As I have narrated earlier about my home being in the midst of market place....so Doctor's clinic and Chemist shops too were it's feature. There were two Doctor's clinic cum chemist shop adjacent to a teashop below my building. That was the only place where my Amma used to go fearlessly and buy medicines on her own. Buying medicines and Doctor's visit was a regular feature by Amma. My cousins, and children of my Acchan's friends, whoever came and stayed with us used to take a longer period to get adjusted to the climate and atmosphere. So as natural, they would fall sick very soon. In those days Malaria was the crucial one. Headache high fever vomiting all used to have a toll on one's health and would completely break one down physically. Our bedroom would turn into a hospital with one or the other on the bed down with high fever. So for quick remedies Amma used do the running to the Doctor's clinic downstairs and to the chemist. Dr Das was a slim and tall figure, and his way of explaining the medicine was unique. Amma used to understand Bengali but couldn't talk fluently, so she preferred talking in Hindi. On the other hand Dr Das had difficulty talking in hindi. So the way he explained the doses to Amma was mind blowing. " Ek goli agari, ek goli pichari"...... this was his famous dailouge. ( That means one tablet before food and one after food)" bhukar check korna thermometer baaju mein rakhna muh mein mat rakhna jodi daat lag gaya, berry dangerous (in Malaria one shivers a lot so it's really difficult to keep thermometer in mouth due to cluttering of teeth).... naap lena, likhe nau" sar gila Karna jab para badega....samaj mein aaya.... Mrs Menon." Amma used to repeat what he said while checking the medicine...ek agari...ek pichari.. Amma was even a very good nurse. She used to take care of everyone with lots of patience. She would keep a dairy would note down the temperature and whenever the temperature 🌡️ rises above 102F she would wash the patient's head, to bring down the temperature. She would bring the patient's head to the edge of the 🛏️ she would keep a rubber sheet below the head hanging to protect the wetting of bed, and patient's clothes and would pour the cool water from a bucket over the patient head continuously for half an hour to bring down the temperature.It was a hectic method but Amma used to do it with utmost dedication. This methods really helps in bringing down the temperature to a degree below, and was a very effective method suggested by the Doctor's then, to avoid brain fever etc., due to the uncontrolled rise in temperature. I too learnt from Amma and had applied this methods on my children.
Dr Banerjee was very plum. He was short,very fair and fat and always used to wear pants with suspenders. He used to look very cute.(like Hardy). He would always carry a stetscope and a Doctor's bag with him,a very cute and funny figure. Dr Das's son owned a chemist shop, so Dr Das used to prescribe only those medicines which was easily available in his son's shop, to avoid hardship to patients running around. Dr Banerjee, on the other hand used to prescribe lot of medicines and the most hatred part was the Mixture.(the name mixture because it was a combination of medicines in liquid form) Oh! my my!!! What a bitter taste it used to have. This medicine was given by the Doctor himself, the medicine was dark pink colour filled in a glass bottle with marked dosages. The dose of the medicine was exactly 20ml. One was required to take the marked doses thrice a day. Sometimes along with this bitter mixture you would be given tablet too to gulp down. It was sheer torture. And Dr. Banerjee always used to give this mixture to all his patients.
Torture?? YES it was for me, the lean and skinny bags of bones who would be falling sick often. Me falling sick was a real headache to everyone. For I would bring down the roof by my wailing and tantrums. I hated the mixture and food was no no for me. Amma had a real tough time. The most difficult part was me readily drowning into the unconscious mode. One such incident I would like to quote. I was down with high fever Amma took me to Dr Banerjee since Dr Das was on leave. Hearing Dr Banerjee's name the bottle of mixture flashed in front of my eyes. I was sitting with Amma in the waiting arena of Dr. Banerjee, waiting for my turn. The mixture bottle started reeling in my head and the fear of gulping it down gripped me with fear. I was so scared that by the time my turn came, I was lying on the ground unconscious. The people around panicked and called out to the doctor. I regained consciousness but the sight of Dr Banerjee made me shiver again...🥶. This fear gripped me so much that even if I visited(Laurel) Dr Das I would faint sitting on the patient's chair. (We used to call this duo as 'Laurel and Hardy'.) Dr Das would say" Joyanti tumko Amma khana nahi deta kya"", Doo toh deem khao bhujli ei ki tumi rassir motun hoi jais re.."("Have two to three eggs daily why are you becoming like a rope".) I was very lean and thin and how I managed my first pregnancy is another story to be told...
Lovely innocent childhood, healthy atmosphere, healthy food, caring people all around and wonderful era. But now, the hectic schedules, pollution, unhealthy food, food habits etc., has taken a toll on one's health, and one or the other person is on medicine or gulping down the same to survive.
