The Broken Bone!!

Pain makes one realize the importance of things, be it physical or emotional. In my case, this time it was the physical one. In the ever hustling and bustling city, on a very fine day, when I was running to catch a train to reach my office, I never realized that even a small step would be enough to make me bedridden for days!! As I ran down the stairs, my foot slipped and the next moment, I was in excruciating pain, it seemed I had broken my ankle and when I tried to get up, my own legs gave away. A few good men helped me get up and brought me towards a bench to sit. Limping, I wanted to cry so bad at the platform, but then my mind dwindled at the thought of going back home. A puja was about to take place in the evening and already my parents were burdened with so many tasks. I didn't want them to get upset because of this mishap. I mustered my courage and decided to reach my office to get medical attention. The usual route seemed like a battlefield to me, with people running besides me, I tackling them to not fall again, struggling to reach the next milestone.. the autostand. Adding to the misery were the people staring at my awkward walk. Somehow I managed to reach the medical centre and there, I couldn't contain my tears. I broke down and started sobbing in front of the doctor explaining the painful incident. I called up my friend Prajakta and she came rushing to check on me. A friend in need is a friend indeed! She has always been.. for that matter :) She became my support and holding her we walked towards our office building. In midst of the adversity, we were laughing on the lamest jokes that came to our mind and she made me realize that I can handle this situation laughing at it rather than getting demotivated of what had happened. People inquired about the injury and wished me for a better health making me feel loved. When I came home, my parents became worried looking at my condition but when I told them I had taken proper medical care, they heaved a sigh of relief.

Two days into this, I am still on my bed, taking baby steps to recovery. As I am thinking about my recovery, I hear my nephews playing with their friends in the building compound. Laughing and giggling, calling each other names, I smile, as I am taken back to my childhood days. "I am the speed racer!!", I always shouted before running to catch my friends. I was the fastest runner among them. Neha was my childhood bestie. She is still today! She was my living diary. We played Chipri, Lock and Key, Jumbo Rakshas, Color Color, Hide and Seek, Badminton, Ghar Ghar, Pakda Pakdi, Lava Mountain, smashed each other with water color balloons, burst firecrackers like there's no tomorrow and did uncountable experiments in the backyard. I remember climbing the window grills of houses to remove tennis balls or shuttlecocks from above the ceilings. One of our friends had a cycle and I tried cycling for the first time. To my surprise I could balance easily and learned cycling pretty fast. When I did, I used to call out to my mother and show her my cycling skills. She used to smile at me from the window, applaud and give me a flying kiss. I still remember her face gleaming with pride! We played all day, taking out time as much we could from our school and tuition schedules. Bruised knees and broken bones didn't matter much because they healed much faster. With age, both bones and relationships take longer time to heal! Time passed by and my bestie had to relocate to another place. I was shattered but life had to move on. To this day, I still wish that she returns to her flat so that I could confide to her every little secret from where we left off. I wished if only I could reverse the time and live those moments again, correct myself in so many situations. If only I had the power like Tim from "About Time", I would have changed so much. But like Tim said, "I try to live everyday like it's the last day of my extra -ordinary ordinary life", I hope I am able to treat each day as if it's the only day I would like to come back to!! Till then, I rejoice at the beautiful memories I had, infusing them into this very moment, waiting for my broken bone to heal!!