A mother's faith
July 11 2007
"Chottu, how much do you sleep? Look at mummy. Ok, loosen your knees beta, listen to mummy. Very good, loosen it a little more, so that mummy can massage it. You need to have strong bones, how else will my beta walk..."
Meena Singh's voice drifts through the corridor as she talks to her son as if he was a toddler again. Her meeting a few hours ago with Dr R D Nagpal, the neurosurgeon who has been Amit's doctor, had brought little hope but her voice does not betray those feelings.
She talks to him with excitement, urging him to make contact with her eyes, cajoling him to loosen his taught limbs, her eyes bright, her voice breaking into a laugh, in the hope that something -- anything -- would make her son respond to her.
Her belief that Amit will rise again and walk out of the hospital is rock solid. And she speaks about it with a certainty and a faith that only a mother can have.
"According to the doctor there has been no change in his condition but he said it wasn't as if a miracle couldn't happen. It can happen," says Meena, gently massaging Amit's arms and legs.
The acute head injury that Amit sustained has resulted in a coma. To bring some relief to his limbs, his mother massages him with olive oil twice every day. She oils his hair and massages his face with almond oil.
"See Amit I've brought the beauty parlour to you... and here we begin with your facial..." she laughs, bending over to see her son's face.
The she turns around and says, "Haven't you noticed how his skin still looks nice? It's because of the daily massage. After being in hospital for year do you think his skin could have looked like this otherwise?"
Image: Every morning and evening, Amit's mother makes him sit by the window which has been his only outing for a year. Photograph: Reuben N V
More at http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/11slide3.htm