Cancer II

Fighting a lonely battle against cancer
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Jajjal/Giana (Bathinda), February 4
The World Cancer Day, observed on February 4 to create awareness about the deadly disease and to encourage its prevention, detection and treatment, has no meaning for the residents of Jajjal, Giana and Malkana villages of Bathinda district.

For over three decades now, the residents are fighting the curse of cancer. These three villages have become so infamous due to the scourge of cancer that the residents do not want anyone to touch their raw nerve. Ironically, people fear visiting their relatives settled in these villages.
Now, the residents are facing an altogether different but a serious problem. The youth here are finding it difficult to enter into matrimonial alliances as their villages have earned a bad name of being cancer-ridden.
When this reporter asked for drinking water, the residents of Jajjal village said, “It is surprising that you are visiting Jajjal and asking for drinking water. Whosoever visits here, including our kin, brings their water bottles along as they fear that a single drop of water consumed from this village would make them a cancer patient.”
Though they were quite vocal in expressing their feelings, the pain of losing their kin to cancer was visible in the eyes of the elderly, who had gathered at ‘Sath’ (a common place where villagers sit together and chat to pass their time).
The elderly villagers said, “People here keep the medical reports of cancer patients confidential as they fear it would create a problem in the marriage of their children. Moreover, if the patient comes to know that s/he is suffering from the deadly disease, s/he may lose heart and her/his condition would deteriorate.”
Sharing his grief, one Jangir Singh said when his brother Baldev Singh came to know that he was suffering from the disease he got depressed and died within a few days.
Asked if they had heard about the World Cancer Day or its relevance, the villagers said, “It could be just another day for newspapers to carry our sad story. It does not mean anything to us as the day (February 4) comes and goes but no help has ever reached us. A majority of us are under debt that we raised to pay medical bills.”
Similar was the reaction at the Malkana and Gyana villages as villagers lamented that they had lost all hopes of receiving a helping had from the government.
One Harbans Singh Nambardar of Giana village said, “I have lost my father, mother and two paternal uncles to cancer. I don’t know how many else will meet the similar fate. Till date, the village could not even get a supply of potable water from water works.”
When asked about the number of cancer patients, these villagers said, “We do not want anybody to ask us about our pain, as it hurts a lot.”
“As the government has closed its eyes and ears towards our plight, we plead that the media should also forget us. Let us live on the God’s mercy. Whatever happens to us, we shall accept it,” said an elderly Tek Singh, whose daughter-in-law Rani Kaur had also died of cancer.