Life, for most of us, most of the time, runs liked a well planned script. We plan our days/weeks/months and even years. Yes, sometimes we do see some alterations to the script. Either due to developments in our own track or parallel tracks. Reminds me of the world being referred to a stage.
The beginning of the year (which always holds a unique ability of seeming promising) landed me in the hosp...ital. My second stint in less than 5 years. The last time it was an accident. Pun intended. This time it was no accident, instead a valid biological response to my doings. I ignored a pain since months until it lost its patience and ended me as a patient. Like my friend Sapna Prabhakaran rightly pointed out, we, in the pursuit of playing our assigned characters (parent, spouse, caretaker, provider etc.), tend to overlook ourselves.
In the following days, the entire episode of leaving the house with kids tucked in and bracing myself for a surgery, shrunk to insignificance against the discovery of a tumor being subjected to malignancy test. I was all brave and prepared (at least at that point of time) but the mother of two kids, was petrified. Hakim’s 20 minutes commute to the test lab was the longest I ever lived. Managed to sit against stacked pillows and nervous fingers fumbled across the tweets on my mobile. Needed that distraction. Seemed as if I was clinging to life and hoping with all my heart during those stretching minutes. Sounds dramatic now but trust me it isn’t when YOU are on the hot seat. Until Hakim called and said “Piyu, its all clear.”
And I wept like a child until late night for myself and then for each and every person I know/knew who didn't get this chance of hearing the good news. Like my friend Rahul Anand rightly said “The other side of life is just a moment away…”
And now while I am counting, hopefully the last few days of post surgery pain, some big time thanks are in order. Second time in less than 5 years, mom and Hakim Badshah held the fort with all the compassion and strength I needed. Thank you guys. Also grateful for the constant calls/sms from friends, cousins and family, regularly checking on me. Special thanks to Fatema Lakdawala and Rajni Bhatia for being there for me and us. And yeah Payal Sanghvi, I owe a thank-you to Pankaj too for his genuine thoughtfulness.
Coming back to the objective of my post, we are reminded often, of lessons of life. Life keeps putting us or people around us on a test mode to make us realize what we miss while we are looking for other things. And we do get jolts of reality with our/others’ experiences. Still, with any short gap in these experiences, we forget to revise our lessons. Here’s one for me from this experience….
At the risk of sounding repetitive to my friends, take an annual health checkup. You owe to yourself and your family
Do stop when you receive any signal from your body. And check on it. (assuming none of us here, are hypochondriacs )
However clichéd it sounds, live the moments. Take time to enjoy your kids, family and friends. Make memories.
The beginning of the year (which always holds a unique ability of seeming promising) landed me in the hosp...ital. My second stint in less than 5 years. The last time it was an accident. Pun intended. This time it was no accident, instead a valid biological response to my doings. I ignored a pain since months until it lost its patience and ended me as a patient. Like my friend Sapna Prabhakaran rightly pointed out, we, in the pursuit of playing our assigned characters (parent, spouse, caretaker, provider etc.), tend to overlook ourselves.
In the following days, the entire episode of leaving the house with kids tucked in and bracing myself for a surgery, shrunk to insignificance against the discovery of a tumor being subjected to malignancy test. I was all brave and prepared (at least at that point of time) but the mother of two kids, was petrified. Hakim’s 20 minutes commute to the test lab was the longest I ever lived. Managed to sit against stacked pillows and nervous fingers fumbled across the tweets on my mobile. Needed that distraction. Seemed as if I was clinging to life and hoping with all my heart during those stretching minutes. Sounds dramatic now but trust me it isn’t when YOU are on the hot seat. Until Hakim called and said “Piyu, its all clear.”
And I wept like a child until late night for myself and then for each and every person I know/knew who didn't get this chance of hearing the good news. Like my friend Rahul Anand rightly said “The other side of life is just a moment away…”
And now while I am counting, hopefully the last few days of post surgery pain, some big time thanks are in order. Second time in less than 5 years, mom and Hakim Badshah held the fort with all the compassion and strength I needed. Thank you guys. Also grateful for the constant calls/sms from friends, cousins and family, regularly checking on me. Special thanks to Fatema Lakdawala and Rajni Bhatia for being there for me and us. And yeah Payal Sanghvi, I owe a thank-you to Pankaj too for his genuine thoughtfulness.
Coming back to the objective of my post, we are reminded often, of lessons of life. Life keeps putting us or people around us on a test mode to make us realize what we miss while we are looking for other things. And we do get jolts of reality with our/others’ experiences. Still, with any short gap in these experiences, we forget to revise our lessons. Here’s one for me from this experience….
At the risk of sounding repetitive to my friends, take an annual health checkup. You owe to yourself and your family
Do stop when you receive any signal from your body. And check on it. (assuming none of us here, are hypochondriacs )
However clichéd it sounds, live the moments. Take time to enjoy your kids, family and friends. Make memories.
