Saturday, May 21

‘Bring home my Salman’

Three patients at a mental hospital are waiting for the silver screen actors to be part of their lives


The cable television can be so dangerous that it can turn sane persons into insane, is a possibility. Three patients at local mental hospital show their longing for the silver screen actors. Their madness continues despite heavy doses of intoxicants and a treatment of years. Following are the excerpts of the conversations they made with this scribe and their case histories as narrated by the concerned psychiatrists. Names of patients have been changed to conceal their identities.
28-year-old Lubna came to this hospital with the wedding food. What happened! While the Maulvi Sahib was asking Lubna for her acceptance at the time of Nikkah, she declined to marry her husband-to-be. "I am not going to marry this fellow. My husband will be Salman Khan (macho Bollywood actor). Call my father and tell him that I want to marry him, not this chap." Her father brought her to the mental hospital where she is languishing to this day. She used to watch Salman Khan’s movies only whereas her family deemed it a mere fascination.
Lubna says: "Salman Khan is my hero. He is always with me. Look Baji! (addresses the psychologist) He is holding me from my shoulder. Ask him to stop this…." The rest is really painful as one cannot help crying over the suffering Lubna.
38-year-old Yasin Khan was a non-resident Pakistani living in the US for over a decade. He was alone there and working in a company. He was fond of the Indian films. With the passage of time, he developed liking for Karishma Kapoor. He used to watch her movies only. Moreover, he had had a large collection Karishma Kapoor’s posters and films. "She is the most beautiful woman of the world. Her beauty is beyond any description. I cannot forget those 20 minutes I spent while seeing her in person in Los Angeles at a function. I could not talk to her in isolation, but she was there for me only. I want to go to LA again to be with her. These people think that I am mad, but I am not. I am mad for my love only. She isn’t married to any one. Here is her only husband (points his finger towards himself)!"
Saadia Batool is a beautiful lady in her mid-20s and is in love with Bobby Deol. She did her masters in philosophy from a local college. In her free time, it were only Bobby Deol movies, she watched behind a closed door. "He cannot marry any other girl. I am her real life heroine. We converse with each other daily. When he is romancing in the movies, actually he is doing it with my image. He has told me this thing himself. I am certain he will come to take me away from here."
If this is the cost of cable, then please stop this!

8 comments:

BaptizedLucifer said...

:-|

I've observed that most of these kidz comes from families where theres a severe lack of communication. kidz develop invisible friends/love interests to escape from it all. it comes to a point when those characters are REAL for you. they LIVE with you, TALK to you just like any other being. Curses be to a vivid imagination?

I had invisible friends in 8th grade... but they were friends... not love interests... i made the decision conciously tho... to let them exist... funny i actually remm asking myself do i really want to do this? talk to people that dont exist in my life? i did. but i came out of it soon, once i hit university... there were people around me, there was communication... i had an identity... i wasnt acting mechanically... i didnt have to kill my personality... the invisible friends dissappeared on their own... they werent needed anymore.

i'm so thankful to Allah it turned out that way for me. As for the peopel mentioned in your post, i guess all we can do is remember them in our prayers... :-|

Aamer Waqas Chaudhary said...

Hi,
I agree with you as far as 'lack of communication' among the family members is concerned. It also refers to the problem of 'indifferent parents' where children do tend to indulge in 'invisiblities' which start appearing to them 'in real' when they have cooked that thought for very long. All these person and many more are victims of hallucinations. They can definitely be treated, though not fully, but at least to lead a comparatively less troubled life.
When I went to interview them for the newspaper, I could not see myself in the throes of such a pain. I could do nothing for them except praying for them, like you mentioned at the end of your comment.

BaptizedLucifer said...

could it be that in ths ever competitive world some people just start feeling they'll never make it anywhere... and the PRESSURE makes them create these people who keep telling them how great/smart/awesome they are? These "friends" are usually well established people so when these "friendS" associate themselves with these "patients" it turns them into a cut above the rest... even above the "achievers"...

the minds trying to escape from all the pressure to excel? just a thought...

sigh... the ability to control our mind/brain (ability to make decisions) is what makes us different from the other animals with a brain... and here u have these young kidz,,, thweir minds contorlling their lives... in a way "protecting" them from the harshness of this life... :-|

astagfirallah.

S A J Shirazi said...

Congratulation on your site passing 10,000 hits mark. Grat thing.

I had taged you on Light Within and asked you to do a similar list on your blog. Did you see that post (by any chance)?

Aamer Waqas Chaudhary said...

Thank you very much, but real force behind this achievement has always been yours.
I did not check that! Please send that again or do the favour yourself--the later one is a good idea

Aamer Waqas Chaudhary said...

Baptizedlucifer!
Isn't it escapism? Living in the world of known, but trying to capture the beyond-reach individuals, seems to be a phenomenon with all such individuals.

Aamer Waqas Chaudhary said...

An exaggerated veneration for an exceptional individual will allow 'worshippers' to abnegate responsibility, looking to the great man for salvation or for fulfilment that we should work out for ourselves.

S A J Shirazi said...

You dint check that? It is on your site. I see it every time I am here? And I am here quite often.