The Politician

Fiction

Dr Zachariah slowed the car. Someone was waving a hand standing on the road. The man looked wounded. It was dangerous to stop the car because it was almost midnight and the endless rain continued to pour down reducing visibility considerably. Moreover, he was exhausted after a very long day at hospital which culminated with a surgery. Nevertheless he stopped his car and lowered the glass a little.

Both the doctor and the wounded man on the road were stunned for a moment as they recognised each other.

“Doctor, please help me, I’m injured badly.” The man pleaded.

“Hmm, hop in.” Dr Zach opened the door and the man crept in with some difficulty. “Dry yourself,” said the doctor giving him a towel which he pulled out from somewhere in the car. “What happened?”

“I was attacked,” he said. “A masked gang. Must be the commies.”

The man who was known as Raghav ji was a local leader of the BJP. Fights between the BJP and the Left parties were not uncommon in the state.

“Where shall I take you?” Dr Zach asked. “Government hospital?”

“Please take me to your own hospital, doctor,” the man pleaded.

“And then you will organise a rally against my hospital?”

The doctor took a U-turn. “If you want I’ll drive you to the city where you’ll get better hospitals.” In their small town, Dr Zach’s Calvary was the only hospital apart from the government one.

“Please, doctor, I’m sorry about what happened that time. Please take me to your own hospital.”

Dr Zach looked at the figurine of Jesus on the dashboard as he used to do whenever a dilemma presented itself before him. Jesus winked at him.  “Hmm,” the doctor answered Jesus’ wink.

“Thank you, doctor,’” Raghav ji said assuming the Hmm meant Yes to his request.

Raghav ji’s wife was admitted at Calvary a few months back for delivery. An unforeseen complication called for a last-minute Caesarean which Raghav ji and his party workers interpreted as medical exploitation. As soon as the mother and child were discharged safely, Raghav ji’s party arrived at the hospital leading a rally. They shouted slogans against Calvary which in their view performed the surgery purely for making profits. The drama ended in a big chaos that brought the police and some prominent politicians to the hospital.

Raghav ji required a surgery because his arm was fractured. The doctor showed him the X-ray image of his arm and explained that he was free to seek counsel from another orthopaedic surgeon in the city if he wished.

“You are the best surgeon, doctor ji,” said Raghav.

Jesus winked in Dr Zach’s heart. “Hmm,” said the doc.

As Raghav ji lay in the hospital bed recuperating from the various wounds and bruises he had received apart from the fracture in the arm, he watched the news on the TV in the room.

Atal Behari Vajpayee passed away, the TV channels announced. Raghav ji was not saddened by the news. Vajpayee was too moderate a politician for Raghav ji. He had dared to teach Raj dharma to a great leader like Narendra Modi when the latter was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. “In the loss of Atal Behari Vajpayee, the metaphor for charisma, charm and moderation has forever been lost,” the news reader said.

“How foolish!” Raghav ji mumbled to himself. “We now have a much more charismatic and charming leader. And who wants moderation?”

The rains were battering the state mercilessly without any moderation. The Commie government’s estimate of the losses ran into thousands of crores of rupees. Foreign countries, especially those where large numbers of people from the state worked, extended generous financial assistance. But the strong leader at the Centre who knew no moderation dismissed foreign aids. “India is self-reliant,” he declared. “India will uphold its national pride,” he asserted.

The Republic TV called the people of the state “shameless” for looking forward to foreign assistance. National pride swelled in Raghav ji’s veins. He switched channels avidly. One channel declared that Lord Ayappa was punishing the people of the state because their Commie government had got the women the right to enter the Sabarimala temple. Another channel blamed the Christians for their sinful transgressions. This last explanation intoxicated Raghav ji’s national pride further. He knew what he would do as soon as he was discharged from the hospital.