Bauji : Rage & Ropes

 

Bauji's trip to Bombay for a wedding proved to be an opportunity for the business to expand further. Bauji was successful in securing orders from the market for crochet hooks, gunny bags, and needles. He had brought samples from Bhagat Singh and received a good response from potential customers, which encouraged him to expand to other cities like Patna, Lucknow, Kanpur, and beyond. He worked hard to sell goods to the topmost dealers of each city. Bauji didn't have a formal official way for booking the orders. He took orders on the letter pads of his customers and accepted payments in the form of bank cheques. To my surprise, not a single customer defaulted on his bank cheque. Bauji could engage customers leading them to open up their dealings, revenues and finances. According to Bauji, a skilled salesman can sell even dirt, but the shrewd salesman is the one who can exactly gauge the purchasing capacity of his customers and never sell more than what the customer would be able to pay for!

Backed by the good response, Bauji started another business trip. In the middle of the trip, in Allahabad, he had a very severe stomach ache and had to discontinue the tour. He took a train back to Amritsar, but the pain was relentless. Weeks passed without any diagnosis in sight. Bauji became depressed and started manifesting mental disorders.

Our elder brother, Ajit Bhai, decided to get Bauji admitted to the hospital, but Bauji would not give his consent. Worried, Ajit ji called an ambulance and Bauji became enraged. He revolted and the ambulance left without him. Bauji was still in insurmountable pain and Ajit Bhai called the ambulance many more times. Once, Bauji was so angry that he got up from his bed, and tried to beat the ambulance staff. When the staff tried to run away, Babu ji chased them down to the end of the street. Ajit Bhai sought help from people on the street, who managed to hold Bauji down and somehow got him into the ambulance. They tied Bauji with ropes so that he could not run down from the ambulance and he was driven to the hospital. Doctors tethered him tightly to the hospital bed and injected medicines to induce sleep. This was the darkest time in our family so far. Even though I was in Delhi at the time, the stories of that time still leave a shiver of fear in me.

Bauji was admitted to a private hospital room despite medical recommendations to admit him to a mental hospital. Our world seemed to be crumbling down as there were mouths to feed and shops to run. However, when the going gets tough, tough women get going. Chaiji took the reins in her hands and asked us to solely focus on our shops. She hired a traditional cook to take care of food and assigned herself to fully take care of Bauji in the hospital. Doctors somehow controlled Bauji's mental imbalance in a few days, but his stomach pain was still severe. He couldn't take anything orally, so he was kept on intravenous fluids for twenty-four hours. Every Saturday, I traveled from Delhi to Amritsar with some money and returned on Sunday night for the week ahead. Ajit Bhai worked tirelessly taking care of Amritsar's affairs. Due to a shortage of funds, I had requested more credit from the market and found many who supported me. Bauji's goodwill in the market helped us arrange help for him. As all the business stock was replenished from Delhi at that time, we worked until 10:00 PM every day to ensure that no supply was restricted for Amritsar. Nothing could be left to chance. Despite efforts on every front, there was no improvement in Bauji's health even after 45 days.

One Sunday, during my visit to Amritsar, Bhai Ji Ajit Ji and I met with Bauji's doctor, Dr. Yudhveer Singh, the most experienced doctor in Punjab. None of his treatments, degrees, or experience were helping Bauji. He had given up hope and asked us to prepare for the worst. At that time, with no medical experience, I suggested to Ajit Bhai that we should shift Bauji to Delhi. Babu Ji agreed, and we decided to go to AIIMS, the topmost government-aided hospital in Delhi. While it was challenging to get admission, the out-patient-department was free. On Tuesday night, Ajit Bhai Sahib booked a first-class coupe for Chai Ji and himself to bring Bauji to Delhi.

 

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