called her 4 children, all aged between 0 to 5. Sabina administered all of them 2 drops of polio. After that as promised, she gave them a chocolate each. I heaved a sigh of relief: for the first time any child from this village had taken a polio drop.

    Then we moved to the second house. By applying the same method, we administered polio drops to the two tiny little children of that house. Within one and half hour, we managed to cover 80% children below 5 years. I began to feel relieved. Sabina said, "4 more houses, Sir. Then we would be done."

    Oozing in confidence, I said, "Yes Sabina, we are going to make the impossible possible."

    Sabina said, "Sir, your idea of showing the chocolates first is working very well. The mothers are not showing much skepticism."

    In the next house, we got ourselves in a very precarious situation. We did not know that the young mother of 2 were an educated lady. Within a minute, she understood our stratagem.

    She said, "Hey, this ain’t any vitamin. This is polio drop."

    I felt very nervous. Would she scream? Would she call the men from the field? But proving my apprehension wrong, she said she appreciated our effort and wanted to know how we could enter here on a polio vaccine day!

    I said, "This ain’t a polio vaccine day. This is my special effort to save the poor children from your locality. I spent 1000 rupees from my pocket to purchase the chocolates."

    She seemed to have been very impressed by me. We covered the next two houses in the next 20 minutes.

    In front of a very dilapidated pucca house, Sabina said, "This is our last house, Sir."

    "How many children are in the house, Sabina?" I enquired.

    "Only one, Sir." The answer sounded so sweet to my ear that I could not believe it.

    "Did you say one?" I wanted a reconfirmation.

    "Yes Sir, this a rather progressive family. The husband of the house works in a tailor shop in Kolkata and the wife had passed the higher secondary examination."

    Cheerfully, we knocked the door. Here, too, not much of a fuss happened. Just when we were preparing to leave the house, there was suddenly a bolt from the blue. 20 to 25 very angry looking, bearded Mullahs barged in to the house.

    "Where is the bad guy who is making our children impotent?" - A short-statured, middle-aged, leader type of guy with a very long beard, which he dyed with red colour, asked.

    "Kill him, kill him" was the chorus call from others.

    While we were busy in giving OPV to the children of this hamlet, a boy went to field to show his prized possession, which happened to be the chocolate given by me, to his father. The father was a medieval-minded muajjam of a local mosque. He became suspicious, and on enquiry he found out the truth. Within a few minutes, he called the men to avenge what he thought was an attack on Islam. The people of this area had been known to be hot-headed. Immediately, they took out their weapons, ranging from swords, daggers, sickles to sticks.

    Within a second, I understood that there was no point in denying that we administered polio drops to the children below 5 years age of this hamlet. I tried hard to make them understand that how important it was for their children to take polio vaccine. I had taken a few pictures of polio victims in my pocket. I showed them the pictures and told them that without the vaccine, their children, too, could be afflicted with polio. I thought that watching the pictures, they would calm down.

    But the local Imam of the mosque, Jan Mahammad, shouted from the top of his voice, "Stop your bull ****! You think that we don’t understand your propaganda! You are a rabid anti-Islam fellow. You want our children to be ruined. We won’t spare you."

    The public supported him with the blood-thirsty call of, "Slit his throat. Kill him."

    By then Sabina began to cry copiously. She begged for mercy of my life. She told them that I was a good guy, and I had no evil intention. Jan Muhammad didn’t like her coming in defence of a kafir. He slapped Sabina forcefully, and in a stentorian voice, told her to remain silent, lest she should also be killed along with me.

    Before I could come up with another set of argument in my defence, a boorish young man targeted my neck with his sword. Had it hit the target, I wouldn’t have been here to tell you the story. Fortunately and thanks to my reflex, I swayed away quickly from the brandishing weapon. It missed my neck, but took a slice of flesh from my shoulder. Blood gushed out. Immediately, my shirt became soaked with blood. Watching so much of blood, Sabina fainted. I was in severe pain, but it was such a time that I could not pay any attention to it. Also, in front of an imminent death, my fear had also vanished.

    Somehow, I garnered courage, and shouted as hard as possible,

    "Enough! Stop hitting me. If the polio drops are harmful to your children, so will they be to me. I am unmarried. I am drinking it in front of you."

    I drank half portion of potion in a bottle in front of them. Surprised by that move, there was pin drop silence in the room for a while.

    But within a minute Jan Muhammad said, " You son of Devil, you think we shall be puzzled by your drama? Kill him folks."

    Encouraged by his demagoguery, again the people surrounding me became agitated. A middle-aged robust man, who looked like a butcher to me, shoved me so forcefully that I fell down on the floor. The butcher raised his chopper to cut my throat. I thought that was it. I closed my eyes.

    One second passed, two second passed, but nothing happened. When I opened my eyes, I was extremely surprised to see Tarannum Bibi, the lady who praised my effort, crouching in front of me protecting my body from the bloodthirsty weapon. Within seconds two more Muslim ladies came forward encircling me. Extremely aghast by the action of these ladies, Jan Muhammad rebuked them, "What are doing here, you idiots?"

    "He is a good man. His intention is good. We cannot let him die" , said Tarannum firmly.

    I thought my life had been saved by these ladies. But since when the mad mullahs listened to their womenfolk? This was no exception. Within 5 minutes, Jan Muhammad and others cleared the deck of the troublemakers. Again, I was left alone to face the ferocious hyenas.

    Jan Muhammad said, "Hard luck! You have come to the lion’s den. You have to face the consequences. Be ready for death."

    Jan Muhammad himself took a large, shiny chopper. Two men forcefully made me lie standstill on the floor. Again I closed my eyes, as I thought luck would not favour me second time. But I didn’t know that when the intention is good, luck sometimes shows extra favour. Before Jan Muhammad’s chopper could bifurcate my body, a bunch of armed police men from the local police station barged into the room, and took control of the situation very quickly. The OC of the police station was known to me.

    Very surprised, I asked him, " I didn’t inform you. Then how could you enter the scene in correct time and save my life?"

    He smiled, "Sabina informed us. We knew this would be a very dangerous situation. From the very beginning, we had a close watch. But I must give credit to you for fulfilling the most difficult job."

    I looked at Sabina. Sabina smiled at me. I took Sabina’s both hands in my hands, and said, "Thank you very much Sabina."

    I couldn’t understand why at this happy juncture Sabina cried.
     
    GeetaKashyap likes this.
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  2. GeetaKashyap

    GeetaKashyap IL Hall of Fame

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    Tamarakshar,

    Very interesting narration. It is shocking to hear about their backward thoughts and mindless acts in the 21 st century.
     
  3. Tamrakshar

    Tamrakshar Platinum IL'ite

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    Thanks GK for the reply. It's extremely difficult to work in these areas. A portion of the story is fictional, but some portion is real.
     

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