I have a recurrent dream.
I am surrounded by middle aged women. They are all standing looking down at me. I am sick suffering from diarrhea for several days. I am an infant, lying down on my back. I am so weak that I am unable to open my eyes. The ladies are not counting days; but hours.
My father married before he had a job. Not only that, he had two children before he was offered his first job of an Assistant Engineer at Damodar Valley Corporation. He was posted at Maithan Dam, a hydroelectric project, where there was no family accommodation. My mother stayed back in Daltonganj, in Jharkhand that happens to be her hometown as well as our ancestral home. My age should be around two years. I had an attack of diarrhoea. My mother was matriculate. For reasons unknown to me she got in touch with a Traditional Practitioners. Not one but several of them in rotation. Instead of treating me with medicine they were removing the spirit – a form of Exorcism. Diarrhoea worsened. Things went out of control. Mother visited several temples in the vicinity to offer prayers for my life.
I was passing motion multiple times a day. My mother was advised not to hydrate with water or juice. My skin was getting dry. One can pull it by several inches.
We didn’t have a telephone. Father was sent a telegram
COME SOON. SON IS SERIOUS.
He arrived by late night train. Looked at me. He was shaken up. Carried me on his lap. He didn’t own a scooter or a car that time. Walked three kilometers to the nearest hospital. No doctor was to be found. He left me with the mother. Walked to the doctor’s residence. Woke him up. Requested him to come to the hospital. On examination doctor advised several bottles of intravenous fluids. None was available at the hospital. Father again walked to a medical shop. Found out the address of the shopkeeper. He was woken up. The shopkeeper asked for money. He didn’t have money in his pocket. He promised to give it to him the next day. The shopkeeper trusted him. I survived.
Since then I have not followed a traditional practice, blindly. But the dream often occurs.
Sanjay Agrawal's Blog 