March 27, 2011

My unbelievable Valentine's Day, by accident

My this Valentine's Day was the stuff dreams are made of. Cool breeze. Two caring women by my side. One looking into my eyes, smiling, asking my height, weight etc. The other holding my hand.

Well, it was the stuff nightmares are made of. The breeze was coming from the AC of the hospital I was admitted in. Those caring women, "sisters", were caring because it is their profession. One was holding my hand to insert a needle in my vein (oooi!) and draw blood. The one asking height, weight and all needed that info for my surgery the day after.

Surgery? Yes. To fix my broken left collar bone. Broken, not fractured. How come? Courtesy, a freak road accident. That accident occurred at around 1 am on Sunday, February 6, when I was returning to my room after work. An ambulance hit me at a crossing. Haha... Yeah, ambulance hit me. Broken bone, torn ligaments, cut flesh (21 stitches on right foot)... Must have hurt bad, no? Actually, no. For, I was completely unconscious when all this happened. I just remember that I was riding my bike and then woke up in a hospital. Being blank helped. Felt noooo pain at all!

The darkness
But you know what's the worst part? The accident occurred just a week before Bryan Adams' Greatest Hits concert (highly anticipated) in the city. I had the ticket, bought at a princely sum of Rs 3,500, to watch the legend from aage se. Missed it! The ambulance-hit not only broke my bones but heart too. My favourite pair of Reebok shoes got torn down. Had bought them for Rs 4,000, man! As for my dear bike, rest in peace you metal beast. Obviously, I had to discontinue gym. Man, I had been working hard, putting on bulk. Now all gone :(

Silver lining
However, there were some plus points too. Got six weeks off from work. And got full pay for these off days! Was at my bro's house, watching TV all day! Enjoyed watching the audition round of Roadies, saw all movies of Rocky series back to back, two days in a row (and thought of becoming a boxer). Mom had come to Bangalore so got to eat butter-inundated aalu ka paraantha, without paying.

Wisdom dawns
There were some enlightenments too. Laughter is the best medicine. (It does have its side effects, though. After the accident I called my parents and told them I've had an accident, shoulder fracture, leg wounded and all. I spoke jovially. They thought I was kidding. It was only after my bro in Bangalore apprised them of the situation that they decided to come to Bangalore, eight days after I took the hit.)

Another thing I learnt about myself is that I may not have muscles of iron, yet, but I do have nerves of steel. Chest hurt while laughing but I used to watch funny movies nevertheless. It takes a lionheart to do that. Hahaha... Aahhh!

Well, life is limping back to normalcy now. Literally. I'm limping, can't walk properly for another couple of weeks. Have started office, getting bored, am thin as stick again. Everything normal.

This Valentine's Day I came close to my dream of being with a caring woman who'd hold my hand, look into my eyes, smile... Hopefully it will happen the next V-Day. She won't be "sister" and she'd hold my hand to set my pulses racing instead of checking my pulse/blood pressure and drawing out blood. Amen!

Click here to read what my friend in Deccan Herald wrote about my accident. (Suresh in the story is actually Hemant Gairola.)
Click here to read how the newspaper I work for reported my accident. Disgusting that they spelt my name as "Hemanth" (ewww)!!