Roasted rat in time of plague

C. SHAMSHER

CHIRGAON (ROHRU), SHIMLA, FEBRUARY 17: Rodent meat a remedy? It was sometime in ’82 that Dr Ram Lal, the Senior Medical Officer of Civil Hospital, Rohru, heard of this bizarre cure. An old woman of Tangnu village was taken ill for five days. When she failed to show any signs of recovery, someone suggested she be fed rodent meat. ‘‘Her relatives were told that it would work a miracle,’’ he remembers.

When they heard this, the hunters of the village went to the nearby Diudi forests and killed 18 rodents. ‘‘Then,’’ recalls the doctor, ‘‘they roasted the rats there and returned with some meat for the ailing woman and her family. But instead of showing any improvement, the woman contracted high fever and died.’’

Dr. Ram Lal, who attended to many ‘plague patients’ in that period, says seven of them died within two days. ‘‘At that time, very hesitantly, I voiced my fears about this pneumonic disease being similar to plague.”

This prompted visits by teams of experts from Indira Gandhi Medical College, NICD, Delhi, Central Research Institute, Kasauli, and Directorate of Health, Himachal Pradesh. Though officially NICD never termed the disease a plague, Dr D.J. Dasgupta, former principal, IGMC, confirmed it was indeed.

Chirgaon villagers remember how they attributed the first mysterious death to the wrath of the local deities. It was only after seven deaths in quick succession that they woke up to the gravity of the disease.

The recent spate of deaths by so-called plague has brought back old memories and hurts. Sohan Lal, whose nephew was admitted to the hospital with plague-like symptoms, says: ‘‘Like the Sauhtas, we were treated like untouchables. People refused to even cook for us; only those families whose members were also hospitalised lent a helping hand.’’

Another attendant recalls how they used to deploy teams of two everyday to attend to the patients. ‘‘One used to sleep outside the hospital premises while the other remained inside,’’ says Jamwant, whose uncle Sonpur was also admitted as a ‘plague’ patient.

He remembers how the doctors first told them that they had the plague, triggering a panic attack. ‘‘We began tying handkerchiefs on our faces. However, few days later we were told that it was not the plague, but some sort of pneumonia.’’

Suresh Chauhan from Chirgaon remembers how, for want of transport, the patients had to trek long distances to reach the hospital. ‘‘And you could make them out from a distance from the masks they wore.’’
It seems to be the same old story now. Well, almost.