Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Location: Pavement in front of Furtado’s Music, Opp. Metro Cinema, South Mumbai.
Time: 11:30 A.M.
Weather: Really hot

A mixed group of around 12-15 people comprising of young and old of various socio-economic backgrounds, stand surrounding a young man in his 20's who is lying unconscious on the ground. He is experiencing an epileptic seizure with hands and legs flying out randomly without any control or co-ordination. None knew what to do. But then an old Parsi lady came out and told the people, "He's having a fit. He'll need to be hospitalized. I am a nurse...I know he will have to be taken to the hospital!" Nobody moved. Nobody had an idea about what exactly should be done. And then, a man in his late 30's stepped ahead and he said, "Place a bunch of keys in his palm." He was exactly what the
dabbawallahs of Mumbai look like...a 'ghaati'. The nurse mocked at him angrily saying, "How do you think THAT is going to work?!" A shopkeeper from the adjacent Bombay Sports shop ran inside and emerged with a dumbbell and a huge bunch of keys and gave them to the 'ghaati'. He knelt down and then placed the keys in one palm and the dumbbell in the other. And the seizure stopped there and then. Immediately. And the crowd dispersed. The nurse went away, perhaps wondering about what she learnt about medicine all these years...they never taught her anything like this! I walked in complete awe, humbled by the 'ghaati' man's presence of mind and strong faith in simple remedies.

Can we really feel 'intelligent' and smart just because we have education?

8 comments:

borntodre@m said...

hmm .. Education bole to .. I was born intelligent ... But education ruined me! Good work by that man .... Dev tyache bhale karo !

Vikas said...

Reminds me of one of those offliners that circulated around:

Two MBA graduates are set to bring down the 90,000 crore empire that a 12th Pass student took 30 years to build.

(of the recent(?) Ambanis feud)

Acoustic Dreamer said...

If it reminds you of the Ambanis, please read my post AGAIN! :)) The thought of Ambanis or anything close to that would be tangential to the proposed thought, don't you think?

Arunima said...

we need to have the wisdom that comes along with it

Confuzzled said...

Well.....as I was reading the post the designation of ghaati in quotes made me a little angry.....considering the kind of work they do....needs an applause.They are not considered to be worth a case study just like that.

But my anger subsided as I read the last line.....
"Can we really feel ‘intelligent’ and smart just because we have education?"

As far as apathy is concerned in WE people its pervasive these days.

Acoustic Dreamer said...

:) 'Ghaati' Hmmm. Trust me it was not meant to be derogatory! :)
I guess people like you and me, the so-called 'logical' folks use the brains more than all the other faculties! What other faculties? In my next post :))

Smart-Alecky said...

I am still amazed how did keys and dumbell cure the fit!

Acoustic Dreamer said...

It's the iron in the keys and the dumbells.
Epileptic Seizures are said to be because of random uncontrolled electric impulses in the brain. Now, the iron, I gather, because of its properties of being a good conductor, must have played a role in stopping or regulating the electrical activity in the brain.
I have witnessed this happening in front of my eyes in broad daylight!