SOCIAL DISTANCE, A SHORT STORY

 At that very moment, Bhim Bahadur remembered his wife and his eyes welled up in tears. However, his dog Kalu was still beside him. Medical staff had to struggle to keep Kalu away from Bhim Bahadur. Even Bhim Bahadur asked Kalu several times to leave him but Kalu remained adamant. He wanted to go with Bhim Bahadur in the ambulance. When the ambulance moved away, Kalu was seen following the ambulance until it disappeared from his sight.

The recent pandemic has also brought social distance into relationships. Photo: Oleksandra Petrova-Unsplash

By LB THAPA

Today is the 20^th day of nationwide complete lockdown. The notorious virus is on its rampage and terrorizing humankind across the world. It seems that no one is safe from the virus and everyone is compelled to live under constant fear, doubt and uncertainty.  

Bhim Bahadur’s family lives in Lalitpur and they cannot feel safe from the menace either. Following the orders issued by the government, they are also living in lockdown, and life is becoming increasingly more difficult with passage of every single day. 

Bhim Bahadur, a retired pensioner from the Indian army, had turned 70 two months ago. But no one in the family did care the least to celebrate his birthday or even wished him.    

Bhim Bahadur is living with his son. About five years ago Kanchhi Maya, Bhim Bahadur’s wife fell severely ill and breathed her last. Her death left Bhim Bahadur shattered, broken and hopeless. After her death, there was no one in the family to commiserate with Bhim Bahadur---he became increasingly a lonely man in the family.    

Balaram, Bhim Bahadur’s only son, had tried to be recruited in the British army and the Indian army but he was rejected. After then he went to Malaysia to make a living but ill luck would have been that the company he was working for was blacklisted by the Malaysian government, and he had to return to home.   

Being unemployed for a long time, Balaram started working as a land broker. His income was unsteady and too little to meet his family needs. In the meantime, he got married to a girl against his father’s consent. Balaram brought the girl when he was off to Chitwan for a land deal. The woman must have been much older than Balaram. Balraram never disclosed her caste or about her past life let alone her family.   

From the day one, Bhim Bahadur did not like the woman and he never talked to her face to face. Actually, Bhim Bahadur had seen a very sober girl from his nearby village. But when his son brought the woman at home who appeared to have already a mother of two kids, Bhim Bahadur’s dream shattered into pieces.   

After the demise of his wife, Bhim Bahadur felt increasingly lonely and alienated at his own home. Bhim Bahadur could feel himself a liability on his family than an asset---as no one even cared his existence. If there was anyone who loved him was a small dog that he had brought from the street---starved and abandoned. 

Not a single day would go when Bhim Bahadur did not remember his wife. She would care him with all her devotion and love. Now without his wife Bhim Bahadur had lost the charm and interest in life. However, his son never cared his father. Let evening fall and he would always immerse in locally brewed alcohol. 

The small puppy that Bhim Bahadur had brought from the street was grown up to become an adult dog and he lovingly called him Kalu. Kalu was the only close companion of Bhim Bahadur. He would sit beside him and play with Bhim Bahadur. 

Bhim Bahadur asked his son for not drinking too much alcohol every evening, but Balaram never paid any heed to his father’s advice. Instead, he blamed his father for ruining his life by not spending enough money on making his career. 

“What did I not do for you? I had admitted you in a good boarding school and provided you with all facilities. But you had no interest in study. Even you failed in the SLC exam twice”, said Bhim Bahadur angrily. 

Then one day when lockdown was still on, Bhim Bahadur had caught a terrible fever. Everyone in the family got alert as they suspected Bhim Bahadur might have contracted corona virus. 

“Baba, your symptoms are those of corona virus. We want you should go to hospital. I cannot put all family’s lives at risk”, advised Balaram. 

“But I’m very sure I have not contracted corona virus. It is just seasonal common cold and little fever. During this time around I always get it”, replied Bhim Bahadur convincingly. 

“But what is wrong if you go to hospital and stay there instead of staying here and infecting us?” asked Chandika, Balaram’s wife rather tersely. 

“I don’t want to go to hospital because I don’t want to share a room with corona patients. I know within a week or so I will be all right on my own”, Bhim Bahadur tried to assure. 

