Covid-19 has altered our lives to a catastrophic extent. But during the early 1950s, another life-threatening infection, Typhoid, scared the heck out of my maternal grandparents family. My uncle M D Umapathi remembers that the bacterium spread through contaminated food or water, and symptoms included prolonged fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, abdominal pain, constipation, or diarrhoea. Severe cases led to dire complications and even death.
Then a tiny tot, the uncle, recalls how Dr Fernandez, a famous general practitioner in the area, cured him of the disease. There were a couple of government dispensaries in Fraser Town, Bengaluru, where the family lived. But, they were always bursting at the seams, and the family decided to put their trust in Dr Fernandez, whose home-cum-clinic was on the other side of the railway track that cuts through the town.
The doctor always kept a cheerful disposition and could induce relief in patients with a mere touch of his hand. People often spoke of him in the same breath as the proverbial saviour! When the uncle’s health deteriorated, the family counted on the ‘good old doc’ again. But the doctor’s revelation that it was a Typhoid fever case made the elders jittery!
Years prior, two devastating losses – the death of a son and daughter – had upended my grandparent’s lives. Losing another child at this stage could have been the last straw. But the doctor instilled confidence with his calm demeanour and soothing words. He listed the various dos and don’ts, including soaping and washing hands after using the washroom. The family followed the doctor’s instructions to a T, feeding the patient only porridge during the 14-day incubation period. The parents also hopped to nearby shrines and prayed for the lad’s speedy recovery. My uncle recollects how, recuperating from fatigue, he found it hard to squeeze his eyes shut while falling asleep. The condition so alarmed his mother, Logambal, that she often resorted to shaking him out of his slumber to check if he was alive.
The uncle snarled at the daily servings of porridge offered to him and longed for the spicy, home-cooked food. But the kin ensured he stuck to the diet prescribed. Finally, unable to control his craving for tasty food any longer, the uncle decided to change his arm. One day when his parents stepped out to shop, leaving him in the care of elder sister Padmakumari, he tiptoed into the kitchen and gobbled down a hearty meal of rice, curry and other accompaniments. But the ploy boomeranged!
The uncle soon developed an upset tummy, and the floodgates opened! On discovering this after their return, the concerned parents summoned the doctor who promptly arrived, and his searching glare was enough to scare the daylights out of the kid who admitted to his folly. Admonishing the erring lad for flouting the rules, the doctor stretched the quarantine period by another fortnight and continued with his medicines.
Lesson learnt, the typhoid-stricken Umapathi became wiser. He kept away from the temptation of gorging on tasty treats and stuck to the ‘Doctor’s diet’ like the fabled good boy. Thus, the little lad conquered Typhoid and emerged triumphantly!
