Aruna Shanbaug’s struggle to hold on to a life that many would regard as unbearable, embodies how difficult it is sometimes to draw a clear line between cruelty and kindness ( >Editorial, May 20 ). One should just imagine what sort of a life she ended up living and whether it would have been more merciful to release her from it, passively if not actively.
Her passing away ought to induce legal clarity about the pros and cons of euthanasia in situations like hers. While the compassion and care of her colleagues at Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial hospital is outstanding, the fact is that the state forgot about her existence. A petition to the highest court of the land to end her misery was lost in predictable ambiguity. The right to die with dignity remains a fundamental right but it is clear that even the living are often in such miserable situations that it beggars description.
Padmini Raghavendra,
Secunderabad
I just couldn’t believe that Aruna Shanbaug was able to live through all these decades; 42 years is a really long time. If the nurses of KEM could take care of their colleague so selflessly, then why can’t people take care of their elderly parents in the twilight of their life? The compassionate act of the KEM staff and the Supreme Court’s stand on euthanasia will prove a milestone in the care of such people in the country.
Abhishek Malik,
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
We live in an age where we are learning to respect “unconventional” things like live-in relations but sadly we have a centuries’ old mindset when it comes to granting someone a dignified death. At least in extreme cases like Aruna’s this should be implemented. However, to make such situations more favourable, it is equally important to make living wills legal.
Surabhi,
New Delhi
Aruna may now be recognised by the world’s media as a living example of horrific gender violence but also as a symbol of nursing care well beyond the call of duty; the world’s longest known survivor of a persistent vegetative state. But above all this, it’s sad to say that she was a symbol of our failure to evolve a humane, effective and empowering legal framework for the care that we will all require towards the end of our lives.
Geethu Issac,
Navi Mumbai
No words are enough to praise or describe the exemplary humanitarian service rendered to Aruna by the doctors and medical staff of KEM. Looking after a person in a vegetative state, who was in a condition worse than that of a hapless child, and for 42 years, is something unheard of in our lifetime.
I recall how my mother was admitted in the same hospital in 1971 for a spinal cord injury after an accidental fall. It was one Dr. Vohra who treated my mother and who ensured that she left the hospital cured and was physically fit till her last days. The sincerity and dedication by KEM’s staff is still evergreen in our family’s mind.
Devaraj Gaonkar,
Mangaluru