“If you think you haven’t caught corona virus then it is ok but I don’t want to take any chance. You should better go to our abandoned cowshed and live there. We will drop food and medicine there”, advised Chandika.  

Balaram had no choice but to agree with his daughter-in-law. Balaram’s clothes and bed were put in a corner of the cowshed. 

The cowshed was damp and it had no ventilation either. Due to increasing fever, Bhim Bahadur grew weak and lost his appetite as well. Chandika put mask on her face and plastic gloves on her hands and protected herself thoroughly before going to the cowshed. 

She was so much afraid of the virus that she literarily threw a bottle of water and some pills of paracetamol from a distance and even did not try to see how her father-in-law’s condition was.   

Fever was continuously soaring up and soon Bhim Bahadur was unconscious. When his eyes opened, it was already eight o’clock in the morning. He felt extremely weak, as he had not eaten anything since yesterday evening. In the meantime, Bhim Bahadur realized that he was not alone in the room. His lovely dog Kalu was also with him. When everyone in the family treated him as if he was a corona positive, his lovely dog was beside him. 

Sensing of some untoward might happen, Chandika advised her husband to send his father to a government hospital for the treatment. 

“I don’t want your father stay nearby us anymore. When the virus has spread all over the world, it will take no time to reach up to us from the cowshed”, doubted Chandika. 

“Then, what do you advise?” asked Balaram, still looking at his wife. His wife advised him to call police and they will do the rest. Balaram did what his wife had advised him to do. 

When police arrived at the home, Bhim Bahadur’s condition was much deteriorated. He was unable to stand on his own feet. The police called ambulance and Bhim Bahadur was immediately taken away to a nearby government hospital. 

Balaram and his wife saw his father being taken away from a healthy distance. Bhim Bahadur could see there was a sense of satisfaction on the faces of his son and his wife than any mark of sadness for him. 

At that very moment, Bhim Bahadur remembered his wife and his eyes welled up in tears. However, his dog Kalu was still beside him. Medical staff had to struggle to keep Kalu away from Bhim Bahadur. Even Bhim Bahadur asked Kalu several times to leave him but Kalu remained adamant. He wanted to go with Bhim Bahadur in the ambulance. When the ambulance moved away, Kalu was seen following the ambulance until it disappeared from his sight. 

Understanding the seriousness of the situation, doctors immediately took blood samples of Bhim Bahadur and sent it for the clinical test. In the meantime, doctors gave him routine drugs and Bhim Bahadur was in intense observation. 

His blood taste result was available and doctor found that Bhim Bahadur had no corona virus in his body. The test was negative. He was given slain water and other drugs for three days after then he was discharged from the hospital. 

Bhim Bahadur walked slowly towards the main gate of the hospital. He stood some time at the gate and was lost in thought. He felt weakness as his legs refused to hold his weight so that he sat on a nearby bench. 

Bhim Bahadur’s surprise knew no bound when he saw his lovely dog Kalu appeared from nowhere---wagging his tell and showed abundance of happiness. Bhim Bahadur could not restraint tears anymore. He held Kulu close to his chest and both of them walked to a direction opposite to their home. 

After a few days, Balaram contacted the hospital and asked about his father. He was surprised by knowing that his father had not contracted corona virus and his test reports were negative. 

“About three days ago we had discharged Mr. Bhim Bahadur”, said the doctors in the emergency department. 

Balaram was at a loss as to what to do and where to search for his father. He contacted his father’s friends and all the relatives but he got no information about his father’s whereabouts. 

Then he decided to publish an ad in The Kathmandu Post, a national daily newspaper. In the ad, he duly mentioned prize money for the person who helps his father bringing to home or giving any tip off leading to find his father, would get forty five thousand rupees cash. 

When Chandika came to know about the prize money, she was not happy. 

“Have you gone mad? Why did you set such a huge amount of money for the informer? Don’t you think this amount is unnecessarily too much?” asked Chandika angrily. 

Upon this Balaram said, “Don’t be silly. This amount is not much. It is just equal to my father’s one month’s pension”. 

There was an enigmatic smile on Chandika’s face. She went to clean her father-in-law’s room and managed all his clothes in proper order.  

LB Thapa is a Pokhara-based freelance writer & author.

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