1. Wise and Otherwise :
Story 5:
When the Mop Count Did Not Tally
Gokhale Education Society’s
S.M.R.K. B.K. A.K. Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Nasik-5.
Ms. Geetanjali Gitay
Assistant Professor
Dept. of English
CC English (LL)
S.Y.B.Com. Sem III
Unit 4
3. • A Nurse
• A Doctor/ Surgeon
Summary
• Sudha Murthy begins by stating that her father was a very popular professor of obstetrics and
gynaecology. He would never bore his class with long lectures. Every now and then he would
tell his students stories, usually real-life incidents, in order to liven up his lectures. His classes
were well attended and lively.
• When Sudha Murthy asked him why does he tells so many stories in medical class, he told her
that he told the stories for the same reason Panchatantra was written. It was easy for his
students to understand. One cannot hold a student’s attention for more than forty-five minutes
at a stretch, if he added stories, he can stretch the students’ attention span for up to two hours.
• Here, she communicates a story told by her father. The incident narrated in the story actually
took place in England.
• An Operation Theatre is popularly called ‘ OT’ among medical professionals. An OT nurse is
considered a very responsible and powerful person in a hospital.
Characters
4. • She is highly respected by doctors and surgeons. Normally, only senior and experienced nurses
are given the post of an OT nurse.
•Once a very popular and senior surgeon was operating on a patient.
•It happened that the regular OT nurse was on leave that day. The nurse who was posted to the OT
in her place was a young girl of twenty-two. She was smart and was good at her work.
• Before starting an operation, the nurse in charge, usually counts the cotton mops. A mop is a
piece of sterilized cotton gauze. At the end of the operation, she counts the used and unused
mops and totals them. This figure should tally the number of mops counted at the start of the
surgery. This procedure is followed strictly to prevent the possibility of a mop getting left behind
in a patient’s body through oversight.
• The operation was successful and the surgeon was about to sew up and close the abdomen. In
keeping with the routine, he asked the OT nurse, “Sister, is the mop count okay? If it is fine, give
me the needle and catgut.”
• The young nurse counted the mops and said that their was a difference of one mop in the count.
Summary (cntd)
5. • The surgeon started searching inside the abdomen. He found no mop. The nurse searched the
OT, but she too could not find the missing mop.
• She was quite concerned. If the mop count did not tally, the surgeon could not stitch up the
patient’s abdomen. The surgeon was concerned too. He insisted that if the missing mop was
not found, then there must have been an error in the initial count.
•But the sister was very confident and said that she was not wrong in her count.
• The surgeon became impatient and asked for the needle and the catgut. The sister politely ,but
firmly, refused to do so. The surgeon, controlling his anger, searched the abdomen again and
then order the nurse to give him the needle and the catgut as he was the senior.
• However, the nurse does not change her stance. The doctor tells her that if she did not obey
his instructions, he will dismiss her after the operation.
The nurse, the eldest and only earning member in her family, was worried. But she still refuses
to hand over the needle and the catgut.
Summary (cntd)
6. • It was turning out to be an impossible situation. The inexperienced nurse’s apparent defiance
had the surgeon fuming. He was so upset that he did not know what to do. He looks down in
frustration only to see the blood-soaked cotton mop lying on the OT floor.
•“Hey, the mop is here, he exclaims, now the count is complete.” he said and the nurse
immediately handed over the needle and the catgut.
•When everything was over, the surgeon called the nurse and appreciated her and apologised
for pressurising her. Curiously, he asked her how could she stand her ground so firmly?
• She tells that she only followed her teacher’s words. If experienced teachers say something then
they must have their reasons.
•The surgeon was wonderstruck and immensely pleased. At the end of the story her father
would say, ‘ Each patient is precious. Be careful. If a patient dies, it is just one more hospital
death for the doctor. But for the unfortunate family, it is a permanent loss.’
• This was an important principle that Sudha Murthy’s father used to teach through this story.
Summary (cntd)
7. Text Content Source :
1 .Wise and Otherwise, Murthy Sudha, Penguine India, New Delhi, Reprint(2006).
