Sometimes, life is so unpredictable; you meet a person and everything goes along at its own smooth pace. The next moment, you get the news that the person is fighting for their life and it renders you miserable and heartbroken.
Mid Point Hospital, Aundh
Misfortune flooded the lives of Kavya’s parents. Upon hearing the news of her daughter’s tragic accident, they were shocked. Waiting outside Kavya’s hospital room, Virat was lost his thoughts.
I should have dropped you. I shouldn’t have left you alone. What if no one would have helped you? I wouldn’t have forgiven myself my entire life. I had planned a surprise for you on your birthday. Tell me, this is all a big joke and that you will get up and come along for a movie and cut the cake too. I owe you a drink, too, remember? Ok, don’t show up for the birthday party but please get up. Hold my hand and never let go. Just give me one more chance to tell you how much you mean to me. I am ready to fight with the almighty to bring you back. I am ready to bribe him too, but just… come back. I can’t see you like this in a hospital bed, cold and numb. Please pull through; I know you can make it. Don’t make me cry. Are you so angry with me? My life is nothing without you. There are other ways to tease me, why choose this one? Whether I appreciate you or not, you’re always in my heart and I need you to comfort me. I am not going to let you shut your eyes forever. Our friendship can’t be so short. How can I say goodbye so soon?
A Different Kind of Pain
Mid Point Hospital, Aundh
Virat had never thought something like this would happen and that he would end up missing Kavya so much. He had never asked God for anything before in his entire life, but this situation forced him to pray for Kavya. He closed his eyes and prayed to God for her speedy recovery. He wouldn’t have minded switching places with Kavya and be the one suffering. In fact, he would have accepted it happily had it meant Kavya would be okay. He wanted Kavya back in his life, and was willing to do whatever it took.
Just then he heard Mehak’s voice asking, ‘Virat, how is Kavya? What happened exactly? Did you inform her parents? What did the doctor say?’
He could tell she was worried about her. She had grown increasingly close with Kavya in the past couple of months and wanted to know if she was doing okay. As soon as he saw Mahek, he couldn’t control himself anymore; he collapsed in her arms, crying like a little baby. He recounted the entire scenario to her and hugged her in dismay.
‘Stop crying. Everything will be all right. If you will act weak like this, then who will be her strength?’ said Mahek wrapping her arms around him.
‘I shouldn’t have listened to her. I should have dropped her home even though she kept saying no.’
‘Did you inform her parents?’ Mehak asked.
Virat nodded and told her that they’ll be reaching any moment. How cruel can life be? It was Christmas week and they were sitting in the hospital praying for their friend. So many times we take our life for granted and say ‘I wish I could die’ or ‘I will die if you don’t do this and that’ without realizing that someday our wish might just come true.
Mahek brought some sandwiches for Virat but he refused to eat. Mahek didn’t force him too much since she knew his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Kavya. Just when she took a seat beside him, they saw Kavya’s parents walking towards them. Virat got up from his seat and took them to the ICU where Kavya was admitted. Her mom broke down as soon as she saw her little girl hooked to machines. Her dad went to speak with the doctor to find out how grave her condition was and to complete the necessary formalities as well.
‘We will keep her under observation for the next 48 hours. There are many stitches on her legs and she has suffered a severe head injury. There’s damage to her brain. Even after she comes back to her senses, she may have partial memory loss or loss of vision. You all need to be strong.’
Silence filled the air for a few seconds until Kavya’s dad asked, ‘Doctor, will she recover soon?’
The doctor just gave a pat on her dad’s shoulder and left. Virat felt like threatening the doctor into treating her properly and giving her the best possible care, but in such situations we forget that doctors are not Gods who can do everything. All they could do was wait for Kavya to come back to life.
They waited impatiently for the hours to pass, holding on to the belief that Kavya would open her eyes and break into a smile, bringing back joy into their world. No one was able to sleep and almost everyone had given up on eating. Each minute made them physically weak. Their only glimmer of hope was that Kavya was responding well to medicines and treatment. Virat was missing her kid-like behaviour and her sweet smile. It hurts when the hand that supports you is suddenly snatched away from your life, leaving you to think what went wrong. Mahek, too, was missing the sweet friend she had found in Kavya. Most hurt in all this were her parents. They couldn’t see their daughter covered in bandages and in so much pain. She had been the apple of their eyes and they had always treated her like a princess and always protected her with love and care. Finally, after 24 hours had passed, the doctor approached them with a smile on his face, saying she was out of danger, though unconscious at the moment.
Virat peeped into her room through the little window. She looks so innocent, he thought. It seemed as though she was watching a beautiful dream and would open her eyes only once the dream ended. Her body was covered with a bed sheet and different machines were monitoring her heartbeat, blood pressure; and pulse rate, and it scared Virat. He felt helpless, like nothing was in his control. He could take care of a bruise on the knee, but this was above his scope of knowledge. Everytime her heartbeat showed a decline on the monitor, he would break out into a sweat, worried he was losing her. Though he was crying on the inside, he didn’t let his real emotions show and kept up a brave front in front of her parents who were crying inconsolably.
