Doctor's Journal Entry for August 6, 1945 – POETRY

Doctor’s Journal Entry for August 6, 1945 – Vikram Seth
Summary:
 It was a calm, beautiful and a warm morning in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. A doctor, half-clad in his informal dress, was gazing out watching the soft, wavering leaves and shadows. Suddenly, there was a strong flash of light, then another shocked and surprised him. He saw the old stone lantern with its bright light. It seemed to flare up. He was trying to assess what had happened when buildings began to collapse.
 The roof, the walls fell in timber and debris. Dust swirled around him. His drawers and undershirt disappeared. He was hit by splinters. His thigh was cut up and a splinter stood out of it. His right side was bleeding and his cheek was torn.
 He was totally confused. He pulled out a piece of glass lodged in his body. He did not know what had happened. He suddenly thought of his wife. He was worried about her as he loudly called Yecko-san. She appeared when she heard the panic-stricken voice of her husband. Yecko-san was bloodstained. She looked pale and frightened. Clasping his
suggested that they must go out quickly. They rushed out with an unsteady gait. In the street, they stumbled over something. It was someone’s head. A gate had crashed him.
 The doctor and his wife stood in a state of fear. A house before them suddenly bent, swayed and fell down. Fire rose from the dust. It was further spread by the wind. Then they realised that they must get to the hospital at once. The doctor realised that he must give a helping hand to his staff in the hospital. It didn’t occur to him that he himself was badly injured. In that condition he could not render any service to others.
 The effect of his injuries could now be felt by the doctor. His legs refused to carry him. He sat down on the ground. He was feeling very thirsty, but there was no water for him to drink. He was breathless. He revived his strength slowly, and got up at last. He was naked, for his clothes had been stripped off by the explosion. He felt no shame. Then he met a soldier who silently stood there. He gave the doctor the towel he himself was wearing round his neck.
 His legs were stiff. The blood oozing from his legs had dried up. He was unable to walk any longer. He advised his wife to go on ahead, and leave him behind. She was unwilling to go, but then there was no other option for her. When his wife was gone, the doctor felt a sense of fearful loneliness. His mind seemed to move ahead but his body lagged behind.
 The doctor saw the unreal form of people. Some looked like ghosts, others like scarecrows. All were silent. They had their arms stretched straight out from shoulder to the dangling hand. It took him some time before he could understand that the friction on their burns caused them much pain. For this reason they feared the touch of flesh against flesh.
 Those who could walk, just dragged their feet towards the hospital. There was a woman with a child. The doctor was dismayed to see that both the woman and the her child were naked. He wondered if they had come after a bath and were naked yet. He just couldn’t understand all this till he came across a man. Then he realised that some strange thing had taken off their clothes. The old woman was in pain but she did not utter a word. All of them were silent. No cries of anguish were heard. The atomic explosion had brought death, destruction and misery. The survivors were dazed and dumb.
wife’s elbow, the doctor suggested that they must go out quickly. They rushed out with an unsteady gait. In the street, they stumbled over something. It was someone’s head. A gate had crashed him.
 The doctor and his wife stood in a state of fear. A house before them suddenly bent, swayed and fell down. Fire rose from the dust. It was further spread by the wind. Then they realised that they must get to the hospital at once. The doctor realised that he must give a helping hand to his staff in the hospital. It didn’t occur to him that he himself was badly injured. In that condition he could not render any service to others.
 The effect of his injuries could now be felt by the doctor. His legs refused to carry him. He sat down on the ground. He was feeling very thirsty, but there was no water for him to drink. He was breathless. He revived his strength slowly, and got up at last. He was naked, for his clothes had been stripped off by the explosion. He felt no shame. Then he met a soldier who silently stood there. He gave the doctor the towel he himself was wearing round his neck.
 His legs were stiff. The blood oozing from his legs had dried up. He was unable to walk any longer. He advised his wife to go on ahead, and leave him behind. She was unwilling to go, but then there was no other option for her. When his wife was gone, the doctor felt a sense of fearful loneliness. His mind seemed to move ahead but his body lagged behind.
 The doctor saw the unreal form of people. Some looked like ghosts, others like scarecrows. All were silent. They had their arms stretched straight out from shoulder to the dangling hand. It took him some time before he could understand that the friction on their burns caused them much pain. For this reason they feared the touch of flesh against flesh.
 Those who could walk, just dragged their feet towards the hospital. There was a woman with a child. The doctor was dismayed to see that both the woman and the her child were naked. He wondered if they had come after a bath and were naked yet. He just couldn’t understand all this till he came across a man. Then he realised that some strange thing had taken off their clothes. The old woman was in pain but she did not utter a word. All of them were silent. No cries of anguish were heard. The atomic explosion had brought death, destruction and misery. The survivors were dazed and dumb.

Critical Appreciation:
 Horrors of nuclear war are brought out effectively. The day when Hiroshima was bombed brought death and destruction at a scale never imagined before. It was a tragedy of high magnitude which the Japanese faced. Its deep scars have not disappeared as yet. Those who died instantly didn’t suffer the lingering pain of the survivors. The maimed and disfigured ghostly men and women walked the streets. They were unable to understand what had happened and where they should go. The wounded doctor thought of his duty towards the injured. His conscience pricked but the body refused to move. What a tragedy!
