Mudita was scared.
The dentist’s clinic is always scary! They have so many dangerous-looking things that they stick into your mouth! What if she got hurt? There would be blood … and pain!
“Mama, let’s go home. My toothache is lots better. Really!”
Mama smiled. “That’s because of the medicine. Dentist Aunty needs to take a look at your teeth because although the pain is less, your face is still swollen.”
“I must have got fat because of all the chocolates I have been eating. Let’s go home!”
Mama laughed and shook her head. Mudita wanted to cry, when Mama suddenly pointed to a huge fish tank in the waiting room. There were some vacant chairs near it. She led Mudita to them. Many different kinds of fish were swimming in the tank. Mudita was fascinated.
“Look Mama! The cute little fish that keeps going up and down so fast … it has frills just like my dress!”
“Those are fins, and they help the fish to swim,” Mama told her. “See, they are even the same colours as your dress – blue, red and yellow streaks on a white background. And she’s as restless as you are, going up and down, all over the aquarium at top speed!”
“Aquarium?”
“A fish tank is called an aquarium,” Mama explained.
“I have an idea. Let’s call this colourful fish Mudita Machhli,” laughed Mama.
Mudita laughed too.
Mama and Mudita watched Mudita Machhli going up and down, fins flashing at top speed. She really seemed excited that day.
“Maybe she’s trying to run away because she is being made to visit the dentist,” said Mudita, suddenly remembering where she was.
“Well, she can’t run away, and neither can you,” said Mama. “Come, it’s our turn now,” she said as the receptionist called out their name.
They entered the dentist’s room. Dentist Aunty smiled at Mudita.
“Why so scared? I won’t hurt you, I promise.”
“Well, that’s what Mama says when she combs the tangles out from my hair, but it hurts!” said Mudita.
Both Dentist Aunty and Mama started laughing.
“I can’t promise it won’t hurt at all,” said Dentist Aunty, “but we really need to see why you have a toothache. Otherwise how can we cure it?”
“But it’s better now; really,” protested Mudita.
“Yes, but the pain will come back once the medicine wears off,” explained Dentist Aunty. “We need to cure the reason for the toothache so that it doesn’t come back again.”
“Be brave, and you shall have your favourite ice cream,” promised Mama.
Mudita looked at Dentist Aunty and she nodded: “Of course, you may.”
“But I thought ice cream and candy are bad for the teeth,” said Mudita.
“They are, if you eat too many of them, and if you don’t brush your teeth and wash your mouth properly after eating them,” said Dentist Aunty. “If you wash your mouth after meals, brush your teeth every morning and night, drink milk regularly and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, your teeth will always remain healthy.”
Talking gently, Dentist Aunty settled Mudita in the chair. She adjusted the height and made her lean back. She switched on the light and peered into her open mouth.
“Yes, I can see a cavity here,” said Dentist Aunty. She tapped the infected tooth lightly and Mudita yelped in pain.
“Hmmmm …” Dentist Aunty did an X-ray of her tooth. It showed a badly infected tooth.
“We will have to do a Root Canal Treatment,” she informed Mama.
“But Doctor, she is only seven years old,” said Mama, looking worried.
“It can’t be helped,” said the Dentist. “She must have had a slight toothache before this but hasn’t been telling you. Right Mudita?”
Mudita hung her head.
“Why didn’t you tell me about your toothache when it started? When did you first feel pain in your tooth?” asked Mama.
“Last Sunday,” admitted Mudita.
“Eight days!” exclaimed Mama.
“You would not have let me eat the chocolates Uncle brought from Dubai if I had told you about my tooth,” said Mudita. “I thought I would tell you once all the chocolates got finished. But last night it got so bad that I just couldn’t bear it and had to tell you.”
Mama put her head in her hands. Dentist Aunty looked as if she didn’t know whether to smile or to be angry.
“Well, Mudita, if you had told your Mama about this in time, you would not have had to bear so much pain. Now, I am going to give you a small injection to take away the pain and start the treatment. The pain will come back and you have to do exactly as I tell you for two weeks. After that the pain will be completely gone, and you must take care of your teeth in future.”
Mudita looked at Mama pleadingly.
“Be brave, darling,” said Mama. “Think about Mudita Machhli and be happy like her.”
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The Root Canal Treatment lasted for two weeks. Mudita had to visit Dentist Aunty with her mother three times a week. She was quite brave about it. She would talk to Mudita Machhli in the aquarium while waiting for her turn and wave bye to her as she left. Mudita Machhli had become her friend and thinking about her seemed to make the pain of the treatment go away.
And then, on the last day of treatment, Mudita and Mama reached the clinic and sat down near the aquarium, as usual. Mudita looked for Mudita Machhli but couldn’t see her. She looked towards Mama. Mama too, seemed to be looking for her.
“Perhaps she is hiding in the plants, or inside that rock-like thing at the bottom of the aquarium. She’ll come out soon,” said Mama comfortingly.
But a long time passed and there was no Mudita Machhli. Mudita was becoming more and more restless. She got up and walked all around the aquarium, peering in from all sides. No Mudita Machhli!
“She’s not there!” wailed Mudita. “Mudita Machhli is gone! Now who will make my pain go away?”
“Don’t worry, darling, you’ll soon see her,” Mama said. “I’ll just be back. You keep looking for her.”
Mama went over to the receptionist and asked quietly if they had changed the fish in the aquarium. The receptionist said that some of the fish had died two days ago. They had been taken out and some new ones had been put in. Mama came back to Mudita, wondering what to say to her.
“Did you ask Receptionist Aunty about Mudita Machhli?” asked Mudita at once. She really was a very observant child.
“Yes darling,” said Mama.
“Well, what did she say? Where is Mudita Machhli gone?”
“Do you remember last year when you were younger, you used to sit in another classroom in school?” asked Mama.
“Yes,” answered Mudita.
“When you got older, you came to another classroom, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“In the same way, Mudita Machhli has got big. She has gone to another place,” said Mama.
“Can I go and see her?” asked Mudita jumping up. “My new classroom was in the same school, so, she must be in another aquarium here.”
“No darling,” Mama stopped her. “A school of fish is different from your school. She is gone and you cannot see her.”
“But I need her to make the pain go away!” cried Mudita.
“This is the last time, Mudita, and the pain will not be much. Mudita Machhli was there throughout your treatment, remember?” said Mama.
“No, no! You don’t understand, Mama,” wailed Mudita. “The pain was less only because Mudita Machhliwas there! I need her! Why did she go away before completing my treatment?”
Mama didn’t know what to do. Then, suddenly, she had an idea.
“Do you know what else Receptionist Aunty told me just now?” she asked.
“What?”
“She said your friend Mudita Machhli had left a message for you. She said that her special friend had come t o take her place here. See, the one with yellow frills: just like the dress you are wearing today,” said Mama.
Mudita looked inside the aquarium and saw a new fish with lemon yellow frilly fins, exactly matching the colour of the dress she was wearing that day.
“Yes!”
“So, for today, she is Mudita Machhli for you,” said Mama.” Talk to her for a while and make friends with her.”
“Will she make the pain go away?” asked Mudita.
“Of course! She is Mudita Machhli, isn’t she?”
Mudita made friends with the yellow fish and went in to Dentist Aunty when it was her turn. The treatment was completed and she came out smiling.
“Well, did it hurt today?” asked Mama.
“Of course not!” said Mudita. “Mudita Machhli always makes the pain go away!”
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