Chandigarh, February 22
If ever the medical history of the first plague breakout in the 21st century is written about, it is likely to start with... Once upon a time there was an apple farmer named Randhir who lived with his family in a small hamlet of Hathkoti in Himachal Pradesh....

Randhir (35) lived a happy, comfortable life with his wife Sulochna and son Varun. Like every winter, he and his family celebrated the fall of snow with hunting birds and preparing these for the family feast.

And that hunt is all it took. Within a fortnight of this hunt, Randhir, Sulochna (27) and his sister Anu (24) were dead. Struck and what is considered to be one of the biggest killers of mediaeval times, plague still kills.

For the relatives who are attending on the patients admitted to the PGI here, they have gone through a complete circle of human emotions.

Starting with the anguish of the death of three close relatives, another battling it out at the PGI and one discharged, despair seems to be gradually giving way to hope. With no grouse whatsoever against any of the doctors, nurses or attendants at the PGI who have taken care of their patients for the past 10 days, the relatives are simply thankful. “We know the condition in which we brought Sulochana here. We were not even sure that she would live through the 16-hour journey from Rohru to the PGI. The doctors here tried their best.” says Satya’s husband, Mokta.

And for the team of doctors, nurses, attendants and safai karamcharis, working day and night in the isolated communicable diseases ward, a place even the most informed and aware think twice before entering, it is the call of duty when it becomes the riskiest.

A nurse’s two children have fever but she has been denied leave. One nurse has fever and she just got her tests done yesterday. They are human beings just like any of us, but have braved all risks in being in such a situation.

We are doing all that our duty requires. We have made arrangements for the dead bodies to be handed over to the relatives, and now we have the first patient cured and discharged.” says a nurse attending on one of the patients.

For Dr S. Verma, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, it has been one of the most strenuous fortnights of his life.

If the hopes and prayers of the relatives of Anu and Sulochana were dashed when they died at the PGI, Dr Verma was equally upset.

Chandigarh, February 22
The annual sports day of the local MCM DAV College, Sector 36, was a proud moment for the sportswomen of the college, who were appreciated for their past performance by the college authorities. Three international players namely Gurpreet Kaur, Sabeeha Dhillon and Guneet Raikhy were given special prizes. Gurpreet had bagged silver medal in the 7th Junior Asian Rowing meet held in China and won the gold medal in the 31st National Games. Sabeeha represented India in the 11th Olympics and secured bronze medal in the recently held National Games. Sabeeha also was instrumental in winning two gold medals in the All-India Inter-Varsity Shooting Meet. Guneet bagged several honours in golf tournaments. All of them were given cash prizes.

Kirandeep, a swimmer of the college, was adjudged the best sportsgirl of the year. Manju Hooda was adjudged the best athlete of the college.

Mr K.A.P. Sinha, Joint Secretary, Finance, and DPI (Colleges), UT, was the chief guest. He promised to provide a table tennis table for the hostel. Ms Usha Gupta, Principal, highlighted the sports achievements of the college. Justice A.L. Bahri of the Punjab and Haryana High Court gave Rs 500 to Kirandeep for her best performance.

Among others who were present on the occasion were Mr Satya Pal Jain, a former MP, Mr Nirmal Singh Dhillon, a former Chairman, Dev Samaj Trust.