The Silent Scream of Ward 4: Doctors vs The System

The Broken Breath: A Doctor's Tears Behind the Headlines

The Shiny Speech vs. The Rusty Reality

It was a hot afternoon in Lucknow. The sun was burning everything outside. But inside the Government Medical College Hospital, the heat was different. It was the heat of too many bodies, the smell of old medicine, and the sound of crying. In the waiting room, a small television was hanging on the wall. It was dusty. On the screen, a man in a clean white kurta was speaking.

It was Union Health Minister JP Nadda. He looked calm. He looked happy. The news ticker at the bottom said:

"Young doctors who wish to go abroad can do so, but should not say India lacks Infrastructure."

Dr. Arjun stopped for a second. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had been working for 36 hours straight. He looked at the screen. Then he looked at the crowd of sick people pushing against the grill gate of the Emergency Ward. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Infrastructure?" he whispered to himself. "Sir, please come and see Ward number 4."

The Arrival of Little Guddi

Suddenly, a scream cut through the noise. A man named Ramu was running. In his arms, he held a small girl. She was about eight years old. Her name was Guddi. Her face was blue. She was trying to breathe, but no air was going in. Her chest was moving up and down very fast, but she was suffocating.

"Doctor! Help! My daughter stopped breathing!" Ramu cried. His clothes were torn. He was a daily wage laborer. He had probably spent his last 50 rupees on the auto-rickshaw to get here.

Dr. Arjun ran to them. "Put her on the bed! Quickly! Bed number 6!"

Ramu laid Guddi on the bed. The sheets were stained from the previous patient. There was no time to change them. Dr. Arjun checked her pulse. It was very weak. Her lungs were full of fluid. She needed a machine to help her breathe. She needed a ventilator immediately.

The Search for the Machine

Dr. Arjun shouted to the nurse, Sister Meena. "Sister! Get the ventilator! She is going into respiratory failure!"

Sister Meena looked scared. She did not move. She looked at the floor.

"What are you waiting for?" Arjun screamed.

"Doctor sahab, the ventilator in this ward is not working. The repair guy came last month but he didn't have the spare part. He said the government has not released the funds for the new part."

Dr. Arjun felt cold inside. "What about the portable one? The one in the ICU hallway?"

"That one was taken by the VIP ward an hour ago. A politician's relative has mild asthma," Sister Meena whispered.

This is the infrastructure the Minister was talking about on TV. A broken machine and a missing machine. Dr. Arjun grabbed an Ambu-bag. It is a manual pump. You have to squeeze it with your hand to push air into the patient. It is only for temporary use. But today, it was the only hope.

The Long Fight

Dr. Arjun started pumping. Squeeze. Release. Squeeze. Release.

"Don't worry, Guddi. Breathe. Come on," he said softly.

Ramu stood in the corner. He joined his hands. He was praying to every god he knew. "Doctor sahab, is she okay? We came from the village because the village center had no doctor. They said the big hospital in the city has everything."

Dr. Arjun could not look Ramu in the eye. The "big hospital" had walls and a roof. It had a signboard. But inside? It was empty.

Ten minutes passed. Then thirty. Dr. Arjun's hand was cramping. His thumb was numb. But he could not stop. If he stopped squeezing the bag, Guddi would die.

He yelled for a senior doctor. "Dr. Gupta! We need an ICU bed! I cannot pump this bag forever!"

Dr. Gupta, the senior, walked in. He looked tired too. He had been fighting the system for 20 years. He looked at Guddi. Then he looked at the chart.

"There are no beds, Arjun. You know that. We have 40 beds and 150 patients. Floor beds are full too."

"So what do we do? Let her die?" Arjun's voice cracked. "The Minister says we have infrastructure! Where is it? Show me! Is it under the bed? Is it in the cupboard?"

Dr. Gupta put a hand on Arjun's shoulder. "Calm down. Lower your voice. If the media hears you, you will be suspended. We do what we can. Keep pumping."

The Sound of Silence

An hour passed. Dr. Arjun was sweating so much his glasses were slipping. Ramu was now holding Guddi's feet. He was crying silently.

Suddenly, the monitor started beeping loudly. A long, flat tone.

BEEP_________________________.

Guddi's heart stopped. The lack of proper oxygen for too long had damaged her heart. The manual pump was not enough. She needed a machine that worked. She needed the "Infrastructure" that was promised on the news.

Dr. Arjun started CPR. He pressed on her small chest. "Come on! Come on!"

Sister Meena stepped forward. "Doctor... stop. She is gone."

Dr. Arjun stopped. His hands were shaking. He looked at the little girl. She looked like she was sleeping. But she would never wake up.

Ramu fell to the floor. He screamed. It was a sound that breaks the soul. "My Guddi! My child! You said the city hospital would save her!"

The Bitter Truth

Dr. Arjun walked out of the ward. He needed air. He walked to the lobby. The TV was still on. The news was repeating the same clip.

"...should not say India lacks Infrastructure."

Dr. Arjun looked at his hands. They were trembling. He thought about his friends who went to the UK and USA. They sent him photos of their hospitals. Clean floors. Machines that work. Medicines that are always in stock. They didn't leave India because they hated the country. They left because they were tired of seeing children die because of a 500-rupee spare part that the government didn't buy.

He took out his phone. He wanted to tweet. He wanted to write: "I just let an 8-year-old die because we have no ventilator. Is this what you call infrastructure?"

But he didn't. He knew what would happen. An inquiry. A suspension. The blame would be put on him. They would say he was "negligent." They would never blame the broken machine.

Who is Responsible?

We need to ask hard questions today. When leaders speak on microphones, they speak of a dream India. But real India is in the Emergency Room of a government hospital.

Fact Check:

• Why are repair funds for medical machines delayed for months?
• Why is there only 1 ventilator for every 50 critical patients in many districts?
• Why are doctors blamed when the tools they need are missing?

Ramu is going back to his village today. He came with a living daughter. He goes back with a dead body wrapped in a white cloth. He does not know about politics. He does not know about speeches. He only knows that the hospital failed him.

Dr. Arjun is back on his shift. He has to save the next patient. He will use the same broken tools. He will fight the same war. And on the wall, the TV will keep playing the speech.

This is not just a story of a death. It is a story of a lie. The lie that everything is fine. Until we accept that our infrastructure is broken, more Guddis will die. And more Arjuns will leave the country, not for money, but for the peace of mind that comes from being able to save a life.