 Like ‘A Small Pain In My Chest’, this one too is an anti-war poem. There it described the fate of a soldier who fought, got injured, and died. Here, it is the fate of the innocent civilians. Men, women and children are stripped not only of their honour, but of their skin. They lose their identities. The reader feels that the act of throwing such a bomb on civilian population is cruelty of the worst kind. Now when there are stockpiles of such nuclear weapons with a number of nations, nuclear disarmament alone can save humanity from future holocaust.
Paraphrase:
 The morning was tranquil and calm as usual. It was a delightfully warm day. I was relaxing half dressed in the morning. I was admiring and looking with amazement at the glittering sunlit silvery leaves and the shady dimness of the surroundings. Suddenly there was a forceful, intense sparkle by which I was alarmed. I was aghast to see the old stone lantern brightly lit and he thought it might be the magnesium flares. While I contemplated on it, all of a sudden the roofs, walls and the entire world of his seemed to disintegrate as if it had succumbed to some vigorous attack. It was reduced to nothing. There were fragments of woodwork and rubble. There was wreckage all around. Dust spun around in his garden then. I had cold feet to see a ghostly and horrific happening. My drawers and undershirt disappeared as if they had been swallowed up by something. A tiny piece of splinter protruded out from my mutilated, bruised thigh. My right side was bleeding profusely and my cheek was disfigured and torn. I knocked loose and disentangled indifferently the piece of glass in my cheek. All the time my mind was baffled and I tried to reason out about the gravity of the situation and about what had actually occurred. Suddenly, I panicked about my wife’s where abouts. Agitated and anxious, I called out to my wife ‘Yecko San’. At the same time I was conscious of blood gushing out from the artery in my neck. I was petrified as I knew I could die. In a frenzy I shouted out for my wife, who came out equally distressed and in anguish. She was holding her elbow and was blood stained. I consoled her saying that we would be fine. We limped losing balance on the street. I was choked with fear when he tumbled over a head in the street. Uttering apologies, I stood frozen due to fear and nervousness.
 I realized that the man had been trampled under a gate and was dead. We both stood there frozen and numbed with fear. A house in front of them swayed back and forth and then fell apart. It was smashed into small pieces. Fire sprang up in the dust which was spread by the wind. It then became apparent that we were threatened by some mishappening and that we needed assistance and immediate treatment. We realised that we must get to the hospital as quick as possible. I even thought that I should help my staff and it didn’t occur to me how I could do so. My legs fell weak and I sat down on the ground. Thirst overpowered me but there was no water there. I gasped for breath. But after a while we felt a little vitalised and ours strength was restored. Though I was naked yet in that situation of shock and anguish, I didn’t feel ashamed. Of course the idea of being naked and feeling no shame made me feel uneasy. Soon, I was helped by a soldier who stood silently there. He gave me a towel which was around his neck to cover myself.
 My legs were numbed with dried blood and refused to walk further. So I asked my wife to go ahead. She was reluctant but there was no choice. In this state of affliction, she carried on. After she left, I was now aware of a monstrous loneliness. I felt forlorn and friendless. Though my mind was working, my body was slow. I saw everywhere was soundless and wordless. I was first shocked to see them standing with arms stretched out and with shoulders attached to hands hanging loose. Later I realised that they were avoiding friction for a little rubbing of skin would cause acute pain to their burns. Moreover they feared that little rubbing could erode their flesh. Those who were able to move, dragged themselves in an awe-struck and dazed procession towards the hospital. I saw in distress, a woman standing along with her child, all naked. I was bewildered and thought why they stood like that or whether they had come back from the bath. I pondered over that until I saw a man totally naked. It was then that I realized that some strange, peculiar thing had stripped them of their clothes. I was unnerved to see the face of an old woman on the ground. She was so full of pain and was filled with so much suffering that she was absolutely quiet. This beastly frightful happening had left everyone tongue-tied and soundless. Everyone was dumb founded and this calamity had afflicted one and all the ghostly skeletal forms of people. Who were just skin and bones. A shudder of fear went through my body to see these blanched, blackish, death like creatures.
Central Idea:
 The poem is a pitiable picture of the survivors of the terrible bombing on Hiroshima on 6th August 1945. It brings forth the danger of nuclear weapons and its devastating effects. It gives an account of the anguish of people who saw the complete obliteration of their city with one atom-bomb. The central idea of the poem is to make us all understand the incredible destructive power of this weapon and its monstrous and frightful implications. Nuclear War is uncivilized and inhuman. This poem through the account reported by a doctor acquaints us with destruction of human lives and the burns and fatal wounds
suffered from radiation exposure. Hiroshima is profoundly
remembered today because it was the first city to be exposed to the devastation of an atomic bomb. The lesson this poem gives is a major lesson that war is horrible with its random killings of innocent lives.