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Indebted to Friends

 Every one of us has friends and they are the ones, whom we value a lot after family or sometimes more than a family. I have had a good number of friends right from my childhood but few of them are so close to my heart and share a great bonding.

Doctor Friends

Dr.CHT — I already spoke about him in one of the chapters. I would like to illustrate one more instance about him — after my father was declared dead, we were taking him back home. On the way back home, I made a call to him, I didn’t even listen to his reply and hung up the call. The next day in the afternoon, we took the corpse to the graveyard, he came in a hurry to condole me there. I didn’t expect his presence given his busy schedule in the hospital. This gesture of his touched me because he was pursuing his MS (General Surgery) far away from his hometown and taking leave all of a sudden during COVID times and travelling from so far to condole a friend isn’t normal. I am indebted to him for all his help.

Dr.SS — She was also my school friend and a good friend of mine. When my father was diagnosed with a tumour, I sent the reports to her also, and she called me back in less than a minute and inquired well-being of both of us.

A day before my father’s demise, he asked me to call to both Dr.CHT and Dr.SS to the hospital to talk to them. I am really happy about the moral confidence they gave to my father during his tough times. I am indebted for their help.

Unexpected

I have a friend called Bala, I met him during my graduation days and have known him for 9 years now. I made a call to him in the afternoon when my father was in ICU and told him that he was on a ventilator. To be honest, he didn’t understand it clearly, what it meant but he understood that it was a serious situation. I hung up the call and he called me back in 10 minutes and asked me the address. He called me in the evening and asked me the hospital address, I asked him to come home by detailing the address. When he reached home, he told me “I thought he was in serious condition but didn’t expect this”. My father knows him well and he used to ask about his whereabouts. He spent all night with us and in the early morning, he said to me voluntarily that he would be one among four, who would carry the corpse to the graveyard. It was so touching and we asked him to stay back at home for the next 15 days until we complete all the rituals. He went back after 15 days and I got infected with COVID after 15 days, I was alone at home and worried because I was not able to breathe in the normal way because of the COVID infection, I made a call to him, and he immediately said that — ‘I can be there if you want’ — I was shocked and UNEXPECTED this from him. Even, I wouldn’t dare to meet directly someone, who was infected with COVID. I called him and asked him to come. He was at my home and next morning and helped me in recovery. It was so kind of him and he showered unconditional affection on us. I can’t THANK him enough for his great gestures and I am grateful to have such a friend.

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