Read the rest of the story here – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
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At Kumli, Ravi realized the nobility of his profession and how he could make a positive change in the lives of his patients. His mentor, Dr Tharakan inculcated values such as compassion, how to stay calm and focused even when faced with particularly stressful medical emergencies, how to keep a patient and his relatives calm even when the situation was not particularly favorable, and other traits which enabled Ravi to grow a lot as a doctor and more importantly as a human being. Three months into his tenure at the medical center in Kumli, Ravi Nair was a better doctor and an even better human being.
Being on the top of an ill-connected hillock meant that Ravi had a lot of time to introspect on his life so far and so he did. He developed a routine where he would take long walks through the picturesque tea gardens enjoying the misty splendor of the surroundings.
The experiences that he had during these walks were all the more enhanced whenever the genial and father-like Dr Tharakan joined him and they used to chat for hours together. The elderly doctor was well-travelled and his conversations were not restricted to medicine and ailments only, but included anecdotes from his past, incidents from his travels and old medical cases, all of which added to Ravi’s admiration of the man and his work.
Over the next few months, Ravi had developed a high degree of bonding with the doctor and in the process had also developed a new found respect for his own father, Dr Sudheesh Nair when he thought back of all the old stories about his father and how he had struggled to make ends meet as a medical student. All the incidents that his father had narrated to him about his own life, all the struggles that he had to face to become a doctor and slowly improve his financial condition were now clear to Ravi. It was only now that he understood and fully appreciated his father’s dedication and commitment, the sacrifices he had made and he now felt guilty for having taken it very lightly and trivially all these years.
During his childhood, teenage and years as a medical student, Ravi’s relationship with his father had been somewhat strained. While his father tried to inculcate habits such as commitment, financial discretion and motivation in him, Ravi didn’t quite see the point that his father was trying to make. As far as he was concerned, these habits were old-fashioned and completely unnecessary, more so because he had not faced a single instance in his life where he was denied anything he wanted due to lack of money, or lack of freedom.
All the efforts that his father put in to inculcate these habits in him had been undone by a doting mother for whom Ravi was an only child and therefore needed to be indulged in. This meant that he grew up as a ‘spoilt brat’. The only consolation that his father had was that Ravi was a ‘natural learner’ and had always been the class topper and he would enjoy the benefits of a good education.
Kumli was where Ravi realized that he had failed in his duties as a son and had never really fully understood his father. Speaking to Dr Tharakan and requesting him for a week’s leave, he packed his bags and started the long 8+ hour drive down from the hills to the Arabian coast, Kochi, to his parents’ home. He didn’t want to lose any more time in making amends for the lost years.
Although it was raining quite a bit, Ravi was not going to allow a bit of wet weather to dampen his enthusiasm in meeting his father again and asking him to forgive him for not being a good enough son all these years.
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Read the rest of the story here – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Disclaimer: This novella is based on a popular movie, the name of which I am not going to disclose here. I have taken a couple of the plot elements from the movie, modified them, added some background of my own and penned down this novella. Advance apologies for any fans of the movie who might be reading this novella, the intention was not to dilute the movie in any form or fashion, but to reinterpret some plot points using my imagination.
