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Dr. Pal Manickam

Doctor

Oct 23, 2023

Why do horrible things happen to good people? Why are life’s situations so random? Why are immoral people happy while the righteous ones suffer? These questions have intrigued the human mind since time immemorial, and this piece seeks to find meaning through an incident from my life.

Their eyes lingered with hope. They knew very well that the possibility of survival was slim, yet they still carried that positive outlook they always had. I walked out of the operating theatre to convey the bad news, “Nishanth is no more.” I almost forgot that both the husband and wife were in their 70s. They were in total control, even in this worst of situations, and received the grievous message with acceptance. Nishanth, 35, had Down syndrome (a condition that causes mental and physical retardation), and I had been treating him for liver cirrhosis. His parents never once complained; they made this special child feel normal and included in all situations. Their love and hope for their son were beyond the reach of my medical treatment, but unfortunately, the day had come.

Months later, Nishanth’s mother walked into my consulting room with abdominal pain. I believed it was grief and emotional stress and prescribed some tablets. Two weeks later, she returned, saying, “Doctor, it must be something more; I know my body very well.” We took her in for a CT scan, and the results came in. The report sat on my table, and I looked at myself in the mirror, questioning my very own belief system. More than the bad news, it was the contradiction that concerned me. They were such a warm couple, and as far as I know, they never did harm to anyone. Nishanth could not have wished for more loving parents, but despite all this, why them? She had no history of smoking, it was not in her family lineage, and she was not obese either. Why her? I turned the pages, wishing the result would change. I washed my face and reluctantly walked back to the consulting room. “Pancreatic cancer,” I said to Nishanth’s mother. She, being the woman she was, still maintained her calm demeanor. She took the scan report and started turning the pages as I explained how the tumor had spread to her lungs and blocked the blood supply. Though devastated, I still wanted to know the reason behind this. She said she had been exposed to an environment of smoking when she was growing up, and I believed that might have been a possible trigger. A few days later, chemotherapy started, but it was more of a comforting mechanism; her clock stopped ticking in less than two years.

It is in situations like this that I lost my belief in good and bad karma. We have all been occupied with this preconceived notion: “Do good, and good things will occur.” As far as I know, the couple never did anything bad to anyone, and if the notion were true, this shouldn’t have occurred. Seeing countless such stories, I became convinced that there is nothing inherently good or bad about karma. Karma is not about action and reaction; it is more about being in control of your own situation. Life can throw unimaginable obstacles at you, and you might believe that this is due to karma (some bad deed you committed), but that is not the case. Karma is not about morality; it is about our intention and attitude toward our situations.

Simply put, we have only one precious life, and we are bound by time. So, it is of no use carrying your past and getting trapped in a karmic cycle. Instead, take control of whatever situation you are in and emerge from it. Love is the key to breaking this karmic cycle because when you love unconditionally, your intention changes, and so does your attitude. You are no longer bound by your past actions or deeds; you are in the present, taking responsibility for your situation. Spread love—that’s all I want you to take away from this.

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