Immobile life

10..9..8..7..6

Cutting through the late night traffic in Mumbai on my sweet pulsar I saw last few seconds of the traffic light being green before it turned red

"I can make it, c'mon" I said under my breath

5..4..3..2..1

"Should I stop?"

"No I think I should move on"

"Oh shit, the car from other side has already started moving, SOS, apply breaks, quick quick quick"

"Why the F*** is my bike wobbling?"

"Oh shit,I have fallen down, why the hell ME, why  me GOD?"

And there I was,down and out besides my bike right in the middle of the road under the Ghatkopar(E) flyover . Trying to act as if it was a minor accident, I got up instantly and tried  to lift my bike up, in an instant, everything around me seemed hazy, an excruciating pain shot up through my left shoulder, I felt it, and the bones seemed a bit out of shape and I knew I have a broken collar bone. A few good Samaritans pulled the bike up and asked me to sit near a pole, I started with a step and fumbled, and knew, that my ankle doesn't seem alright.

I decided to give shocks to my family in installments rather than at one go, so Shock 1) I called up my dad and told him that I have taken a fall, come and pick me up. Shock 2) When he came I told him, I may have a broken shoulder. Shock 3) When we reached hospital, the X-ray showed I have a broken leg as well.

However destiny reserved its biggest shocks for me, Shock 1) When in a casual tone the doctor told me, I need to undergo my first ever surgery for ankle repair and I ll have stay in hospital  for a week.

With drop of water dripping on your head and your hands and legs tied, this form of Chinese torture is considered to be the worst, but I beg to differ. I say, put a normal, agile and active person in hospital in immobile condition, and thats the worst torture. And when you are admitted into the hospital just a day before the semi final match of India-Pakistan, and the hospital doesn't even have TV, it becomes a living hell. So here I was, lying straight on a hospital bed with a broken left hand and a broken right leg. My daily routine started off at 4 am when the staff woke me up to take a bath(which I could never take due to my extreme immobility), then the same staff would ask me to sleep again, amidst their loud shouting and conversation. At 8 am, they used to serve Bread butter(Hardly any butter visible) and tomato soup(all I could see was red water). Followed by this, I was allowed a few visitors. Visitors quite understandably had only one query, how did this happen. Initially, I explained everything out of my pain and enthusiasm and agony of being immobile. But after a day or two it became a monotonous  routine. Every middle aged visitor had only one conclusion, Bikes kill, which was never encouraging.That one week was so boring, that i still remember the pattern of a patch on the wall above and ceiling fan.

Coming home after a week to home with a heavily laden plastered leg and an extremely delicate shoulder, I was showered with all the home made delicacies. Visitors who missed out cribbing about bike travel at hospital, came to meet me at home to finally crib about it. Almost everyone either brought a bouquet or fruits, fed up with gifts which I couldn't use I had to tell my friends to bring something like chocolates which only "I alone" can enjoy. However, in absence of wheel chair, I was left to the mercy of my poor revolving chair(which became my mode of transport for a lot of weeks to come!). With only one leg and one hand active, even my daily chores were very difficult for me to handle by myself. Occasionally, I would move my shoulder out of habit in sleep and I would get up shouting in pain.

Finally after two weeks, doctor removed my stitches(I have talked about pain so much, that it would look petty if I talk about the pain of removing stitches) and advised me to take physiotherapy sessions. Two weeks after experiencing excruciating pain of a broken bone, I experienced the next level of pain. Day after day, the physiotherapist went on tearing into my leg, a movement by even a few degrees gave me jitters(This went on for Eight more weeks). While my leg was being tortured, my shoulder was quietly recovering and after four weeks, it became more mobile and less painful, which came as a relief, because now, some of my daily chores were now managed by myself.

Any one who has fractured bone will ask only one question to the doctor, "How much time will the bone take to heal?" and the answer would be six weeks. I counted each day and each week for six weeks. And away I went to the doctor the day I completed 6 weeks. He advised more physiotherapy, and destiny gave me shock  2) The doctor prescribed a walker to me and I was expecting to walk straight away on my two legs the moment my accident turned 6 weeks old. The walker was to be used for 4 weeks!.

After gaining enough confidence of using the walker, I decided to join my office back. I was glad to see my office desk back, though I had never thought I would miss it, but 8 weeks of absence from office and immobility made me realize that there are things more boring than office. All my team members swarmed my desk inquiring about my health. I was pampered to no end by my team mates. The watchman at the access gate asked me to get a special card made, Surprised at his suggestion I asked him why, and he pointed at  the walker, indicating my disability, while I was talking to the watchman, a girl asked me if she could fetch an auto for me, and I realized what a disabled person goes through, he/she doesn't need help, they need acceptance, that they can manage things on their own, We try to help them on pettiest of things, trying to be good. I  denied the offer and thanked the girl for her offer(which under normal circumstances I would never reject!).

And now I am writing this blog on a day when I have finally started walking normally with a stick(quite normal considering what I had gone through over last 11 weeks). This accident has virtually taken 12 weeks of my life, but these 12 weeks have been memorable for me. But these are some memories I would never like to re-encounter!

PS- God forbid if you are in such a situation, never reject a girls offer, because this offer may offend your ego now, but it will always boost your love. Don't let ego kill love!