How Lingusamy’s friendship helped director Vasantabalan beat Covid!

Director Vasantabalan, known for his critically acclaimed films like Veyil and Angadi Theru, has been undergoing treatment for Covid 19 at a hospital, after having tested positive for the dreaded virus 20 days ago.

The immensely respected director was in a pretty bad state last week and had to be moved to the Intensive Care Unit, where doctors kept a close watch on his health. Like all other Covid patients, he was kept in isolation and visitors were prohibited from meeting him.

It is under these circumstances that director Lingusamy, who has been friends with Vasantabalan for over 30 years, got to know of his critical condition.

Vasantabalan has now described the angst of his friend and his courageous move to visit him despite knowing fully well the risk he was taking by visiting a covid positive patient.

The heartfelt post that Vasantabalan has posted on his facebook page gives details of how Lingusamy went out of the way to meet his friend and strengthen him by reassuring him that he was there for him.

Here is the translated content of the post that Vasantabalan posted in Tamil.

“What is courage? Pretending to be fearless. That is the old dialogue. Do you know what courage is? It is standing by the ones you immensely love under testing times. That is the new dialogue.

“Last week, I was admitted to the ICU of a hospital. The moment a soul got to know this, it begins to have a sleepless night. It hurries to the hospital at the first sign of dawn.

“It struggles with the hospital administration and authorities, pleading with them to let it see me. The hospital firmly turns down the plea, saying that it is impossible to let him visit someone in the ICU.

“The soul doesn’t give in and relentlessly and vociferously demands that the hospital authorities let it in to see me. They point out that if they let it in, there is a possibility that it might also get infected. The soul says it doesn’t matter. It begs and pleads with the hospital authorities to let it in for a few minutes.With no other go, it is let in with proper medical kit.

“There is this figure that stands next to my bed, watching me intently. It looks like a male penguin. It continues to look at me intently. I am unable to make out if it is a doctor or a nurse.

“Slowly, I utter,’Doctor’. The voice replied,’It is Lingusamy! ‘ Despite all the breathing equipment that I had been fitted with, I turned around and mustering all my strength, screamed, ‘My friend!’

“‘Bala,’ he said. His voice was broken. ‘You will come back,'” he whispered. I muttered, ‘hmmm.’
He petted me and prayed for me. I, who had never cried, felt a tear dripping down my cheeks.

“When he left asking me to be brave, my heart wondered who this angel of God was.

“What have I done to get such good friendship, I wondered as my heart and mind raced back and forth, thirty years. I told him, ‘I will come back for your sake, my friend.’ God left the room, saying, ‘I am there for you; we are there for you.”

“A thousand kisses Lingu…
May you live a thousand years with fame…“

The good news is that director Vasantabalan has now made good progress and has been shifted to the general ward from the ICU. Doctors have said that he can be discharged next week, if his health continues to improve.