A bit of a Flash Back

As I mentioned earlier I have had many good people accompany me on this journey of mine, some I had to say goodbye to sooner than expected. This time it was my 2nd home nurse Rajetten, who had come in place of Akthar. He was a solid person, with a lot of physical will and grit. He could easily help carry me on the stretcher to the ambulance while going out for reviews at the hospital.

During the hospital stay the night had trouble sleeping, he would get up with the slightest sound from me. At one point I noticed he had pulled up a chair by my bedside and was sleeping on it. The next day when I asked him about it he said, I was constantly getting up and would pull at the fixators in my disoriented state and he wanted to make sure that I didn’t harm myself.

Whenever we got together at home for physiotherapy we would swap life stories, it was always interesting to hear his life experiences. Being a professional driver his life was mostly spent on the road. He was working with a company based in Chennai, that distributed household items to retailers. During the physio workout, his life stories on the road would distract me from the pain in my stiff ankle and toes. Especially those daring ones where he and his colleagues were once ambushed by a group of bandits somewhere in the outskirts of north India. It was kinda amusing the way he narrated it, for a person who usually had a steady composed expression on his face, he would be a totally different person when it came to talking about his life on the road. It was evident in the way his face would light up that he enjoyed that line of work.

One of the things that amazed me was his vocabulary of English words, which would come out in between his unique Malayalam accent ( a mixture of Palakad dialect and Tamil ) He had no former Education in the English Language. You see most of Rajettan’s career as a driver was in and around Chennai. He also worked as a tourist taxi driver and had the opportunity to interact with many passengers from different parts of the country as well as outside the country. It actually shows how much a person can learn from interacting with different languages and cultures. It helps broaden our minds and also accept and tolerate differences.

I would suggest this to all my friends and readers, if you ever get the opportunity to travel and interact with people outside your culture, and language, please do take it up. To the students try to study outside your place or home town, it will help you in the long run.

After the Vac Machine alerts incident, I was kinda careful about exerting with the physio workout. It was mostly just the ankles and toes. Which meant Rajettan’s main work was cut down to about a few minutes. Apart from that, it was mostly during the hospital reviews, the ambulance ride, and running a few errands. On other days he used to offer to do other jobs around the house like watering the plants and raking the leaves. I guess being passionate about driving he couldn’t stand to see my brother’s car lay dusty. So with him around the car looked spick and span!! He liked being engaged most of the time, We would have hired him as an all-around help but, frankly, our household runs on its own in a way. coz everyone chips in his or her share in the household chores. We always grew up like that.

So I wasn’t surprised when I heard he wanted to try out for a job that is a little more engaging. I can understand for a person who was always busy, it might have been tough for him to just sit around waiting for work. Although he initially was looking for a less demanding job. I suppose he didn’t expect how less demanding this job would have been. That’s one thing I have had with the home nurse hunt. I do admit I am bedridden since January but Masha Allah, Alhamdulillah ( thank Allah ) I can move around onto all four corners of the bed. I will give you all a glimpse of how life on the bed is in another post perhaps.

The day Rajettan talked to me about him wanting to leave, he sat down and discussed his concerns, which I could understand very well coz being in the state I am, it gets really tough not being able to walk or go places as and when you want. Now try doing that to the person who can actually walk and move around. Being tied down is the worst feeling ever. So I had requested him to think about extending his service up to the day I get discharged after my skin grafting surgery. He thought about it and agreed. He even agreed to come over for any help I might need with hospital reviews if he had not already taken up a job anywhere. That was very nice of him.

Rajettan’s last day

The day I got discharged from the hospital, Rajettan ran a few errands for us like picking up the medicines and things. That night would be his last night with us. The next day after breakfast he had come to my room to say goodbye. But, unfortunately, I wasn’t up and still dazed from the previous night’s meds. We couldn’t say a proper goodbye in person. Later in the day, we talked over the phone. He had asked to be forgiven if and by anyways if he had made things difficult for me, and I asked of him the same. He reminded me about his offer to come over for the next review at the hospital if he had not taken up a position anywhere else.

My takeaway from Rajettan is the humbleness and sincerity in his job. He felt that he could do more for us with the extra time he had on his hands. In a time where people usually find short-cuts to easy money, where work less to earn more is a motto, this man I guess must have felt otherwise. He was definitely a man of values, if there was any drawback to his services this would be it – WE couldn’t keep him engaged enough! 😊