By Thomas Scaria
Angamaly, Nov 22, 2023: It was around midnight on 26 October, 2023, when I visited a police station in Angamaly, a small town in the southern Indian state of Kerala for the first time. I went there to seek help after a fall on the pathway, stumbling over a stone. My left little finger was broken and it bled profusely. I also felt giddy.
Earlier, I had reached Angamaly from Mangalore by train and taken a room in a hotel room at the city junction. I was tense as my 93-year-old mother was admitted in Caritas Hospital in Kottayam after suffering from a heart attack the previous day. I halted at Angamaly to pick up my sister, a nun, who came from Indore by air the next morning. I was hungry as it was a hurried journey and had no food during the more than 10-hour journey. The hotel receptionist told me that I would find some ‘thattukada’ (fast food outlets) in the street. I was looking at one on the other side of the road, when I hit the stone.
As I found none on the road, I went straight to the police station which was a few yards away. Two young policemen were sitting around a table, which looked like a reception desk. They might have thought I had some fights and broke my hand. However, it did not take much time for me to convince them that it was just an accidental fall. They offered me a glass of water as I showed some symptoms of giddiness and asked me to sit in a chair. One of them gone out to get a rickshaw. The pain was so severe and soon I fainted and fell down.
When I got up, there were four policemen around me, taking good care of me. My wallet had fallen from the pocket, my glass was broken and my phone display damaged. They kept everything intact and handed them over to me when I regained conscience. Soon the auto rickshaw arrived but the driver seemed to have misunderstood the situation. He refused to take me to the hospital unless a policeman accompanied me. Though I said I can manage, a policeman escorted me and sat near me in the auto. He scolded the driver for refusing to take me, but consoled me with his full assistance.
They took me to the Taluk Government Hospital and made all arrangements for first aid. The policeman gave me his number in case I needed any further help. In that painful situation, I forgot to ask his name, but I would never forget the humane treatment given by the Kerala police in times of an emergency. My pulse was low and – 90/60. The hospital gave the first aid, put me on drips, and informed my brother in Kottayam.
Other people may have different experiences with the Kerala Police and government hospitals. But I really experienced the human side of the police and I would never forget what they had done to me when I could see no one in the street at that time. Also, the treatment I received in the government hospital was humane and professional – just for Rs. 10.
A BIG THANK YOU KERALA POLICE IN ANGAMALY, AND A BIG THANK YOU TALUK HOSPITAL TEAM!!
Some 14 years ago my 22 year old son was on an all India bike tour. We lost contact with him in northern Kerala. I couldn’t sleep. My wife contacted the highway police. An hour later they got back to us that there was no mishap on the section that we thought our son may have been. The cop on the phone also gave me a talking to for allowing my son to travel alone like that.