It was 3 pm in the afternoon when everyone finally decided to grab something to eat. Right after Mahek had taken a bite of her sandwich, she saw Kavya move slightly. She dropped her sandwich on the ground and rushed to call the doctors. They came rushing to examine her. Kavya was doing everything in her capacity to fight against the odds. As she slowly opened her eyes, everyone stood by her side in eager anticipation. One of the doctors examined her while the nurses assisted him in checking her pulses.
‘How are you feeling now?’ the doctor asked but Kavya didn’t respond.
He repeated his question, ‘Kavya, how are you feeling?’
She still gave a blank expression. Everyone got tense. Her parents tried to communicate with her but failed. Her mom broke down in tears again, asking what was wrong. Kavya was struggling to talk.
Virat went closer to her but she didn’t even look at him. Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling above.
‘Kavya, don’t you recognize me? I’m Virat. How are you? We missed you so much. We were so afraid. We thought we had lost you forever. You know, I even prayed to God for the first time in my life for your fast recovery. After all, we have to celebrate your birthday with a bang…’
Kavya still didn’t show any reaction to what he was saying. Virat was getting increasingly worried.
‘Are you feeling better?’ Virat continued asking her but this time, his tone showed traces of tension.
She slowly moved her eyes towards Virat but within a fraction of second, she again looked away.
‘There is too much darkness here. I can’t see anything. Mom, are you there? I can’t see you, Mom. Virat, where are you standing? Is dad here?’ she murmured.
The doctor told everyone to wait outside as he questioned Kavya. She was speaking fine but everyone was confused and worried about her reaction. They couldn’t control their anxiety and wanted to know what was going on. Though she had woken up, it seemed like she hadn’t fully recovered. For a fraction of a second, everyone was happy, but their happiness was temporary. Though there was enough light in the room, she couldn’t see. It could mean only one thing… they shuddered to even think about it.
The doctors came out in a few minutes and told what they had been trying to avoid. Kavya had lost her vision!
Their world came crashing down. How would Kavya engage with the world now? It seemed like she was struggling with a range of emotions—from shock and anger to sadness and frustration. Her life had lost its colours, except for black, which isn’t the most reassuring colour to wake up to. Her parents tried to console Kavya, but somewhere deep down within themselves, they too were bleeding tears of sorrow. Their little princess had lost her vision! They stood beside her, holding one of her hands. Virat couldn’t believe this was happening. He couldn’t digest the fact that Kavya couldn’t see him anymore which meant that they couldn’t go around the city on his bike irritating people, they couldn’t watch a movie together, and she couldn’t tell him which colour t-shirts look better on him. Mahek too was sobbing away in a corner.
Kavya was trying to recollect how the accident exactly happened. She had lost her hope to live. She didn’t say anything to anyone and was lost in her own thoughts.
Now what am I supposed to do? How would I cope? Dad was just going to gift me a new bike on this birthday, but now what’s the use? How will I go out shopping?
Her family had to finally accept her condition and figure out how they could support her. Kavya felt guilty of putting her parents through so much hurt and pain.
‘Mom, now I am just a burden to you guys. It was my time to take care of you in your old age but now you need to take care of me. I have become useless,’ Kavya cried.
‘No beta. You are still our princess and you will always be. You are not only our daughter but our son too. A child can never be a burden on their parents. Don’t stress out. We all are here for you,’ her mom reassured her and gave her a tight hug.
‘Virat, are you here? Where are you? Come near me,’ Kavya added.
Virat cursed the fate that put her through this. The girl who would pinch him, jump on him, and do all kinds of crazy things in the world couldn’t see him anymore.
He went closer to her and said, ‘Kavya, get well soon. We will go out again and have fun. We will again blow bubbles in the air and trouble everyone on our way. This time, I won’t stop you,’ Virat said controlling his tears.
Kavya smiled slightly and said, ‘But I can’t be your security guard anymore.’
Virat couldn’t control his emotions anymore and a drop of tear fell on her hand.
‘What is this, Virat? Why are you crying? You should be happy that now no one can trouble you to clean your room. Does Mahek know how sloppy you are?’
‘Yes, I do,’ Mahek said from a distance.
‘Oh, Mahek. Sorry, I didn’t see you…oh, I mean, hear you,’ Kavya said correcting her mistake.
She felt uncomfortable using the word ‘see’ as it held no value in her life anymore. It was important for everyone to be sensitive and empathetic towards her treatment because the degree of depression Kavya may be overcome by was high. So many times we see blind people around us but never understand their pain and struggle. It’s rightly said that we can understand what a person goes through only when we are forced to walk in their shoes. One moment had changed everything.
31st December, 2009, New Year’s Eve
Midpoint Hospital, Aundh
Virat had decided to spend New Year’s Eve with Kavya at the hospital itself. Doctors had said that she would be discharged within 6 weeks, depending on the rate of her recovery. Looking at her response to the treatment, everyone was happy. The doctors said that if she co-operates and shows the same kind of progress, they could take her home in a month. There was no way that Virat and Mahek would have celebrated their first new year together leaving Kavya alone in a hospital bed. They decided to stay with her and share their happiness with her.
