That one call made my hectic day even more hectic. I had to rush to juvenile court leaving behind the patients of my OPD. Being a member of Juvenile Justice bord I was used to these kinds of a sudden change of plans but that day already packed up with so much of work that it was a little difficult to control the frustration.
Half an hour drive and I was there. Justice Arpita who heads the juvenile court is the wife of my colleague, so her welcoming smile to me was justifiable. Courts otherwise are not a place to smile of course. I wished her and quietly slipped into my chair immediately next to her.
The case was already proceeding. I started reading the case papers placed before my chair, while the district attorney was interacting with a teenager boy who obviously looked to be the ‘accused ‘ of the case. I observed him from head to toe. A very lean built, wearing brown colour oversized shirt and trousers which didn’t seem to be his ofcourse, his copper-brown complexion was offering a gloomy look to my eyes. An accused to them and a patient to me… He had to fit in both the roles to be there. To others present in the court, he seemed disinterested in the proceedings of the court, paying no attention to the attorney, judge, me or the policemen in the court and just staring bluntly around. To me he seemed to be lacking the understanding about what was going on and what was being said to him, indicating some degree of mental retardation.
” What do you think… Is he retarded… Doesn’t seem to understand anything… Or is he pretending.. Bade chaalak hote hain ye waise.. What’s your take? ” Justice Arpita expressed her doubts and questions in one sentence. I brought myself closer to her ears and murmured.. “I need time to make out that.”
She just nodded gently.
” Your honour, this boy plucked out the screw from the railway track and his all intentions were to destabilize the express train that was about to pass intending to kill many innocent people. He has been in police custody for the last six weeks but he hasn’t even told us about his address and not even his religion. He is willfully holding back all the information. I am sure that he has ties with antinational organisations… His appearance is suggesting that he may be a fidayeen. Nahi doc saab… Sahi nahi keh raha main… ” the District Attorney tossed his words towards me.
“I need time to see all this, dear sir.”
I replied smiling at the old seasoned fellow, maybe the best govt lawyer of the court.
“Doc saab..kabhi to kuch direct bhi keh diya karo.. You always need time. ” He smiled back at me.
Justice Arpita seemed to be hurrying up the things.. ” Tiwari Ji, Dr Saab is right in this demand of time. Our whole verdict shall be based on his opinion. So, let’s wait until he gives his expert opinion about his mental status. So… Dr Saab, how much time would be good enough..? “
” Thanks, mam… Just a week maybe. “
“Ok.. Tiwari Ji, fix the hearing after ten days with doctors reviews. Alright… “
We all stood up to pay them respect and she left the room.
” Tiwari Ji. Please, arrange to shift this patient to my hospital. “
” Ji sir… “
Next day, the boy was sitting in my clinic. And I was staring at the court papers that read ” Psychiatrist opinion needed for evaluating if the person had insight in what he was doing. Does he has the insight to understand the nature of his crime and insight about its consequences? “
Insight… So this was my area of concern.
I started the interview with routine questions. But not much of the response was generated. In the first couple of minutes, I was convinced that he has mental retardation, so the next question was to what extent he has that insight.
I have always wondered before and after becoming a psychiatrist that what in fact can be called as insight. If it’s possible for a common human being to be exactly aware of his actions and their consequences let alone a mentally retarded person…..if we can be ever able to visualize the whole thread of our karmic accounts and if we can’t be….can’t be aware of our karma, the reason for those karma and the implications of it, then how much is it worth that we call ourselves as having an insight?
Who has the insight and who doesn’t have it, in fact, I wonder, do I have the insight to judge it…and how…?
The story to be continued..
Very interesting article mam.
Insights. Everyone is very keen on giving their insights every now & then. Passing unasked judgements based on the so called insights.
I also wonder how can we judge another and come to a solid conclusion about somebody or the situation when we don’t even know our own deeds.
Do we think before making an action, comment, consequences and judgements. Can we justify even ourselves on those parameters ???????? Who are we… Literates, liberals, scholars, experts…
Do we even have any parameters for our judgements, actions, comments. Can we even take responsibility for our judgements. What education, ethics and values are we actually passing to the next generation by being that awkward examples.
It’s always better to show Mercy. We are human beings first. We are bound to make mistakes, and sometimes serious mistakes. We are harsh because we have been treated with harshness on every step. And it’s a universal truth that nobody likes the harshness when happened with ourselves. So why do we always intend to be the one who we don’t like either. Instead we should be on the other side which has mercy, kindness, generosity, etc
What goes around comes around.