A very warm morning to everyone. My name is Aman, a soul who was till recently residing in the body of the child named Aasha. Having come with the hope of staying nearly 70 years, I am, unfortunately, leaving early as Aasha has just died. The whole episode of her death made me observe certain things which I plan to tell God before he sends me to another body.
While descending to Aasha’s body, in the space I saw many
satellites revolving around the earth to help mankind in development. I saw
some space-crafts going towards Mars. A few of them were also set to cross the
frontiers of solar system and enter the deep dark unending universe. Though I
was happy to see that finally mankind has come so long as to explore the limits
and adventures of the vast universe, the thing that most excited me was that many
of these satellites and space-crafts had the Indian Flag, a country where I was
being born into for the first time.
I had heard a lot about India from my soul-friends. They
had told me about its freedom struggle and its economic development since
Independence. On my way down from heaven, I saw the riches of India. Metro trains
were operational in a few cities. GST, touted as the biggest reform since
Independence, was being rolled out. The Indian Cricket Team was winning in Sri
Lanka and the nation was jubilant for it. There were some billionaires. Nuclear
reactors were operational. Many people were using the latest electronic
gadgets. A plan to set up an India-based Neutrino Observatory was being
discussed. India was firmly resisting China in Doklam. I saw INS Vikramaditya,
the 45000 tons Indian Aircraft Carrier cruising the Indian Ocean and also Su-30
fighter jets into their flight.
While this excited me, I was more concerned about the
social development profile. I saw that large multi-specialty corporate
hospitals were operational. The Indian External Affairs Minister was granting
medical visas to people from neighboring countries and was promoting India’s
medical tourism. Stem-cell research was going on. Most of the riches and the
policy makers were extremely concerned about health and daily visited gyms.
They were using latest hand gadgets to monitor their calorie intakes. Seeing
all these, I was assured of healthy initial years of my life with Aasha.
And then I was born into Aasha and brought her to life. Somewhere
in Gorakhpur. The delivery was not institutional. Her parents were daily wage
earners with barely 10,000 Rs monthly income. Her mother suffered from
malnutrition. There was hardly any sanitation around the hospital. Most of the
times, Aasha was bitten by mosquitoes. Vaccinations were not administered. Very
less nutritious meals were available. She suffered from anemia and AES. The
primary health center (PHC) was hardly 70 kms from the district headquarters.
But it lacked adequate numbers of doctors and other facilities. This 70 km
distance could have been covered in those 70 years of independence even with a
speed of one km every year. But this PHC was neither Moon nor Mars. Had it been
any of the two, the government would have reached here by now and hoisted the
Indian Flag. I thought the Indian Government should give names of planets to
these PHCs; at least ISRO would reach here then, if not the bureaucracy.
Aasha’s parents did not have any health insurance. They had
to come to the government hospital in Gorakhpur. They found some space near the
toilet where they laid their bedsheet. Mosquitoes chased her here also. Her mother
had to wake up all night to administer cold sponge to her.
The doctors said that she will be put on oxygen supply. I
felt a bit comfortable as soon as Aasha was kept on oxygen cylinder. Though a
few thoughts of leaving this body crossed my mind, I resisted. I wanted to be
with Aasha and see her grow into a well-educated citizen. I wanted her to enjoy
her childhood and play with toys, just like her richer counterparts. I wanted her
to study in school and read about India and the world. I wanted her to become
someone who can help many more such Aashas in future. I wanted to grow old with
her.
However, as I was vividly imagining all these things, suddenly
I started feeling suffocated. I guess the oxygen supply stopped. Before I could
understand the reason, the suffocation turned strong enough and unfortunately,
I had to leave Aasha. She was sleeping then. She could not notice me leaving
her. I could not even bid good bye to her. Before she slept the last night, I
promised her eyes the next morning. I couldn’t keep that promise. Before long,
I could see her body being burnt in flames. She was innocent. She did nothing
to deserve this.
Unfortunately, I was not alone that day. I saw many more
souls leaving the bodies of children and moving back to heaven.
I couldn’t juxtapose this image with what I saw about India
on my way down here. I struggled to find the reasons. Who was at fault? I
thought people of this country would discuss this grave issue. However, Aasha
was a child, not a cow, worthy enough to be discussed and debated. Her parents
were also from India only, not lucky enough to be foreigners to be eligible for
medical visa. How could they get medical visa in their own country. Political
parties kept blaming each other. Supporters of these parties were blaming each
other. A news anchor openly told on live media that this discussion is not as
important as that about singing Vande Mataram. Those who were aloof from
politics were busy with Game of Thrones and Sarahah. Facebook was silent.
Google Doodle was silent. The CCTVs which could have been installed at PHCs to
monitor their functioning were being installed at some other places to see if
Independence Day was being celebrated. India was celebrating its 71st
Independence Day.
But, celebration? For whom? By whom? Till when?
Amidst all this, a new Aasha was being born, somewhere.
