AMARANTHINE

Act II (vi) : Out of Sight

"I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind, I'll do it all for you in time,
And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now"

~Ed Shereen - Lego House~  

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Dr Sanyukta Chowdhary removed her glasses and slowly polished them with the specifically provided soft cloth; it was as though she hoped that the cleaned glasses might provide her with greater insights in dealing with the specific case. She took her own time, despite the eager, expectant faces of the patients, or rather the family members of the patient; she felt a childish glee in noting their exasperation at the time she was spending on what they thought was a mundane task. In her long and distinguished career spanning over three decades, she had never come across such a bizarre case, which was unusual, as the case in itself was quite simple and straightforward. 

What had rendered it bizarre was the very evident fact that the patient, Mr Shaurya Pratap Rathore had attended only the first five of the recommended counselling meetings, the remaining sessions were attended by the various family members and had exceeded the recommended number of the sessions too. Initially she had been puzzled, then curious and later, was simply too overwhelmed to raise any protest. But somewhere along the way, over the past two and a half years, as she later admitted to herself, her fascination and admiration for the Rathore family compelled her to continue with the meetings, which from the beginning to end were completely dedicated to answering their questions, addressing their concerns and firmly dissuading them from implementing dramatic methods to help Shaurya recover his memories.

Today the representatives were Reyansh and a young lady she had not seen before and she patiently listened as Reyansh summarised his observations regarding the changed behaviour of his brother. "Doctor, my brother has changed quite a bit and it is worrisome. He was not like this before; he was a fun-loving guy and had a perpetual smile but now seems to have forgotten that very word. He no longer spends much time with us, does not mingle with friends anymore and appears to be quite curt at times. I know that memory loss cannot change the character of a person, but we cannot deny that he is no longer that warm and sunny person we once knew; in fact, I would say that he has become cold and slightly ruthless. My family is so happy that he is physically and mentally fit that they do not even notice it and when I try to say anything they blame it on work pressure."

She sighed and said, "Mr Rathore, you are right. Amnesia affects a person's ability to process and retain memories. If a personality change happens, that's not because they have amnesia. Personality and memory are controlled by two different parts of the brain. So the short answer is no, this could not possibly be on account of the partial amnesia. But that said and done, it is a fact that Shaurya has lost his memories of the incidents that took place in his life for around two years, which could be insignificant as a time span but then the events and their emotional quotient could affect his overall personality and behaviour.

The memory part of the brain would not be able to recall any images of those incidents, but then there would a constant reminder that he has forgotten some part of his life. It would be like an itch which cannot be scratched and it would leave anyone frustrated. How we deal with that frustration would determine our behaviour and your cousin, rather than sink into depression, has busied himself with work. He is physically fit and mentally stimulated but somewhere, emotionally, he is still unable to fill the void he feels."

Dr Chowdhary turned towards Ishaani and said, "Yes, my dear, you want to say something?"

Ishaani swallowed and said, "I am not sure of how relevant it is but I think you should know. Shaurya fell in love with my sister and they would have been married if he had not undergone the surgery. Unfortunately, he does not remember anything about her. What I want to understand is that if by chance my sister came in front of Shaurya or they interacted with each other, would it cause any traumatic episodes in Shaurya?"