VISIT TO THANE MENTAL HOSPITAL

We had decided to meet at 9.15 at the gate of the mental hospital. To my surprise everybody was on time today. May be everybody was visiting the mental hospital for the first time. The whole atmosphere of the mental hospital was so chilled out...ya it was chilled out because some of the patients were smoking four square (to be specific), they were allowed to wander in that area, they were watching some filmy movie of Amitabh,some of them were hitting each other. Some of them were abusing...this was the first ever encounter with the mental hospital...we slowly started walking and reached the kitchen or the proper word would be 'BHATARKHANA'..3 ladies were having there food rapped in aluminum foil and a man was sitting on the floor and he was having some subji which we could hardly make out what it was. I guess he was one of the patients there who was helping the dieticians....and then we understood those 3 ladies were supposed to be dieticians. The condition of kitchen was awful...they made all the food that is breakfast, lunch, dinner at the same time in the morning and was then served in the whole day….then we visited the women’s ward where we actually encountered some patients…there we met a lady who sang all the time, then the other lady hated all new things and loved only the old things, she kept on saying juna te sona….and how can I forget we met Indira Gandhi…ya one lady introduced herself as Indira Gandhi…these ladies faced so many problems in there….and the major one was sanitation…the ladies ward was separated from men’s ward for obvious reasons…but now the question arises that what about there sexual needs…but the answer to this question was also obvious…HOMOSEXUAL TENDACIES….they kept on shaking hands…wanted our attention, anted us to touch them but off course the only reason was not sexual need but also they needed affection and this assurance that we have no problem touching them because we don’t think that they are they are bad though there most of the families of these patients haven’t seen them since long time….


We had so fancy ideas about the counseling and we were all ready to counsel and all…but it all got washed of today…At some point of time you actually start looking at the realities of life and am so glad that I have started looking at them at right time…