At the stroke of midnight, everyone wished each other and prayed for a better year ahead of them, especially for Kavya’s fast recovery. Kavya looked upset and cursed her fate. She remembered how she had done crazy things the last New Year’s Eve with Virat.
‘I have a surprise for you,’ Virat said to Kavya.
‘What’s that?’ Kavya asked.
He removed a letter from his bag and started reading it to her in the presence of the hospital staff and Kavya’s parents.
Happy New Year! It’s that time again, when we shed the old and welcome the new. We say goodbye to the past and are encouraged by the chance to start again. People disregard and down-talk new years’ resolutions because we never keep them anyway. But I am not talking about a resolution to be attempted and discarded. I am taking about a new way life. It’s almost a week that you have been here, unaware of what’s happening in the world. But I promise that I will be your vision from now onwards. Mahek too wants you to get well soon so that you can go around with her, teasing boys on the road like you used too. She will not let you run away from the happiness that you so deserve. I know what this year was like for you and for all of us. There were some heartbreaks, lost opportunities and broken dreams too. Maybe, there was frustration and anger too. But my dearest friend, where there is life, there is hope. It may not be exactly what you want, but you have the power to change it. Starting with how you see yourself and how you see others. When you know that you are valuable and truly, genuinely, like yourself, that love spreads to everyone around you. I’m not talking about the loud self-confidence that shouts for attention. I mean the quiet confidence that whispers ‘I know who I am’. With that type of self-esteem, you dis-empower the words of abuse in your life. You shoot your insecurities down to the ground and you show that hateful voice in your head who’s the boss. Your parents, Mahek and I…we all love you. Forever. You are our princess. And don’t worry, I will never tell your parents about the stuff we did this year.
Heaven must be looking down over us because they blessed me with you. I know times are tough, but we are each other’s strength. I love you so much, my dearest friend, so remember that you are my ‘hope’ which is the ultimate desire of all human kind. No matter how terrible the tragedies of life, as long as we can catch a glimmer of hope, we can survive life’s worst encounters. Promise me, you will never cry and will smile always as that’s what makes you beautiful. Whatever may be the situation; you will survive and remain unchanged as we love our Kavya who is as nutty as a fruit cake. Your birthday is nearing and we will celebrate it together like we did last year. Such accidents can’t spare the city from our harassment and pagal-panti.
After the letter ended, everyone around broke into a loud applause. In the midst of all the pain she was suffering, Virat’s friendship was her only hope. He was sacrificing his social life just for her happiness and just so he could pamper her. Indeed, nothing had changed after Mahek’s entry into his life. Mahek was lucky that she had a partner like Virat who was so caring and affectionate towards his loved ones. Virat was equally lucky as he had unconditional support and understanding from his love. Kavya was the luckiest of all as she had both Virat and Mahek in her life.
10th January, 2010
Mid Point Hospital, Aundh
There are two types of pain that we encounter in our lives: One that hurts you and other that changes you. Kavya had encountered the storm of pain but it didn’t hurt her, rather it made her strong as a person.
It had almost been a fortnight since Kavya had been admitted and her determination gave her strength everyday. She was getting used to her life a day at a time. The doctors had shifted her from the ICU to a regular room. Her pill intake was reduced as she had recovered partially. Slowly, she had again started smiling even though the pain of the physical wounds was visible on her face. Her smile didn’t mean that her life was perfect, but that she appreciated what she had. She was trying to do things on her own though it wasn’t always easy for her.
Virat wanted to make her birthday special as Kavya had gone through so much in the past few days and deserved every chance of happiness she got. Kavya’s parents had cooperated with Virat who wanted to celebrate her birthday at the ho
spital like no one would have imagined. He wished her at midnight and came to the hospital early morning with a surprise.
Kavya was sleeping in her room when he tiptoed into the room. Mahek had already decorated the hospital room with a few balloons and ribbons while Kavya was asleep. Though they knew that Kavya would not be able to see the decoration, they didn’t care. The cake was ready on the folding table that Virat had got with him. The visitors who were sitting outside peeped into the room to see what was happening. Virat played the birthday song on his mobile and Kavya woke up to a shock.
Everyone, including Kavya’s parents, clapped and cheered for her.
‘Mom, are Virat and Mahek here?’ Kavya asked.
‘Yes.’
The birthday song continued and Kavya felt extremely special. She couldn’t believe all the arrangement her friends had done just to make her feel special. Her mom told her that her friends had brought the cake and decorated the room with balloons and ribbons.
Tears rolled down her eyes and she asked, ‘Virat, why you are doing so much for me? You people are making me feel so special, as if I am going to die in few months,’ she winked.
‘You will never change, right?’ Mahek said and continued, ‘Don’t say that ever again.’
‘You want me to?’
‘Never.’
Virat helped her cut the cake with a knife and they once again sang Happy Birthday in chorus. Kavya fed the first piece of the cake to her parents followed by Virat and Mahek. Even the nurses and doctors joined later and wished her well. She had won the hearts of the doctors too with her innocent smile.
You're the Password to My Life Page 11
