Even after my father passed away and my mother was left all by herself in Kolkata, she refused to relocate to Santiniketan. Though part of her reluctance had to do with her unwillingness to accept my lifestyle, she also feared that Santiniketan would not have adequate medical facilities.
But when my mother finally agreed to come, we discovered that doctors and nursing care were actually better in this small town than what we have in Kolkata. Not because they were better qualified or experienced but because they had more time to listen to patients and their families.
My mother had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease that had reached quite an advanced stage by the time we brought her to Santiniketan. Though I could see the obvious signs of her degenerating physical health, I did not pay much attention to the fact that her mental health, too, was deteriorating. In fact, it was only after her death that I realised how little attention I had paid to her mental state.
This prompted me to figure a way in which I could sensitise people living with the elderly about dementia and its myriad manifestations. Luckily, I found other like-minded people and we managed to start programmes to create awareness about dementia in Santiniketan. The idea is to follow this up with early detection camps, organising home visits by doctors, training for caregivers and so on.
We were encouraged in our endeavour by a very active and efficient Kolkata chapter of the Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India. Being exceedingly generous with their time, the organisation’s office bearers, doctors and counsellors come over to Santiniketan for motivating and training us, among many other things.
As duties for the Santiniketan group members were being assigned, it was decided that I would do a talk-show on the local FM channel as part of the awareness-building programme. Given my long sojourn in Mumbai, I pleaded that my rusty Bangla was certainly not good enough to conduct a radio programme on a subject as complex as dementia. Despite this admission, I was sent off on the designated day to be interviewed on dementia. Considering my language handicap and minimal knowledge on the subject, the interview went off okay.
Or so I thought, till my phone rang (I had forgotten that I had given my number on air, so that listeners could contact me if they wished to know more). The caller from Bardhaman district said he had listened to the interview and had benefited much from it. Just when I was hoping I would be able to answer his query in a satisfactory manner he said he was calling to know whether I could give him the number of the doctor who spoke before me on leprosy! I explained how radio channels conduct interviews separately but air them together. So I had not even met this doctor.
The phone rang again. This time the caller was from Birbhum. He said he had really liked my interview but hadn’t understood what I had said! I told him it was a pity and that he should get back with specific queries. The third call was from a 35-year-old who said he thought he might have dementia because he has been getting very angry of late. I explained that his was no age to be afflicted by dementia and in any case anger was not known to be a symptom.
There were thankfully no more calls. I realised, then, that I am surely not the best ambassador for dementia awareness, at least not in Bangla.
