of poverty and mental retardation

this morning during my OPD session, i came across a 23 year-old guy who is mentally retarded. his mother and brother tagged along. i'm not quite sure what brings him to the hospital as the discussion between the doctor and the patient's mother was in Kannada language (a local language in Bangalore, and believe me it's even harder than Hindi) and unfortunately, Dr. Manjeera didn't bother to let us know the details of the patient's history of presenting illness (and it was so unlike her, she is usually so eager to explain everything to us, perhaps she was a little tired)

i'm assuming his illness is a really serious one because moments later, Dr. Jacob Matthew came in to discuss about this patient and they both agreed that this patient need to be admitted urgently. now the thing is, his mother refused to admit him. i asked one of the sisters (nurses) about why his mother refused to admit her son. she said, it's all bout the money. yeah, totally. i thought so. and i can tell it from the start. they're really poor people. imagine this, that mentally retarded guy was wearing a slack pants, which was probably descended from his father or brother (i can tell this by looking closely when he was required to loosen up his pants on lying down for physical examination purpose) and he didn't wear a belt, instead, he made use of some small rope as a belt. and his mother was wearing oversized slippers, which was probably borrowed from someone else.

it was clear. they're the victims of poverty. i'm sure his mother will definitely try her best to make ends meet just for her beloved son. but the real thing is, at this very moment, they can't afford it. my heart breaks so much to see how unfortunate some people are. they struggle to live a life and what about us? we spend money unnecessarily while others are still suffering. i'm not born with a silver spoon in my mouth and i'm nothing close to genius, but lucky enough, i'm not the total opposite of both. however, it's a shame that i do complaint about a lot of things. what was i thinking? other people dun even have a cent, and some are even mentally retarded, or perhaps physically deformed, and i don't think i am in the position to complain anything when there are plenty others who are less and less fortunate than me.

yeah, i got so touched today. i looked at the mother. she was full of hopes that her son is gonna be okay. and she was telling the doctor that her son can be admitted 2-3 days later, when she can afford the money. and her son was so innocent. he smiled innocently, he followed all the instructions given but the fact that he is mentally retarded is just so sad.

honestly, i respect these kinda people (referring to mentally retarded people) and i can't see them get bullied or insulted by normal people. please, they have the right to be respected just like everyone else in this world. it's not his fault that he is retarded. they've gone through enough hard times and we shouldn't make it harder for them by insulting or bullying them.

back in my high school in shah alam, there used to be special classes for special students like this. students with Down's syndrome etc etc. call me emotional, but i do feel sad when i saw them get bullied by other students. they dun deserve to be treated that way. and i wonder why normal people sometimes do act like morons. what's with endless bullying and insulting? gotta write this in my own mother tongue, tau tak, org2 gila or mentally retarded ni insyaAllah tempat diorang dh ditetapkan kat syurga, but not for us yg cukup berakal ni, so why perlu tambah dosa dgn buli orang2 camni? i know, i sound so emotional. perhaps i really am. my brother was in that special class. he was not mentally retarded, but he had some hearing problems and that somehow affect his studies, social life etc etc. yeah he couldn't cope studying in normal class so that's why. and of course, he's not exempted to be the victim of some morons. and when i caught anyone making fun of him, i will definitely show up. i love him unconditionally.

i still remember, it was teacher's day. and these special students made a performance. they sang a song - i'tiraf (raihan) nope, my brother was not one of the performers. he was still in primary school at that time. i couldn't help myself but to cry. and these special kids received standing ovation from the audience as soon as they finished performing. the performance was just soooo touching and i just couldn't control myself. maybe it was the song. and of course, the performers as well. please note i wasn't the only one who got so emotional, there were plenty others.

2 sensitive topics for today, poverty and mental retardation. i hope the mother can afford to admit her son to the hospital as soon as possible. i really hope so. i wish there's no more poverty for anyone at all. i hope we now know how to respect unfortunate people. i hope these less fortunate people are blessed with good life and happiness. so much hopes. i hope all of them are fulfilled.