What makes life interesting is the element of uncertainty - not in just one aspect, but in every aspect and at every moment. It is uncertainty, which is the essence of life and without which life becomes so drab and perhaps not worth living. Will a gambler gamble but for the uncertainty involved and his misplaced confidence that he somehow mastered it?
The chance of birth itself vastly varies on several factors. If the fetus is that of a female, its chance of survival beyond few minutes after its detection (which is illegal in India), is low in several states in India. Its survival depends on numerous factors like whether it is a resultant out of wedlock, whether parents are ready to invite the baby into family, financial status of its parents, if it is ‘n’th child, on that number ‘n’ itself, healthcare facilities available and the affordability factor, infantile mortality rates of that country and that section of society and so on.
Soon after birth, anything can happen; for instance, stray dogs in the government hospital can snatch away the baby for breakfast; another woman hovering around can snatch away with the connivance of the hospital staff and sell for a tidy sum, faulty incubator can burn the baby and co-residents of the baby and leave a combined pile of ashes. If it were a child born with a deformity, granny or midwife would end its life even before mother gets a first look; this is more of a norm in India rather than an exception.
If by chance blood obtained from a blood bank is transfused, there is no guarantee that it is free of AIDS or such other deadly deceases. One is never sure whether the doctor is performing the surgery in a private hospital or his school going kid eager to become a doctor one day is performing. Never ask questions like whether the doctor is actually qualified or not - there are no right answers. For someone hospitalized, there is no guarantee that doctor will not steal a kidney to make a pile of money elsewhere. None of these is figments of imagination of an author habituated to writing horror stories. These are regular happenings even in major metros of India.
It is difficult to give an exhaustive exposition in a brief post of a blog. There is no guarantee that the medicines taken are still effective or have long expired, not to mention whether it is a dummy pill or a spurious drug or actual medicine. There is no guarantee whether the school/college the child registers is recognized or doomed; existent or non-existent. Let us not discuss whether the child gets admission for a course he/she deserves.
By skipping all intermediate stages, families are not sure whether the missing family member is alive or not since they cannot recognize the charred bodies in a fire accident; or an early bird came first and claimed a dead body with a cinematic wail and ran away with accompanying compensation cheque.
No comments:
Post a Comment