Patient's home

I was 4 years old. We had gone to visit my aunt. While we were at her home, she told us about our distant relative, Kashi. Mu aunt says, "Kashi kaki is unwell. When she fell down 5 years ago, she had been completely bed ridden. A couple of days ago, her daughter, our cousin, Shital came to me. She said that Kashi kaki does not eat much. She does not speak much. Doctors have given up. Shital looked distressed. Kashi kaki probably is counting her last days". My aunt had tears in her eyes. After hearing this my parents decided to visit Kashi kaki.

On our way, we stopped outside an old building, this is where Kashi kaki was staying. The building too looked dull and lackluster as if the building had the same fate as Kashi kaki. We went to the first floor and stood outside the door for it to be answered. A young, tired looking woman opened the door. She had bags inder her eyes, her big eyes appeared red. It was evident that she had not alept peacefully in years. I thought to myself, "this must be Shital". She smiled but the smile did not reach her eyes. She said, "Welcome. Mum will be happy to see you". We entered the house. It was dark because the windows and curtains were closed. The fan was switched off. The house was humid and suffocating. There was a strange odour that lingered in the house. The stench was horrible - it was body fluids mixed with humid air. I was unable to tolerate it. I released my palm from the grip of my mother's palm and ran outside of the house. I stopped at the staircase where I could smell fresh air. I wanted to stay away from that putrid odour. I did not want to go back to that house. My mother followed me outside.

"What are you doing here? Why did you run? You know you must hold my hand when we are out," my mother was scolding me.

"That house reeks. I felt nauseous there. I had to come out else I would have vomited there," I explained. I still was feeling nauseous.

"That is disrespectful. Our relative is unwell and she stays there. You need to be more considerate," my mother was not ready to accept my justification. "Let's go back inside. If your dad comes here he will scold you more," my mom said holding my hand.

"I am not going back in there. I will sit here on stairs. I don't want to see some sick relative. I came with you to visit my cousins not to pay visit to a patient," I said while releasing my hand from my mother's grip. But my mom was obviously stronger than a fragile 4 year old. She pulled me back in that house. I wanted to cry but my dad had warned me to throw away from toys if I cried outside. I held my tears thinking about the toys.

When we entered the house, the windows were opened but it was still stinking. I wanted to cover my nose but my mother did not let me. We sat where Kashi kaki was sleeping. Shital sat right across and said, "Thank you for letting me know that the house is not in a good state. I stay here all day long so the stench does not bother me. I never realised it will be so distressful". First I thought she was angry but then I realised she spoke genuinely. Later I learnt that Kashi kaki was suffering from multiple infections too. Few days after our visit. Kashi kaki died.

Looking back at this visit still makes me wonder: why my parents thought it was normal to exposed their 4 year old daughter to someone who is severly ill and suffering from multiple infections? I thank god that I did not catch any infection after visiting a patient's home.