Ram, a 22-year-old, short and thin built, tailor from the southern part of India was admitted in the psychiatry ward with a diagnosis of catatonic schizophrenia. He was kept in the first room of the ward where there were two beds. While on daily ward rounds, having just cleared my exams, I used to see him and demonstrate various signs to the students and my colleagues with an air of confidence. I would move his hands and put him in odd postures to show waxy flexibility and posturing. I would ask him to go under the bed from one side and come out from the other side, a couple of times, to display automatic obedience and he would just comply with his mask like blunt facial expressions. He did not speak a word spontaneously and only on lots of coaxing and after painful stimuli would utter a few inaudible words.
It was a Sunday morning and as usual I went for the ward round unaware of the fact that another patient was admitted on the other bed in the same room the previous night. No sooner I entered the room, this new patient who very loudly and furiously identified himself as Mr Jorawar Singh got up and stood between me and the entrance of the room. I was taken aback looking at this six and a half feet tall gigantic person who was almost ready to attack me. He demanded an answer from me about his forceful admission in the psychiatric ward and why he was physically restrained to the bed the whole night. Not knowing anything about his admission and fearing that he would manhandle me or assault me, I tried to leave the room and called for the ward-boy and staff on duty for some help. But unfortunately, nobody was around and realising that I was trying to escape Jorawar Singh obstructed my way out and pushed me inside the room in a very hostile manner. I was really afraid; I started sweating profusely and was missing my heartbeats. My mind went totally blank, I couldn’t think of anything in this difficult situation. I thought, soon I would faint and collapse.
But just when I had lost all the hopes of any help, to my pleasant surprise, Ram came to my rescue. Without any fear or hesitation, he got up from his bed, walked up to Jorawar Singh, held him by his arm, reprimanded him for his behaviour in a very stern voice and put him in his place in his bed, clearing the way out of the room for me. Without any second thought, I hurriedly walked out of the room and breathed a sigh of relief.
As I was walking out of the ward, I realized the irony of the situation. I, me, myself, Mr Know-all, a psychiatrist, with all my air of confidence was unable to manage the situation which was so appositely managed by a patient of catatonic schizophrenia. My arrogance gradually melted and vanished into thin air.