Love-2

The first month was disapointing. Being the junior most resident I just did the paperwork. Writing casesheets, referral letters, dishargecards..Senior docs would call me from the comforts of their homes and give me instructions.. I stayed in the campus day in and day out..

I felt like a clerk in a white coat..

Dr. Giwani hardly acknowledged me. But then that was only what was expected.. I was only the tail end of the white coated peple who followed him during his daily rounds..

The only thing I enjoyed was takng the subdued patients outdoors..They were taken out daily from 3.pm to 6. pm..They were a quiet lot.. I would just observe them and soak up the enchanting nature around me..

I first noted Ullas cos he always seemed to occupy the spots I preferred to sit.. A wooden bench near the pool.. A swing overlooking the valley.. A moss cvered stone beneath a huge tree..Also he would sit near the music system in the common room..He would just sit there staring into nowhere...

A tall slender man with gentle eys and beautiful hands..I knew his history.. An intelligent boy with good accademic records.. he had begun "to lose it" during his graduation years..

Major Depressive Psychosis.. Loss of intrest in surroundings.. withdrawal.. sadness,.. guilt.. worthlessness.. hoplessness.. his deterioration had been slow and steady..
Nothing seeme to exist in his world.. He never responded to the ward boys or the nurses.. I tried to talk to him but there was no reponse.. In everyway he was a dead man walking..

Then Lekha arrived.. she was not a psychiatry patient in the strict sense..

It was just adjustment disorder with depressed mood..Married to the black sheep of a rich business family, she had been tortuerd, abused and beaten up by her husband Rajeev..One night after a big fight he wanted to have sex with her.. She kept pushng him away.. until in a sudden fit of anger she slapped him.. Rajeev had lost his cool and banged her head on the wall... Lekha fell down unconsious and had an abortion..When she came to know about it she cut off from the world and went into a deep internal void..(To be continued)