My experience for past 2 weeks

Hi everyone,

I want to share my experience from the past two weeks.

My sister has been suffering from a brain hemorrhage. A few days ago, she was in the ICU, and we used to visit her daily. Thankfully, she has now been moved to a private ward, and she’s much more stable. She’s finally out of the critical stage, which is a huge relief for our family.

But those days in the ICU showed me some harsh and painful truths about people and society.

There was a guard posted outside the ICU. Every single time we went to see my sister, he would ask us for money — using the words “Chai Pani.” From his behavior and tone, it felt like if we didn’t pay him, my sister might not be safe inside. That thought used to haunt me. Imagine being in that state — your loved one is fighting for her life, and you are being emotionally pressured and blackmailed just to visit her. That’s the sad reality of many hospitals in India today.

Another painful experience was with one of our family friends, a person we had known for more than 25 years. He’s a doctor, well-known and respected in our area in Varanasi. We used to be neighbors long ago, and my sister and I often played with his kids.

When he came to visit my sister, I went to receive him at the gate and touched his feet out of respect. On the way to the ICU, he kept making sarcastic comments, completely ignoring the fact that our family was mentally and emotionally shattered. Even at the ICU, he continued saying hurtful things to my parents. We tried to stay calm and ignore it.

Later, my mother told me something that really shocked me — he wanted us to shift my sister to another hospital where he had connections because he would have received a commission for it. Just for money, he tried to take advantage of our helplessness. This was someone we trusted like family, and it broke my heart to see how low people can fall for their personal benefit.

And if that wasn’t enough, what hurt even more was the complete lack of support from others. No one from our neighborhood came to visit my sister in the hospital. One of our neighbors is a nurse, and when my mother called her for help, she didn’t even pick up the phone. She ignored the call.

Our immediate neighbors, who live just next to us, also didn’t visit or ask about my sister’s condition. It’s painful to realize that in times of crisis, no one really cares. People around you pretend to be close, but when you truly need them, they disappear.

Worse, some even seemed happy seeing us suffer. One woman came to meet my mother, and I could see a faint smile on her face — as if our pain gave her satisfaction. That image still stays in my mind.

Through this experience, I’ve learned one hard truth — the world can be very selfish. People show sympathy only on the surface, but very few truly stand with you when life tests you.

This entire phase taught me how broken the system and society have become — from corrupt hospital staff to heartless people around us. And yet, it also made me realize that in the end, family is all you have.

That’s the reality of our world today.