There is a purpose, as they say, for everything in life. When the prime minister announced a lockdown from March 25 onwards, I resolved to contribute to the fight against the global pandemic. I had obtained a nursing officer’s degree from Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, before I joined the film industry to pursue my love for acting. Only a month before the lockdown began, my first film as a lead actress, Kaanchli, had been released. I had earlier done small roles in movies like Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan (2016) and Taapsee Pannu’s Running Shaadi (2017). I thought my career in cinema was on the right track after its release because I was receiving accolades for my performance. I, therefore, had no intention to join a hospital as a nurse. But the coronavirus crisis made me realise that God had made me get a nursing degree because of this moment.
During the Janata Curfew (March 22), I made a video to create awareness about the need for social distancing. At the PM’s bidding, I clanged a thali to express solidarity with doctors and other medical personnel at the forefront of the war against the virus. I knew that it would not be an easy battle and all the hospitals treating COVID-19 patients might be short of trained medical personnel, so I rushed to Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasahab Thackeray Hospital at Jogeshwari in Mumbai with my degree to offer my services as a nurse. It was one of the two hospitals which had opened an isolation ward to treat COVID-19 patients at that time.
The hospital staff, however, told me that there was no vacancy for a nurse and advised me to leave a job application. When I told them I was not looking for a job and just wanted to work as a nurse to serve COVID-19 patients, they let me meet their medical superintendent (MS).
The MS checked my nursing degree and also my profile as an actress on Wikipedia. She was surprised to know that a film actor wanted to work as a nurse without any remuneration at a time when many people were leaving their jobs because of the highly contagious virus. She also cautioned me about other risks, but I was undeterred. I told her that my life had never been routine. Seeing my resolve, the MS allowed me to work and said she would have hugged me had it not been for social distancing.