Doraemon

Thank God for Wikipedia ! It has all the answers.

So Doraemon is the 'Asian hero' by the Times Asia !
Wow..that must be something!

Wikipedia describes 'him' as a friendly, intelligent,  "musophobic" cat-like robot who is sent back in time by a Japanese child to help his great-great grandfather Nobita who though, kind hearted enough to fight for the entire civilisation,  is a cry -baby. He is like that one child in every neighbourhood who is dumb, scared, miserable ,dim-witted, unlucky and bad at sports. He gets regular scoldings from his mother and teachers for being late to school, not completing his home work or poor grades. He is the one who gets teased by and often falls prey to the tricks of the local bully "Gian"who frequently steals his toys and books. That's where Doraemon comes to his resuce, with his magic pocket from which he can fish out various futuristic gadgets and tools.

So ,in short,  Doraemon is a "hero".
Oh ! So now I get it.

Rakshit has been my most difficult patient ...and the sweetest one too. Mischief peeped through his eyes whenever one glanced at those little buttons up there. He was naughty enough to have feigned blindness when we first tried to put him on the treatment couch. Boom !! We all went frantic.  We weren't suspecting a thing like that but then with his kind of rare brain tumor no one can ever say. But poor little Rakshit , he got trapped in his own doings. He had to undergo another unnecessary MRI to prove that nothing was wrong with his eyesight. But it definitely showed us that the road ahead is not going to be easy with this five year old naughty one.

Treatment of cancer over the last few decades has seen some major advances in technology. Today, the tumor which is not amneable to surgical removal, can be precisely targeted and "killed "using radiation therapy where we use huge machines to target radiation beams to the tumor from different directions, akin to the various sci-fi gadgets Doraemon would produce. And for the same reason ,the process requires perfect immobilisation of the patient during such treatment because even a millimeter's shift would mean missing out on the target. We do that by trapping the body in a cast during treatment , which is otherwise totally painless.

But Rakshit would  not have it any which way. No amount of cajoling did any good with him. Just then his mother came up with this brilliant idea. Only a mother could have done that.

"Baby , see they are going to make a mask for you..like the one you got on Rohit's birthday..remember?"

"That Krish one?"

"Ya like that one "

"But I dont want to be Krish this time?"

"So what do you want to be?" I asked.

"Doraemon!"

"What is that?"

"Ha ha ha...you have grown so big and you don't even know that?"

But how would I know!  They never taught that to us in medical school.

"Oh ho doctor aunty! It's a robot."

"Okay..so lets try to make you one."

"But then who is going to be Gian? Who will I fight with? "

"Baby I'll be Gian..dont worry " said his mom.

"Ok then..but I should look exactly like Doraemon."

"Ok boss ! ".

So finally we were able to get him on the table. A body cast was made for him and obviously it was a made of a plain thermoplastic material, nothing close to what Rakshit was visualizing. Now the challenge was to convince him to wear it daily for his treatment. The most difficult part...but we found a way out.

"Show me.. show me??
What is this? What have u done?  Do u think Doraemon looks like this? You don't know anything doctor aunty. "

"Hey darling ...it is just the base ...we cannot make it in one day. It is going to take time. For that you will have to come every day and get it done. It will be done step by step. And at the end you will look exactly like Doraemon. "

"Promise ?"

"Yes promise. But there is one condition."

"What?"

"You can only see it on the last day when it is completely done. Otherwise it will not come out well."

"Okay ..but you will make a Gian also for my mom right?"

"Only if she agrees to see it at the end too."

"Okay..no problem. But I have a condition too.. you will  have to give me a chocolate every day I come."

"One daily?"

"Yes daily. Promise ?"

"Promise."

"Ok done then."

From that day onwards , he would patiently get his treatment done, waiting to some day transform into "The Doraemon". He never demanded to see the mask but also never forgot to take his chocolate. 
But he would always ask how he was looking.

"Wow...you got the nose today."

"What lovely eyes..better than mommy Gian's."

"You got a tail today Rakshit."
"Is it red?"
"Yes...exactly like Doramon's."
"Wow...when it is done..I'll beat up Gian if he troubles Nobita any further".
"But I am your mother baby..I am not Gian in real life."
"Oh oh Mom...but I won't beat you in real too na..it will all be a game"
"Oh ..then its ok."

This continued for a whole three weeks. Then came the last week of his treatment. He was finishing in next three days and I was worried, not about his treatment but the day when he would ask to see his cast. What are we going to  do then?  We showed him a dream and he had lived it each day since.

I searched every children's toy shop in the city and finally got what I wanted at a stationery shop.

And then arrived  the D-day. He was excited. And I was worried, afraid of his reaction when he would find out the truth.

"Doctor aunty..is it done ? "

"Just need to give him a few last minute finishing touches."

"Wow...does it look pretty?"

"Not as much as you are...but you will get to see him today."

"Great...lets finish it off soon then."

"Okay..come on."

Treatment went off smoothly.

"Can I open my eyes now?"
"Yes you can now.."

"Wow...it looks beautiful."

We had stuck a huge "Rakshit" size Doraemon sticker on the cast. Kid's innocence makes them vulnerable to be easily fooled by us, the adults. But the truth is.. it is us who are actually being fooled !

"Can I take it home? I'll show it to all my friends. They will all be jealous".
"Sure ...it's yours. "

We made an exception that day and let him keep the cast.

Rakshit is  the real hero...just like his Doraemon. He is still fighting his tumor two years after, when we had not given him more than six months at the inital diagnosis.

Guess the real Doraemon where ever he is...and if he is..is looking for him.