A nurse speaks to Indian superstar Mohanlal.

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

Anumol Joseph, a registered nurse at Dubai’s Medeor Hospital is still on cloud nine. Flabbergasted! She can’t believe her ears that she had received a call from Indian superstar Mohanlal.

Donned in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and busy working in the COVID-19 ward, it was a jaw-dropping moment for Anumol, an ardent fan of Lalettan, as actor Mohanlal is fondly called. “I am so happy and elated,” she exclaims in joy. “It was a true fangirl moment. I would cherish this for my lifetime,” she said.

Anumol was not just the only lucky girl of the day. The Indian superstar surprised over a dozen nurses working at Burjeel, Medeor, LLH, and Lifecare hospitals in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Al Ain on Monday by making a direct call to their mobile phones. And likely, all of them were wonderstruck. The actor’s call had come as a surprise gift for the front line workers a day ahead of the International Nurses Day.

“Usually, I do not take calls from unknown numbers during duty time. Particularly nowadays, as we have to remove our face shields to attend calls. But I would have regretted it for my entire life if I had missed the call,” said Anumol.

Never did it occur to her that the person on the other side would be actor Mohanlal. “I was completely surprised. The sound was very familiar. But never did I think it was Lalettan. For a moment, I even suspected that somebody was trying to trick me mimicking his voice,” she said.

“When I attended to the call, a soft male voice from the other said replied: ‘namaste, good morning! Njan actor Mohanlal aanu’ meaning Greetings! I am actor Mohanlal on the other side. It took me some time to get back to my senses. Then I squealed with joy,” she added. Anumol requested Mohanalal to have lunch with them when he comes next time to Dubai to which the actor responded happily.

“He said that the whole world is remembering us in prayers and this tough phase would soon come to an end. He wished me the best and asked to stay safe while treating patients,” said Anumol.

Princy George, a staff nurse at VPS Healthcare’s Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi, had a similar experience as she received the surprise call from the superstar. “I couldn’t believe it was Lalettan. I was bit shocked but Lalettan cheered me up,” she said adding that the actor was kind enough to speak to her friends in the department.

“All of us are really happy. This is the best gift I would ever get in my life on the International Nurses Day. Usually, we get gifts, chocolates, and flowers at the hospital. But this one was truly special,” she added.

Speaking about his surprise call to nurses, Mohanlal said that nurses and doctors are the real superheroes who are on the frontlines of the battle against the deadly pandemic. “It is our responsibility that we thank them for their commitment and sacrifices. We all should be grateful to them and pray for their good health,” he said, adding that the UAE is like a second home for him and he has a long relationship of over four decades with the nation. He also inquired about the conditions of the nurses in these places and asked them to stay safe.

Mohanlal, who he is now in Chennai, urged the nurses to stay strong and asked them not to worry about the conditions in Kerala as the state is doing better. He praised the nurses for their efforts and talked to them for over forty minutes. The actor had undergone surgery for a hand injury at VPS Healthcare’s Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery, Dubai, in December 2019.

International Nurses Day is observed around the world on May 12 each year to mark the contributions that nurses make to society.

The International Council of Nurses has set the theme for International Nurses Day 2020 as “nursing the world to health”, with a focus on the “true value of nurses to the people of the world”.