Opthalmology, ENT, plastic surgery... the signboards are a blur. It doesn't matter which department will deign to admit him. As long as one of them does. Shantaram could lose his sight permanently and suffer irreversible disfigurement.

A resident of Kalyan, Shantaram had arrived at the hospital on Tuesday night after he was advised to seek treatment in a public hospital, says his nephew Parshuram. He had gone to his native town for a few weeks and the infection soon spread from eye to cheek. Finally gaining access to a doctor at the hospital at 3 pm on Wednesday, Shantaram managed to get the wound cleaned and dressed. That was at 6.30 pm, Parshuram said.

However, instead of admitting him -- due to the strike, only `emergency' cases are being admitted -- the doctor on duty referred him to various departments. After hours of walking the corridors, furnishing case papers and pleading to be admitted, Shantaram and his relatives decided to try the Emergency Ward. Some departments were without doctors; others said he should return later.

Seated on a bench outside the ward, the Jadhavs tried to get Shantaram admitted at every available opportunity. But the doctors inside, bereft of patients, simply whiled away their time. Parshuram told Express Newsline

that they had requested the doctors to allow him to stay in a ward for the night at least. Most of the beds were empty and they would leave the next day. But at 10.45 pm, the bench outside the Emergency Ward was vacant. The Jadhavs had left.

Associate Dean, Dr Sharad Modi, confirmed that Shantaram had not been admitted to the hospital. He expressed surprise that the doctor on duty had not admitted the patient as the Casualty Medical Officer had been given the powers to do so directly without referring the case to the Emergency Ward. The Jadhavs didn't know that. But it would have made no difference.