I cannot play tennis without a net and a court – Part I

“Mr. Kulkarni” the receptionist called.

Pramod got up from his seat and smiling at her walked into the doctor’s room.

Slowly he opened the door and said “Good morning Doctor”

“Good morning” she said and gestured him to sit down.

She smiled at him and became engrossed in looking at the bunch of medical reports. She went through the scanning reports, MRI reports and some notes written by Dr. Rama Chandra.

It went on for about 5 minutes. Pramod looked around. He found that the room looked more like the cabin of a CEO than that of a doctor. He looked at the name plate kept on table.

He read it out “Dr.M.M.Iyer, Psychiatrist”.

She looked at him and said “It is my name, Maya Malini Iyer”.

He smiled back and said “Sounds like Hema Malini, the actress.”

“She is an Iyengar and I am an Iyer” she said and laughed. He then thought to himself that this doctor looked no less beautiful than Hema Malini.

Little did he realize that she was deliberately delaying things to observe his response.

After few more minutes of silence she kept the bunch of papers on the table and said “so Mr. Kulkarni what brings you here?”

Pramod started “Some strange events occurred in the past few months and that has disturbed my regular day to day activities”

She nodded and said “I have gone through the reports sent by Dr. Rama Chandra. Was it your first experience in a plane?”

“No it was not the first. In fact I am a frequent flyer and my job profile demands frequent flying” he replied.

“What happened in that flight journey that you have started getting all these problems?”

“Let me explain. It was not just the flight journey that created the problem. It was during the month of March and I was under tremendous pressure for achieving sales figures. I was sleeping less and would get up in the middle of the night and from then would find it difficult to go back to sleep” he said.

Dr. Maya interrupted “The plot is getting thicker. Feel free and explain everything even if you feel it is silly. Please go and sit on that sofa and stretch your legs and feel relaxed”

She went out and started speaking to the receptionist.

Pramod looked at the table. He saw lot of papers kept on it. She had not organized the table properly. There were some sample tablets on the right side corner. There was a framed photo of hers with her husband and two cute daughters.

“Coffee please” she said while walking towards the centre table near the sofa. She had come back with a tray with two cups of hot coffee. Pramod smiled and walked towards the sofa and sat on it.

“I think you were watching the arrangement of things on my table” she said.

“Yes” he replied.

“How do you find them?”

Pramod was hesitant. She smiled and said “Go ahead please speak the truth”

He replied “It is shabby. I would not have kept my table like this. In fact I cannot work on such tables”.

“You were telling me that during the month of March you were not getting proper sleep. I could see from the reports that you suffered from IBS also”

“You are right doctor. I had severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I still have it but after regular medication it has come down. I used to go to the toilet in the morning and despite the pressure build up was not able to completely pass the stools. The moment I used to finish my breakfast, pressure used to build up and I was rushing to the toilet. Same used to happen during lunch, evening snacks time and during dinner. It was hell until Dr. Rama Chandra started treating me for that” he said.

Dr. Maya smiled again and said “I read in the notes sent by Dr. Rama Chandra about your excellent academic record but for some failures during your engineering study”.

“Yes I did fail in few subjects during engineering study days. It was more to do with the diversions I had. Initially when I got attracted to a junior girl Vandana Joshi and later when I fell in love with my wife Susan Dsouza” he replied.

Dr. Maya continued “The notes sent by the doctor say that you have been quiet consistently producing exceptional sales figures and many times won the best sales person award.”

“Thank you”

“Let us get back to the issue that brought you here. Please explain what happened during that flight journey” she said.

“It was another normal business trip and I was returning home from Mumbai. The plane took off very smoothly and within minutes the announcement for loosening of seat belts was made. I usually continue with the seat belt and take it out only if I have to go to the wash room.

Suddenly there was a massive jerk and severe turbulence followed. It went on for more than a minute and if I am not wrong the plane lost good altitude and I thought that we were going to crash.

Soon things returned to normalcy and the rest of the journey was smooth. I became normal and had the breakfast they served and few minutes later the plane had a smooth landing in Bengaluru airport”

“I find it normal. Turbulence should be known to you as you are a frequent flyer” she said.

“Even I thought so. Problem started the next day. I started driving my car from home to office. No sooner I started driving on the over bridge, I started feeling strange. My hands started shivering and I felt like getting out of the car. But the traffic in Bengaluru kept me going and I reached the office. Same thing happened the next day and the day after that. In fact it happens even now for almost two to three days in a week” he said.

Dr. Maya smiled at him. Pramod could find a change in her smile.

 She looked very confident and said “One last question before I explain to you. Can you play tennis in an open foot ball ground?”

“No I cannot play tennis without a net and a court” he replied.

Dr. Maya got up from her seat and went to her table. She wrote few medicine names on the prescription and said “Mr.Kulkarni please take this tablet after your dinner. This will help you in having a sound sleep. Please come to me after three days. I shall discuss with you the possible remedies for the problems you are facing. I will have to consult Dr. Rama Chandra also”

“Thank you Doctor” Pramod said and walked out of her room. 

To be continued….