Insects

Dr. Kirti, the only doctor in the only hospital in the area, was lost in friendly conversation with his friends. They were four in all, sitting around the table in his office. Those three friends were very frank with Dr. Kirti and he did not mind their comments passed about him and his patients. They were very rich and, generally, the remarks made by the rich are never contradicted.

Though it was the time to check the patients and many of his patients were crying in pain outside his office, Dr. Kirti took it very lightly and remained indifferent to his duty, as if it was the duty of the patients to cry in pain, and it was the right of the doctor to visit them when he felt like it.

Chotu, the sweeper in the hospital, was the only person attending to the patients, though he could not do much for them. He was concerned and he wished he could do more. Chotu knew that the doctor and his friends were taking about him. A few minutes before he had dared to enter the office of the doctor to inform him that a patient was vomiting and the pain was unbearable. He had simply entered the cabin and said, “What kind of a doctor are you? There is a patient crying outside and you are busy chatting with your friends!”

Dr. Kirti got furious and erupted, “Bloody fool, how you dare talk to me like that! Is that patient your father? Why don’t you take him to the city hospital? Go away, we can’t control all this! Illiterate, savage, ordering me like that! Have you forgotten that you are a sweeper?”

It was nothing new for Chotu, the sweeper. He was scolded by Dr. Kirti on regular basis, as if without scolding him Dr. Kirti could not assure himself that he was a doctor.

That day Chotu could not control himself, “You can’t be a doctor! That butcher, Karim, is much better than you. He slaughters goats and sheep during the day but he is an herbalist and he treats patients free of charge every evening!”

The doctor looked at him angrily but Chotu did not care and left the cabin.

The doctor calmed down but his friends were furious. One of them said, “You have given him unnecessary liberty. After all he is only a sweeper and look at the way he is talking!”

The other friend added, “You should have slapped him, Dr. Kirti!”

The third friend was not ready to be left behind, “It is our insult!”

The three rich friends were known for the muscle power they had with them. Many known criminals worked for them. One of them said, “If you say, we will burn his house tonight.”

Dr. Kirti clarified, “You don’t know this low caste sweeper. He has five beautiful daughters, two already married. The remaining three are unmarried and the Head of the village has his eyes on them. The sweeper knows it but he is happy that the Head of the village is on his side. He has been in this hospital only because of the support he gets from the Head of the village.”

When Chotu overheard these words, he began to burn with anger. The head of the village was not like that. Actually, the Head of the village did not discriminate between high caste and low caste. He respected the sweeper and the sweeper returned the favour by doing some works for the Head of the village. Chotu was a helpful person and he helped the patients who came to hospital. The Head of the village was happy with his behaviour and he appreciated Chotu openly.

Dr. Kirti seemed to be a vampire to Chotu and he wished he could strangulate him but Chotu never lost his calm. He knew that he could never fight against the high caste people in the village.

He was about to go away when he heard these words from the mouth of a friend of the doctor, “Doctor, then what are we waiting for? This hospital is a very comfortable place. Why don’t you call his daughters here and treat them? We will also help you!”

They began to laugh but Chotu was losing his patience.

Dr. Kirti said, “I have my eyes on one of his daughters, the youngest one. I am sure that I will be able to convince her by Saturday. You arrange drinks and food and I will arrange the girl.”

“If she does not agree?” said one of his friends.

“Then there are many other girls who belong to the lower caste. They will be ready to make us happy for a little amount of money,” the doctor laughed shamelessly.

Chotu could not stand there and he walked out of the hospital. He went to the liquor shop and bought a bottle of locally brewed whiskey. He was almost drunk in a few minutes. He was talking to himself, sitting at a bench, outside the shop, “We are insects, disgusting creatures. Our existence does not mean anything to them. My daughters are things to them. They want to use those things and I can’t do anything! Shame on me! No, I won’t let it happen!”

Karim, the butcher, saw him there and sat beside him. Chotu told him everything that had happened in the hospital.

“God will take care of everything! Come with me,” he gave support to Chotu and made him stand on his feet.

After that Saturday, Dr. Kirti simply disappeared. His friends were looking for him but no one knew where he had gone.

Chotu was also worried while helping the patients in the hospital, working with the only nurse in that hospital.

In the evening, Karim, the butcher, invited Chotu to his house. Karim had cooked food for Chotu and his daughters.

“I don’t know where Dr. Kirti has gone. He has simply disappeared,” said Chotu.

“Last Saturday, I slaughtered a bit dirty goat. The meat was not good for human consumption so I made very small pieces and threw them in to the Ganges to purge the earth from such dirty creatures!”

Chotu did not understand and he looked in the direction of his daughters.

His youngest daughter was the most beautiful of the three daughters present there. She looked at the butcher, their eyes met; there was fatherly love in the butcher’s eyes, and respect in the eyes of the youngest daughter. She was smiling and the butcher returned the smile.