Mental hospital, a term that is generally seen as a curse. When people hear this word, the first thought that comes to their mind is that this is a place where mentally ill people are kept. This thought of people is also true, mental hospital is a place where mentally ill patients are served, are taken care of and are treated.
But along with this, there are many other stereotypes associated with this word, such as common people do not consider those patients as human beings. Most people think that patients who are suffering from any kind of mental problem are dangerous, untouchable and crazy, who can never become normal. These type of patients are not accepted by the society as the part of it and they are not treated properly. But Shikha never agreed with this type of conservative thinking. For her, every person was the same and her every patient was normal for her.
Many people call those patients unintelligent, stupid, mad, psychopath, abnormal and many other names, but for Shikha, all her patients were special. She always believed that having mental problems is not an incurable disease or a permanent problem, it is just a condition of the mind which can be easily cured with the help of right treatment, love and care. She always believed that with the help of proper treatment, they too could become normal and live a normal life.
What inspired Shikha to become a psychiatrist was an incident that happened to her when she was studying in 8th class. One day when she and her brother were returning home from school, she saw a crowd gathered on the road near the school.
Shikha had always been a curious child, so seeing the crowd she became curious to know what was going on there. Her brother, Sameer, told her to ignore the crowd and continue walking towards their home. But Shikha being Shikha, she somehow convinced her brother to follow the direction of the crowd. Somehow both the children reached the crowd and saw that some people were beating someone. Sameer was very protective of Shikha and was afraid that she might get hurt in the crowd, so he again requested Shikha to go to their house.
But Shikha ignored Sameer's words and moved ahead a little, so that she could see whom people were beating, and despite not wanting to, Sameer also had to move ahead with Shikha. All that time Sameer was holding Shikha's hand tightly in his hand.
When both of them reached a little further, they saw that four-five people together were beating a middle-aged woman. Two men were holding both her hands and two or three women were slapping that woman continuosly. Shikha and Sameer recognized that woman immediately. She had seen that woman many times outside the school, that woman used to live on the footpath right in front of the school.
Shikha looked at the scene with wide eyes, then she turned towards Sameer, whose expressions were no different from hers. She then asked her brother, “Bhai, why are they beating that woman?!”
Sameer replied hesitantly, “I don't know, Shikhu. I still think we should go home.”
“But bhai, they will kill her! We must do something!"
Some people who were standing near both of them were listening to everything. Suddenly a woman standing next to Shikha said to Shikha, “Child, your brother is right. You both should go home. Children should not see all this.”
Shikha immediately turned towards that woman and asked, “But why are they beating her?”
The woman replied, “That woman is crazy. She is always trying to talk to our children, trying to woo our children, I don't know what she wants. Whenever you see her, she keeps roaming around children. Today she tried to steal a child. I always knew that her intentions were never good. It was good that some people saw her taking the unconscious child somewhere. If no one would have seen, then I don't know what she would have done with that child. We don't even know what she has done to that kid, the poor guy is not even opening his eyes. That woman is not only mad, but she is also a child thief. If we don't teach her a lesson today, then tomorrow she will again try to harm our children."
Shikha was shocked to hear this. She looked again at the woman, whom people were calling crazy. It was true that the woman was very strange, she was always roaming around, laughing unnecessarily and her clothes were always dirty and torn. Shikha had seen that woman many times trying to talk to the school children. The woman had also once tried to talk to Shikha, but Sameer had seen them and immediately called Shikha to himself and warned her not to go near that woman again. Later that day at home, Sameer told the entire incident to their parents and their parents also asked both of them to stay away from that woman.
Shikha had many times heard her classmates saying that the woman was crazy, but she could never understand why they were saying so. So that day she asked her father why she should stay away from that woman, at that time her father told her that the woman was mentally unstable and she could harm her or her brother. Shikha did not believe that the woman could harm her or any of the children, but for the sake of her parents, she never went close to the woman again.
But that day, when Shikha saw people beating that woman and accusing her of stealing the child, she could not remain silent. Without thinking anything, she ran towards the front, where people were beating the woman. When Shikha released Sameer's hand, he got scared and quickly ran after her while shouting, “Shikhu, stop! Don’t go there, you’ll get hurt.”
Shikha ignored Sameer and approached the crowd and said, “Uncle wait! Aunty wait! Don’t beat her!”
At first no one was listening to her, so she started trying to reach that woman by passing by those people. Then somehow she reached right in front of that woman and hugged her. Her action stopped those people from causing further harm to that woman. By then Sameer also reached there and started trying to separate Shikha from the woman.
Sameer tried to pull Shikha's hand and said, “Shikhu, what are you doing? Let's get out of here, you'll get hurt."
Then a man standing near Sameer also said to Shikha, “Yes child, you guys should not be here. Go to your home. This woman is very dangerous.”
Shikha took a deep breath and then turned towards the crowd. She took that woman's frail hand in her hand and hid her behind herself, as if she was trying to protect her from the angry crowd. The woman was very old and weak, Shikha could feel how she was trembling with fear, and that increased Shikha's anger tenfold. She looked at the crowd with eyes full of anger.
When Sameer tried to hold her hand again, Shikha took a few steps back, shaking her head. Sameer was also surprised to see this unusual behavior of Shikha.
At the same time all the teachers and staff of that school also came outside the school to see what all the commotion was going on. One of those teachers was 'Mahesh Kashyap', father of Shikha and Sameer. When they reached the crowd, the school principal asked, “What is happening here? Why is there so much crowd here?”
People looked at them all and gave them space to walk forward, then all the teachers walked towards the front of the crowd. When they reached there, they saw that Shikha was standing in front of a woman like a shield and Sameer was standing near her with a worried expression. The teachers also recognized that woman, and became worried after seeing Shikha and Sameer standing so close to her.
When Mahesh saw Shikha and Sameer, he immediately went to his children and asked, “Shikha? Sameer? What happened kids? What are you two doing here? You should have gone home long ago.”
The rest of the teachers also knew both the children, so they also asked them the same question.
Sameer came forward and said, “Papa, I have been asking Shikhu to go home for a long time, but she is not listening to me. Now you yourself tell her.”
The principal looked at the crowd and asked, “But what is happening here? Why is here such a crowd?”
A man in the crowd shouted, “This woman was trying to steal a child, some people have caught her red handed. That poor child is still unconscious, his parents have taken him to the hospital.”
Hearing this, Mahesh and all the other teachers were shocked. Mahesh looked worriedly at his daughter, who was standing very close to the woman.
Before anyone else could say anything, Shikha shouted, “No, She did not try to steal anyone. She can't do this! You people are accusing her unnecessarily.”
*****
Author's Note 🤍
Hello dear readers,
Here we go with another chapter of this book. I just hope you all will like it. If you like this chapter, then do not forget to vote and comment.
And Happy Holi everyone! May this Holi brings lot of colours and happiness in your life! 🌈
Stay Happy, Stay Healthy
☺️