Waiting on a wooden bench in a crowded hospital after having a sumptuous kolhapuri meal can induce sleep in few seconds and on top of it when you sit there after 1-2 kms walk in sweltering heat. I became victim of one such experience on my last visit to Gadinglaj, a tehsil in Kolhapur for installation of “Silent Observer”, a device which is being 
installed by district governance of kolhapur for monitoring of sonography activities done by doctors in kolhapur. A distinct smell went through my nose, the smell was familiar but little disturbing. I am used to such smell since my parents also belong to same profession but it is difficult to understand why every hospital has same smell. My fellow engineers were quite uncomfortable with the smell but eventually they also got used to it.
While in half sleep and day dreaming about my back journey to pune, a shrill cry from a old man woke me up. He was sitting on the floor near the bench. Coming from a non-marathi background, it was difficult to understand what he was speaking . I asked a person next to me about the old man’s problem. I was told that his son’s right leg shall be removed due to a fatal accident that happened in morning and his son will be walking on sticks for rest of his life. he was working with a tower company when he fell down from tower and broke his leg. He was only son and youngest one after four daughters The tears in old man’s eyes were shining against his dull, withered skin in low dim light of waiting room and his pain was conspicuous.
The scene made me quite uncomfortable. Since my childhood, i have always taken an escapist route from such occurrence of grief. This particular feeling contributed most while making my decision to be an engineer while i was given two standard choices of carrier during my childhood. I wanted to comfort the old man and communicate that i feel bad about his loss but i couldn’t. One because of my inability to communicate in his language and second i didn’t have words for him. The old man was comforted by his wife who was trying to wipe her tears as well as his tears by the end of her saari. The nurse emerged and asked the couple to go inside the ward since the surgery would start later in the evening. The old man and his wife got up in one quick action and rushed to the ward. They haven’t seen their son since morning and their prayers were finally answered by that nurse.
After a while, the waiting room got back to normalcy. I looked at my watch and realized the time was 3:30 PM already. We had a target of around 10 installation per day and this was only 3rd one of the day. I realized our stay in Gadinglaj town is going to be longer than we expected. These unexpected delays had been a point of concern for us as well as our client. I asked my fellow team members to find out, if it going to take longer for the doctor to see us.
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