Mom required my help at 0130 hrs as she'd wet herself. The diapers that our maid had helped her wear before supper was askew and she felt apologetic that she was bothering me. I'd changed the bed linen and changed her clothes too. The same task was repeated at 4 AM too but she'd a completely relaxed night compared to the previous couple of nights.
I found her sleeping peacefully in the morning as I went about activating the house. I was by now certain that she was back to normal. How far I was from reality was something that I was gonna realise within a short while.....
Though she was initially reluctant to have a complete bath, she decided to go along with it and had her tea and biscuits. And then, things began to careen out of control!
I saw a profusely sweating mom complaining of discomfort in whichever position she tried to put herself in. It was a flash decision and I took her to the hospital.
The staff at the Rajah hospital was standing by for mom because its proprietor and my neighbour had alerted everyone. She was shifted into the Casualty where it was found that her blood pressure was abnormally low and her ECG showed a variation. I was hoping that she'd get to be normal once the bottle of saline drip - connected up during her short stay out there - was into her system!
She was quickly shifted into the cardiology ICU while she kept asking me to take her home. It was the cardiologist who gave me the bad news to inform the near and dear ones because:-
(a) Her blood pressure was low.
(b) She was having trouble in breathing.
(c) Her urine output was zero.
I was allowed to see her and the sight saddened me. She was breathing harshly and I realised that she was in difficulty. I called out to her and showed an action to fight. She looked at me for one last time. At 1158 hrs, through a gap in the partition in the curtains, I saw them trying to revive mom and my world came tumbling down.
The lady who'd suffered pain to give birth to your's truly had passed into the mist of time!
She'd always expressed a desire to rest beside dad but had given me an 'anticipatory bail' citing my grandfather's action on the death of his mother who used to tell him that she shouldn't be cremated at the public crematorium at Thycaud, Thiruvananthapuram and instead, to be laid to rest at the backyard of the ancestral Puthuvayil House at Neelamperoor, near Chenganasserry. Muthachhan must have gone about it practically - he was very fond of his mom - because in '60, the ambulance facilities weren't as it is now....... I'd no hesitation and requested my neighbour, who'd arranged for the freezer ambulance. The 73 year old Abdul Rahim Rajah - I call him 'Ikka' - did the following on the basis of our friendship:-
(a) He'd discreetly told the hospital staff not to offer any bill for mom's treatment.
(b) Since he wasn't keeping well, he'd sent Mrs. Rajah and his sister-in-law to offer
condolences at the hospital and his son, to ensure that the cortege left for Kottarakkara
without glitches.
He used to tell me that he'd come by to meet mom and she did expect him, taunting me, "Your friend is yet to meet me". Was he feeling guilty for not being able to do so, I wonder?
Tailpiece.
The freezer ambulance rushed from Guruvayur to my parents''s place. Two things happened enroute:-
(a) The driver, Mohsin, stopped at Kakkazham for easing himself. It's also the same place where mom had her schooling before she was shifted to the Cotton Hill Girls' High School in Thiruvananthapuram to do her class IX.
(b) We'd come via Padmakumar's house at Pidavoor, a route that she loved.
(c) I write this as my mom lies in state. She's finally come to rest close to dad!
PS.
I'd informed both her doctors viz. Mathew Abraham and Jimmy Francis about the developments while we're enroute to Raj Nivas. They expressed shock and were pained to hear the news. It was clear that even her doctors had a soft corner for her and cherished their friendship with her through her winsome behaviour!
I found her sleeping peacefully in the morning as I went about activating the house. I was by now certain that she was back to normal. How far I was from reality was something that I was gonna realise within a short while.....
Though she was initially reluctant to have a complete bath, she decided to go along with it and had her tea and biscuits. And then, things began to careen out of control!
I saw a profusely sweating mom complaining of discomfort in whichever position she tried to put herself in. It was a flash decision and I took her to the hospital.
The staff at the Rajah hospital was standing by for mom because its proprietor and my neighbour had alerted everyone. She was shifted into the Casualty where it was found that her blood pressure was abnormally low and her ECG showed a variation. I was hoping that she'd get to be normal once the bottle of saline drip - connected up during her short stay out there - was into her system!
She was quickly shifted into the cardiology ICU while she kept asking me to take her home. It was the cardiologist who gave me the bad news to inform the near and dear ones because:-
(a) Her blood pressure was low.
(b) She was having trouble in breathing.
(c) Her urine output was zero.
I was allowed to see her and the sight saddened me. She was breathing harshly and I realised that she was in difficulty. I called out to her and showed an action to fight. She looked at me for one last time. At 1158 hrs, through a gap in the partition in the curtains, I saw them trying to revive mom and my world came tumbling down.
The lady who'd suffered pain to give birth to your's truly had passed into the mist of time!
She'd always expressed a desire to rest beside dad but had given me an 'anticipatory bail' citing my grandfather's action on the death of his mother who used to tell him that she shouldn't be cremated at the public crematorium at Thycaud, Thiruvananthapuram and instead, to be laid to rest at the backyard of the ancestral Puthuvayil House at Neelamperoor, near Chenganasserry. Muthachhan must have gone about it practically - he was very fond of his mom - because in '60, the ambulance facilities weren't as it is now....... I'd no hesitation and requested my neighbour, who'd arranged for the freezer ambulance. The 73 year old Abdul Rahim Rajah - I call him 'Ikka' - did the following on the basis of our friendship:-
(a) He'd discreetly told the hospital staff not to offer any bill for mom's treatment.
(b) Since he wasn't keeping well, he'd sent Mrs. Rajah and his sister-in-law to offer
condolences at the hospital and his son, to ensure that the cortege left for Kottarakkara
without glitches.
He used to tell me that he'd come by to meet mom and she did expect him, taunting me, "Your friend is yet to meet me". Was he feeling guilty for not being able to do so, I wonder?
Tailpiece.
The freezer ambulance rushed from Guruvayur to my parents''s place. Two things happened enroute:-
(a) The driver, Mohsin, stopped at Kakkazham for easing himself. It's also the same place where mom had her schooling before she was shifted to the Cotton Hill Girls' High School in Thiruvananthapuram to do her class IX.
(b) We'd come via Padmakumar's house at Pidavoor, a route that she loved.
(c) I write this as my mom lies in state. She's finally come to rest close to dad!
PS.
I'd informed both her doctors viz. Mathew Abraham and Jimmy Francis about the developments while we're enroute to Raj Nivas. They expressed shock and were pained to hear the news. It was clear that even her doctors had a soft corner for her and cherished their friendship with her through her winsome behaviour!
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