"I don't know.. You've to be here by 11:00 am, thats it !!". My team lead yelled and hung up phone on me.
Even if I travel by fastest means of transportation, I wouldn't reach the hospital by 11:00 am. I longed for some miracle to happen. This case is very important to me. I am a volunteer working for the organization which fulfills dreams of the children, who are suffering from long term illness. I got this case after a long waiting period. I was sweating. I was tensed. I was helpless.
Vicky called me for the nth time. I updated him about my whereabouts minute by minute. Vicky is my colleague. We both have been finalised for this case. He suggested yesterday itself that he would pick me up on the way. But, I was too stubborn and confident that I said I would make it at any cost. Now, I cursed myself for turning him down. My thoughts were travelling faster than the cab because of the traffic. I left it to god.
It was 11:30 am by the time I reached the hospital. I could already see vicky waiting for me outside. I mentally prepared myself that somebody would have attended this case in my place. But seeing vicky outside gave me some hope. I ran towards him. He was very happy to see me. His expression was similar to a child who is given a candy. Both of us hurried into the hospital. He told me that luckily our case was delayed. Wow !!!! How lucky I was, I thought ! For next half an hour, we discussed how our day should proceed. Once we were done with it, exhausted, we both went to drink water. There was a little girl near the tap along with her mother. We couldn't find a glass to drink water, so we started coming back. Then, the little girl who was observing all these, offered her bottle of water. We thanked her and left. I wonder why only kids get these thoughts, where as her mother was just quiet.
Finally, after 20 minutes, it was time to meet her. Both me and vicky were nervous, giving each other a fake smile. We entered into the room. There she is - Varthika !! It's her name. She is 11 years old. She has leukemia. Leukemia refers to cancers of white blood cells, where in lots of WBC's are produced in the body, but they can't carry out their functions properly in protecting body from diseases as these cells are defective.
She is fair, cute and normal like any other child of her age. She has cute dimples. A random person cannot guess that she is a patient at any cost. We introduced ourselves to her. She refers to me as "akka" and vicky as "vicky", because he insisted her to call like that. We gave her the chocolates which we bought. She was very happy. Basically, our main aim is to make her talk, talk and talk, so that we get to make her last wishes come true. Yes you read it right ! She is going to live for next two to three months. She is going to DIE.
VARTHIKA was very creative. She loves painting, singing and dancing. She is a studious girl. She likes rain. She likes watching cartoon. She likes movies and sports. Of all, she loves her mom, dad and her little brother dimpu. She calls him like that. We went on talking to her about lots and lots of things. She is a good orator. That makes it easy for me and vicky to make her talk.
As days passed, some where in my heart, there was a strong bond between me and varthika. She is very close to me now. I also feel that she is like me. We share lots of interests besides pani puri, gulab jamun and pawan kalyan. Vicky has a good sense of humour. He was good at making others comfortable very easily with his PJ's. So, it was a fun atmosphere all the time, unlike the normal hospital scenario.
It was 2 weeks already, and we had to force ourselves to ask her about her dreams. This part was a heart drenching experience for us, where as varthika was very excited.
1.She loved to have a big family like the ones which are shown in the movies.
2.She wants to become a doctor, when she grows up ( unfortunately she isn't aware of her future ).
3.she wanted to win first prize in the art competition which will be conducted in her school.
Mission 1 : The Big Family !!
Varthika's parents had a love story. Since both of them were from different communities, their parents objected for the marriage. Result - they eloped and secretly married in a register office. That is the reason, varthika's family is not in touch with her maternal as well as paternal grandparents. So, our first mission was to contact them and convince them. Vicky was in charge of this mission. He made it come true. Varthika was very happy. Later, he shared with me that, they were not willing to meet varthika first, they were worried about the disease being transmitted to them and all, but he had somehow compromised them. I felt sick at the thought that how could someone be so selfish !!
Mission 2 : The Doctor !!
Since she was already in hospital, this task was an easy one. We spoke with the chief of the hospital and arranged everything. She wore a white coat and a stethoscope around her neck. She walked like a doctor. She talked like a doctor. But, she didn't prescribe like a doctor, she had a beautiful hand writing and she wrote fruits names in that. Haha. She was very happy. We were too, but there were many times where I prayed, cried and waited for some miracle to happen.
Mission 3 : The Prize !!
Every year, the school in which varthika studied conducted art competition every year and varthika participated every year. But she never won prize in it. So, this year she wants to win at any cost and she's been practising until she has been hospitalised.
Actually, it was conducted at the end of the academic year. But due to the circumstances, we explained the situation and asked the principal to conduct a mock art competition for varthika. But he was a very generous person that he liked our work and supported us by conducting it early this year. That's great. The other great thing was that varthika won first prize, even though me and vicky bought her a barbie doll set as prize in case if she did not. She was delighted with both the gifts.
Our Missions have been completed.
We were happy at the same time, we were extremely sad about the future of varthika. And yes, she was the same girl, who gave us a bottle of water near the tap. She became my sweet little sister and vicky's sweet heart, he used to call her like that. She was an important lesson in my book called life. She was a fighter. She faced many complications through her therapy, but she never gave up except to this cruel leukemia. I prayed to god many times to make varthika's dream come true, to make her get through this disease, to give her a chance to shower her kindness, spread her happiness to the whole world. But no, it didn't happen. She succumbed to leukemia after two months leaving a void in many of us, who knew her. It took some time for this feeling to sink in and absorb.
But yes, she lived !!!! In our hearts. In our memories. In our day to day activities. Forever !!!
I dedicate this post to my sweet little angel VARTHIKA, who is no more physically, but she is in my thoughts permanently. I'm pretty sure that she's in a better place spreading her happiness everywhere. She is my inspiration to move on with life no matter how hard it is. My greatest lesson !!!
