On Friday evening, for the second time in a week, a room full of staff from Jogeshwari’s Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Hospital was filled with laughter; unusual in these trying times when healthcare workers are under stress. Those who emerged from the room said they felt re-energised.
The staff, all frontline medical workers attending to patients with COVID-19, had just finished a session with mentalist, experimentalist and motivational trainer Bhupesh Dave.
Repeat performance
Mr. Dave visited doctors at the Jogeshwari hospital on Friday, spreading smiles and preparing them to face new challenges. This was his second visit to the hospital, after his first one on April 18 won a round of appreciation, and was recommended to everyone who was on duty.
“When we were told that Mr. Dave will be visiting us, I doubted if anyone would even smile. But all of us laughed our hearts out after many days,” said one of the staff members.
Mr. Dave has conducted corporate trainings for the past 27 years. His website says he has trained more than 60,000 people with memory techniques.
“Due the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the lockdown, all my contracts for the next few months have been cancelled. I realised it didn’t make sense to cry over it when I could use this time to cheer others,” Mr. Dave said.
The idea occurred to him during the course of a conversation with a senior journalist. The stress-busting sessions in hospitals were meant to help the frontline workers cope with difficult times and to refresh their minds. Mr. Dave began by taking the requisite permissions from the municipal commissioner.
“I am not a multi-millionaire to donate to the poor, but I can spread happiness through my work, and so decided to do this. My first session at the hospital was a great success and I started getting calls from more doctors and health departments to motivate and refresh their staff,” he said.
Mr. Dave even tries to spread messages and appreciation through mind and magic tricks, besides his mind-reading ability. “These interactive games work as a stress buster for overworked and strained medical professionals,” he said.
Another healthcare worker from the Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Hospital said for the past two months, the only word they had been hearing all day was ‘COVID’.
“People had forgotten other words, so we couldn’t believe that an entertainment session was arranged for us; we thought it was some kind of training. Such a session was required and we are very happy to experience it,” the staffer said. Some of the staff even said the session made them forget about the pandemic for a while.
Mr. Dave has also offered to work with NGOs and has approached the Thane Municipal Corporation for conducting similar activities.
Free service
“All this is for free. The only thing I ask for is transport, as private transport can be risky and I might have to deal with the police. I look forward to conducting such sessions for Mumbai’s police officers,” said Mr. Dave.
Such fun-filled moments are a welcome relief for a city grappling with lockdown pressure.
