Mariam's Responsibility

A true story.

“There is nothing more beautiful and dangerous than the human mind, it possesses the ability to create value and meaning out of nothing, and on the flip side, it possesses a terrible aptitude for violence, extreme violence.”

Society had pretty much failed Eldrin Tisso, leaving his home state of Assam for the neighboring state of Meghalaya. Tisso moved to the capital city of Shillong for a one-year theology course in the Sacred Heart College for evangelical training. it was a course designed for non-ministerial candidates and he was a student already midway through his term. Unfortunately for Tisso, his call for a spiritual mission was cut short abruptly when he was caught in the crossfire of a bitter ethnic conflict between the Khasi and Karbi.

Tisso identified with the latter. However, his identity as a Karbi was the only link to the conflict and he had no role in the whole debacle which was born out of poor choices by incumbent leaders during the formation of the states. The Karbis and several other small minor tribes who resided where the borders were drawn were forever caught in its conflict.

By the year 2003, border conflicts had risen to unprecedented heights, with the local student bodies in Shillong, asking Karbi students to leave the capital or face consequences. Tension grew when an ultimatum was released by the Khasi Students Union, a major local student body, demanding Karbi students leave Shillong within 24 hours.

Soon students were getting attacked everywhere in the city, especially those from weaker backgrounds like the Pnar refugees who took shelter in parts of Assam and Meghalaya, and the Karbi students who were studying in the capital. Sometimes young Karbi boys would be picked from their college class and be beaten up.

Eldrin Tisso faced a similar situation; a gang of youths came and forcefully took him to a forested area where he was beaten quite severely. However, poor Tisso ordeal was not yet over, his assaulters thought it wasn’t enough to have him simply punished for reasons no-fault his own. They proceeded to douse the boy in petrol and set him on fire leaving him for dead.

God had a different plan from the one his assaulters conspired, and an old lady found him lying on the road adjacent to the forested area. Tisso was rushed to the hospital.

The case began to make major news in the state due to its sensitive political nature, and soon every news media began to talk of it, public opinions got divided, and tensions between the two communities began to rise again. Some supported the growing divide while others called it a political ploy at maintaining the established power and hierarchy.

For Tisso, things didn’t look great. When he was brought to the emergency, the nurses and doctors that saw him first didn’t have much faith in his survival and believe he wouldn’t last the night. Tisso was recorded to have almost 70 to 80 % of his body burned, there was very little left of his skin, and the nurses that cared for him first recorded saying his ears had burned off almost completely and whatever was left stuck to his skull.

Mariam (name changed) was a senior staff nurse in the hospital and had recently undertaken a special burn course making her the hospital’s only and one of the few in the state with special training in the care of burn patients. The news of a burn patient to the hospital’s newly established burn unit would soon reach her ears. “He wouldn’t make it through the night”, her friends and colleagues told her, curious and concern, Mariam visited Tisso during her rounds.

Mariam saw the young boy and immediately was reminded of the many students who would visit her house to meet her husband, a popular social activist, and teacher among the youths. “He is not far off from the young boys,” she thought to herself. She decided there and then, it was going to be her responsibility to see Tisso survive the night.

According to the National Institute Of Health, a person with burns above 30% is potentially fatal and anyone with burns above 10% of their body surface required special treatment in a specialized burn center. The treatment for burns is largely dependent on the nursing and requires tremendous and systematic care, this includes cleaning the wound properly and dressing it up in new bandages every few hours.

In Tisso’s case, post the emergency treatment, he had to be cleaned and dressed in fresh bandages every few minutes, to prevent any infection from setting on his wounds. Mariam taking charge would labor on with her nurses for the next 24 hours without stop. The entire process was laborious, and she had to supervise her juniors when she wasn’t personally dressing the wound.

The sun rose, the principal of the college was present, he had made his way to the hospital as soon as word of the attack reached him. No news of the boy was made of yet, no one but those in his care knew of his current situation. The police were present as well. The halls of the hospital were filled with a feeling of dread.

"The boy lives," Mariam told the anxious principal. There was a sigh of relief in the tired hallway. This was however not the end of the battle, he was badly disfigured and would require a great amount of care, and post-burn care would require plastic surgery and therapy for a long time before he could go back to a normal life or at least any semblance of it. The principal taking responsibility had arranged for all the monetary expenses and a plastic surgeon in Bangalore to work on the boy but he would have to stay in the hospital care for a few more weeks before he was ready for plastic surgery.

Not much is known of the case from here on, this was back in 2003, digital archives were not a thing yet. The local papers, did not cover as much either and today if you were to look for Tisso’s case, you will find only a few minor case studies, and articles from independent sites no one heard of.

Tisso troubles however did not end with this. Days after the miraculous survival of Tisso with great effort from Mariam and her staff. Mariam received news of shady characters asking around for Tisso. The hospital guards mentioned spotting a suspicious individual near the wards where Tisso was treated. Mariam grew suspicious, were these strangers here for Tisso? Or is this simply extreme paranoia? Regardless, Miriam arranged for more guards for precaution.

Her fears were soon confirmed one day when she and her husband were confided by a well-wisher who was well connected in the state's local politics, that people were looking for him, most likely to finish what they had started. This was troubling news.

Mariam was in a fix, Her guards' warnings of the suspicious characters looming in the hallways of the hospital grew in her mind. There was no one she could entrust his security to, the nature of the case made it difficult for her to request protection. She quickly set up a team of her closest colleague and together they decided to do something about it.

For the next few weeks, Tisso would be moved from one ward to another, all outside of hospital record, where he would be cared for by the nurses in secrecy. He was moved every alternate day, sometimes in a row, from one ward to another, sometimes they would set up makeshift rooms in rooms outside the allocated patient wards. This continued for several weeks, the principal was made aware of the situation and he followed suit keeping the secrecy. It was a period of intense fear and insecurity.

Soon the months passed, and Tisso was ready to be moved to Bangalore, for his plastic surgery after which he would go back home to his home state of Assam. Mariam was facing her last challenge, she had to move Tisso with as little noise as possible, the principal assisted by arranging a vehicle, he had prepared himself to escort the boy safely to Bangalore and back to his parents. The details of how the arrangement was conducted were never mentioned to me by Mariam, but she mentioned not many were informed of the event, and Tisso was moved quickly from the hospital to the airport in Guwahati which is in the state of Assam.

Tisso’s fate is unknown to us, the last Mariam saw him was as he was leaving the hospital for Bangalore. We know he managed to reach back to his family safely. Could he live a normal life without assistance? Could he get back to society and resume his evangelical training? These are left unknown to us.

Mariam is now 58 years old and is still a senior staff nurse in the hospital she took care of Tisso, 18 years ago. She hates paperwork and wishes to open an old age home or a local eatery, once she retires in 2 years. Her knees aren’t that great anymore but on duty, she can outpace a cheetah in the hunt.

Assam and Meghalaya have drastically improved their economy and infrastructures in these 18 years and the Guwahati-Shillong highway is one of the best connecting highways in India. However, despite the changes that took place, the terrible choices of the old incumbent leader continue to stain all new carpets meant to hide them.

This wasn’t an attempt to demotivate you, Change is possible, as long as people like Mariam and her nurses, the director, and the old lady exist. Those who actively work to ensure the cycle of hate stops, in one way or the other. There is hope.

I end my story here with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.'s acceptance speech for his Nobel Peace Prize.

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

If you like what you read, you might like my previous post about a sleepy town's first serial killer.