INDIA: Family Does Matter In An Emergency

. MUMBAI, Maharashtra / The Hindustan Times Cafe / Chemistry / June 25, 2009 Heart of the Matter On His Own By Vasudha Rao It was during the time my father was recuperating from a heart ailment that I met Shri Moorthy. He was about my father's age and would spend the entire day in the hospital. One of my father's colleagues came to visit him. He introduced me to Shri Moorthy. I learnt that Moorthy's wife was an asthama patient. She was in the ICU. They had two daughters. Both were married and settled abroad - one in the Gulf and another in the US. I got talking to Moorthy. He had taken up consultancy after his retirement a few years ago and his wife was at home because she was usually down with asthama attacks. He was full of praise for the foreign countries where his daughters lived. He waas happy that his daughters were lucky to have settled there. The fact that no one was there to help him and his wife during an emergency did not worry him at all. Occasionally, a relative would drop by in the mornings to relieve him and he would be back in no time after a quick bath and breakfast. I felt terribly sorry for him. One day I asked him, "Why don't you ask your daughters to come here since your wife is unwell?" Better off He was furious, "How many times can they come? Recently, they visited us when she had been hospitalised." He also made it clear that he was okay with the fact that they were abroad where the facilities were better than in our country. This was in sharp contrast to my father's wish that my brother who was abroad with his family should settle down in India. Time passed. My dad was discharged from hospital but Moorthy's wife was still in the ICU. A month later, she passed away. I wonder if Moorthy is here or has joined one of his daughters abroad. [rc] vasrao@gmail.com Copyright HT Media Ltd.