Past midnight, a stretcher zooms into the corridor of the hospital, and a group of panic-stricken people rush to the elevator. The five-minute ride in the lift to level 4 is full of moments of chaos, but one consolation that awaits the group in the 8X12 space is Haridas Videshi Das's comforting words. The lift operator at Kotabagi Hospital, Aundh has been soothing frayed nerves of people hit with catastrophes. And patients at the Hospital vouch for Das's encouraging words.

A week after a nightmarish midnight accident, 22-year-old Padmaja Dandekar who is still recuperating says, "I was semi-conscious, in pain, panting heavily; everyone around me was crying and was panicky. Das was the only calm soul around, who said to me, 'These look like minor injuries, don't be tense as that will worsen the condition'. Those words of his came as such a relief," says Dandekar.

Lift operators have been there and seen it all. They are the invisible companions to those who enter the lift to get treatment at hospitals. Sancheti Hospital's casualty ward boy Sheikh Zakir Yusuf, who has ferried patients with severe injuries to wards, says it is tough for him to control relatives who break down in the lift. Yusuf, who has been working at the casualty ward for three years now, says, "Being a lift operator, you have to witness not only the pain of the patient but also the plight of their relatives and friends. When I initially joined, my heart went out for them but then I gradually realised that I can't let my emotions overpower my job. But some soothing words are what those panicked souls need, which we lift operators feel honoured to offer," he says. And it is not just words but also proper handling of the equipment, which is required. "If you handle the stretcher and wheelchair roughly, your consoling words can lessen the metal turmoil but not the physical pain. You can't just be sweet to them and consider yourself a good lift operator; handling the stretcher and wheelchair to get them inside the lift, helping out with the oxygen cylinder and so on is also very important."

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