A page from the personal diary of Ratan Rajpoot

A page from the personal diary of Ratan Rajpoot

One thing I will never forget is my experience when I got swine flu. It happened to me on the sets of Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo. It's really bad as you can hardly walk and the worst is you have to be hospitalized for treatment for almost a week. It was the first time in my life I was hospitalized and I had to take injections, how I hate them! And it's not just the treatment period but even after you recover your body needs to rest for at least 30 days. But, I think for an actor to take out that much time to rest is really difficult.

But, there is something that I'd like to request people, please do not embarrass the person who has swine flu. For I have seen people running away and saying, 'Oh, she has swine flu don't go near her. Some people do it just for fun to pull your legs but the others are scared. But, I feel this kind of behaviour will just force the affected person to hide it which is a lot more dangerous. When I had it I told everyone about it and went in isolation for some time as I did not want to affect others. But, after the treatment I am fine though the weakness still stays.

There are people who do not run away from you but they show extra care saying, "You should have stayed at home for some more time." I feel even that is a polite way of saying, 'You should have stayed home instead of coming her and risking giving it to us.' So, I just laugh and tell them, 'Please get me leave so I can stay home'.

I remember the first year when there was news about the dangers of swine flu people would come to our sets with their mouths and nose covered or wear a mask. Though later everyone just forgot about it but, I feel being an actor even then we couldn't have worn masks or covered our faces with a handkerchief. But, the basic thing I have learnt out of this is if your immunity system is strong you will not get it that soon. I got it because my body was weak.