Raju William
Mohali, April 30, 2020 –
Following Covid-19 crisis since beginning, Mohali-based senior citizen Mrs Bhupinder Kaur Bedi (88) – is on a mission fighting the deadly virus in her own little way. Being the mother of three doctors, a doting mother-in-law of another three and grandmother of one, she understands the medical part also to some extent
She was specially angry to know that quite a lot of doctors and healthcare workers were running short of masks, a much needed protection to keep Coronavirus at bay, as the general public had bought a large number.
She is very good at stitching on her well preserved 70-year-old – still perfectly working – Usha sewing machine which she had got as a marriage gift. Once she saw a sample of a mask she realized that for her it was a simple task to stitch it . She got some pieces of cotton which she had got recently for her dress and started stitching.
“I can make upto 100 a day,“ she says confidently . After her morning prayers and breakfast she sits down with her daughter-in-law, a senior Paediatric surgeon and works till lunch. Unable to get new cloth as markets are closed in the lockdown, she used some old cloth pieces and also some of her children’s cotton clothes.
She gave the masks to her son Dr HS Bedi – Director of Cardiac Sciences at Ivy Hospital Mohali to distribute to poor people who come to the nearby Gurudwara for langar and to residents of Mohali village. Others such as safai workers, gas delivery van drivers, vegetable and milk vendors have also received the masks stitched by her.
She is very positive that the current crisis will blow over. “The Government is taking the right steps,” she says with enthusiasm and activeness associated with a much younger person. She always encourages her doctor children who are actively involved in the anti-Covid programme to perform their duties with a deep sense of dedication and compassion.
As she is wife of an ex- Army officer- her late husband was a decorated Senior Paratrooper Commando Officer and participated with valour in the Indo-China and Indo-Pak wars – she exhorts all doctors to take due precautions while performing their duties. Their generation has seen the Partition and the wars as children, mothers and wives of Army men.
Their lot is a tough one. Everyone must do their part and be resilient. She remembers how their generation looked after their children alone and managed house when their husbands were on border duty and how they have survived bombings and air raids. “We shall overcome. I outrank Corona,” she says with a gentle smile and a profound, firm confidence as she continues her stitching.
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