https://soundcloud.com/shivani-das-983855902/frailty-faith-pt1?si=6ae8f93250674aeb99272ef390f1e0a2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The episode "Frailty and Faith", is an attempt to capture the life of a medical health professional and her work during the pandemic.
This episode is in Santhali. The host for this episode is Dewla Hansda, a Gender Studies Scholar and the respondent for this episode is a recent MBBS graduate who has preferred to stay anonymous.
This podcast is created by Shivani Das and Shivani Sankhla, as part of the Ideosync UNESCO Information Felłowship, June 2021 special cohort on intersectional feminism and digital rights.
PART A
Johar! I welcome you all to the Women’s Emancipation T&C Podcast. My name is Dewla Hansda and I am your host for today. The name of today’s podcast is frailty and faith. This episode will be in Santhali. However, subtitles will be available in English on your screens. Today’s guest and respondent is anonymous which means she does want to reveal her identity. I am happy to let you know that she is a doctor. In this podcast, she will share her experience during the COVID-19 pandemic as a medical professional and her relationship with her parents and family. Johar and Welcome to you too.
Dewla: So you hold an MBBS degree and you just completed your graduation. Where were you situated when the pandemic began in March 2020?
Respondent: I was in the hostel itself. The final exam was supposed to happen then. There were even a few terminal exams that had been scheduled to take place. They were cancelled. We then decided to go home because everything was shutting down food and maintenance facilities. By the time we decided to go home, it was late as the transport facilities had been closed down. Reluctantly we had to stay back in the hostel. During that time, we were very occupied with chores like ordering essentials, cooking, cleaning etc. There was so much time to study, the whole day almost but all I did was look at the statistics and check on my family. There was no headspace to study at all.
Dewla: So when your exams finally took place, how was the situation? Because the pandemic was a difficult time to study, everyone’s mental health was troubled. What happened then?
Respondent: I do not want to exaggerate but my final exam was the biggest exam of my life. It was so difficult to study during the pandemic so, with only half of the confidence in whatever I had prepared, I decided to give the exam. Suddenly, two days before the exam I got COVID positive. I had to be isolated and answer my exams. It is difficult for me to describe but it was a tough time for me. I have never faced such a difficult time in my life. With the blessings of God and the support of my family, I cleared my exams. I have never seen this kind of support, one that can be made even from such a great distance. The effect of the exam was the biggest thing that happened to me in the pandemic. Not only was I physically isolated, but I was also mentally isolated from everyone. The biggest challenge I faced during COVID was this exam.
Dewla: So when you cleared the exams, how was the situation then? Especially in the hospitals. If you could tell me a little about it.
Respondent: When I joined, there were not a lot of cases during that time. It was during the second wave in April-May. Our hospital is small and does not have enough capacity. The beds were full. The capacity of hospitals was less all over the country so that it could sustain these large numbers. The provision to be made immediately was impossible. The patients that were arriving were serious with less saturation and had nowhere to go. We had to ask them to leave because there was no ample facility. People kept asking us what was to be done but we ourselves had no answers. The time was really bad. Towards the end, we would have to be rude as there was no facility available in the hospital. The death rate was so high during that time, that as soon as someone was passing away, people were ready to take their bed. We would have to tell them that the ones who came first would receive that bed but it was not like that. We cannot say no to them; they are patients.
Fights would take place often over beds and oxygen. There were times when due to the unavailability of electricity, oxygen machines would switch off and all the doctors would become active in attending to their patients. This is the kind of scary time that I personally witnessed. There were also instances where the family would lose 2-3 members altogether. Sick children and young adults were bringing their parents and elders to the hospitals to get treatment. We had to ask such patients to let go because of their unavailability. It was difficult for us to understand their situation, no matter how hard we tried.
During that time, it was difficult for me to even visit my family due to the risks of exposure even after the fact that I have been fully vaccinated and have suffered from COVID before. It was during this when my father got unwell. He did not test positive for COVID but had very similar symptoms. It was difficult for me to comprehend what was going on from such a far distance. My aunt is also old which made me even more reluctant to go home and visit due to the fear of exposure. I was feeling so helpless that I was close to home but unable to take care of my father to take stock of the situation. My mother was alone in taking care of him. I was serving here, but being unable to take care of my father made me feel really helpless. Things felt pointless. But things got better, I prayed and my father got better.
Dewla: This is the end of part 1 of this episode. See you all in the next part of this episode.
(Outro music)