God Sent

Siba Prasad Maitra

It is not for nothing that Siba Prasad Maitra is often addressed as ‘Doctor Maitra’ in the Club. He is our go-to man for medical advice -- whatever the illness, ailment, or disorder. Such is the faith of our members in him that many simply refuse to believe that Maitra is not a medical practitioner but a marketing professional with long years of experience in the pharma industry.
Shekhawat is one such Maitra acolyte. Over the past week or so, his condition had deteriorated to such an extent (ref post of June 24) that he could no longer trust the Navy doctors treating him. “I am in such pain and they do not realize it,” he complained bitterly. “What is the point of living like this?”
That was on Saturday. Today, the same Shekhawat was on his feet, exercising with gusto like the rest of us. Except for a brief while when it was drizzling,

Tara Chand Seth (r) returns from Delhi

he showed no sign of fatigue or the need to stretch out on a bench. He even challenged Bijoy Gupta (as usual) in the Lion-Lioness Laughter round.
What was behind the magical transformation?
Turns out that Maitra visited Shekhawat on Saturday evening and had asked him to produce the medicines he had been taking. On comparing them with the doctors' prescriptions he discovered that Shekhawat was unknowingly taking double the dosage he was supposed to. He had been gobbling down as many as 11 tablets, three times a day, for at least 10 days at a stretch!
“But then it was not Shekhawat’s fault entirely,” Maitra hastened to add.

When it rained: Shekhawat (l) with Tara Chand and Arun Patil

“The doctors had indicated the generic names of the medicines and Shekhawat was getting them from two different sources, in Colaba and Malad. Usually what happens, a stockist may not have a certain brand supplied by another stockist and substitutes it for another brand of the same medicine. This creates confusion and the patient ends up taking the same set of medicines twice.”
Maitra sat Shekhawat down and made small packages of each dosage, rubber-banding them so as to clear all possible confusion. The effect was instantaneous. “I had chappati yesterday without having the urge to throw up,” Shekhawat confirmed, clearly relieved and upbeat. Timely intervention had brought about this miracle.
Post Script: Maitra attended to Shekhawat when he himself was in great agony. He has twisted his ankle badly after a nasty fall at home. Today he is seeing a doctor to rule out a hairline fracture. Let us wish him a speedy recovery.
Kiran Prakash:
It was so nice of Maitra-ji to help Shekhawat-ji take the medicines prescribed by the doctor in the right dosage and frequency. Compliments Maitra-ji. I wish you speedy recovery too.
Kajal Babani (on WhatsApp):
Indeed, great work!!
Siba Prasad Maitra (on WhatsApp):
Thanks Kiran-ji. But I have done nothing except helping Shekhawat-ji to arrange the medicines to be taken during breakfast, lunch and dinner as per prescription. He was taking medicines in wrong dosage and in wrong time. It's not any great job on my part.
Kiran Prakash responds (on WhatsApp):
You are being modest. True you have not done much, but whatever you have done has practically saved a man's life. That's a very big thing.
Dilip Babani: (on WhatsApp)
Thumbs up, Maitra-ji
Bhaswati Bose:
Maitra-ji ki jai! We are very fortunate to have him with us.
Bihari Milwani:
Having attended to Shekhawat-ji on the eve of Eid, Maitra should be regarded a messiah -- a messenger of God.
Siba Prasad Maitra adds:
Dear Blog Monster, you have made me a hero in today's blog for doing nothing. It is very simple and anyone could have done it. Let us give credit to Mr Shekhawat who suffered a lot and bounced back within two days of right dose in right time as per his doctor's prescription. My salute to Mr Shekhawat for his spirit and enthusiasm.
Blog Monster:
You are being modest, Maitra-ji. Seriously, who among us (apart from you) is capable of correlating generic names of medicines with brand names? That made all the difference. We salute you.
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Good health is what we all aspire for. Unknowingly, we take double dose of medicines and suffer doubly. Maitra-ji has certainly come as a messiah and saved not only Shekhawat-ji's life but also restored his health. Three cheers for Maitra-ji!
Yusuf Rassiwala:
It seems there are divine blessings being showered on BIG LAAF. Maitra-ji's knowledge of medicine and his timely visit to Shekhawat-ji's house have enabled our beloved Shekhawat-ji to recover from his illness. Long live Maitra the Saviour and Shekhawat the Warrior.