HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
The
rain seemed to have continued unabated for the whole night. It had become a routine
with me to get up early in my office days. But still I used to set the alarm,
just to be on the safe side. I was awake much before the alarm rang, but
preferred to lie down enjoying the drizzling sound of the rain and the cool
breeze coming through the window. My wife had got up earlier itself and I could
hear the vessels making sound in the kitchen. It was the day prior to the
general election. She had been appointed as presiding officer for a booth. The
polling materials were to be collected a day in advance. She had to reach the
collection centre, which was a nearby college, at 9 AM. This was her first duty
as presiding officer. It was enough for her to leave home at 8.30 AM on that
day for collecting the election materials. She had to carry her personal
belongings too as she had to stay at the booth itself overnight before the poll
day. As for me, I had to leave home at 6.00 AM as usual, to catch the train of
7.15 AM for reaching my office in Calicut at 09.00AM. Fortunately, I was free
from election duty.
I
was already on my feet when she announced “tea is ready”. I got busy with my
ablutions, left home in time and reached the station in time. It was a Monday. There
used to be always rush in the train. There would be many office goers like me
travelling on a season ticket. Getting inside the train itself was a struggle,
leave alone occupying a seat. The rush was all the more on that day, as it was
a day following two consecutive holidays. I, somehow, got in after a hard
struggle and began to catch up with my normal breath. Now that I was free for
an hour, I thought I should ring up my wife to enquire on her readiness. Having
done a few such duties before, I had already given her enough briefings on things
that she was to do and not to do.
I
put my hand in my pocket to take out the phone. But it was not there. I looked
down and around to see whether it had fallen from my pocket. No. It could have
fallen sometimes when I boarded the train in that rush. Might be, it fell on
the platform or down through the gap between the train and the platform. I
wanted to pacify my wife, but instead I had fallen in distress now. It was a new
brand phone. My eyes started wandering here and there to see if anyone was
showing any indication of having got a phone from floor. Frustrated, I began to
move in the compartment to and fro through the crowd, creating much annoyance
to others. Fortunately, that effort paid up. I saw one person sitting on the
single seat near a window holding my phone and searching through it while
keeping his own phone on his lap. I told him that it was my phone that he was
holding. He laughed to me and asked what my mobile number was. I answered. He
called on that number from his phone to ensure that I was telling the truth. He
gave me the phone and told that it was lying on the train floor near his feet
and that he was trying to find out whose phone it was. I thanked him. The train
was almost reaching my destination. My wife would probably be very busy now and
I left the idea of calling her. I would tell her about my losing the phone
later in the evening or at night when I would be free and lonely at home and when
she would also be free at the polling station after her preparations for the
next day.
*
* * *
* * *
* * *
I
was just back in office after my lunch when my phone rang up.
“I
have met with an accident”, the husky voice came in abruptly.
It
was my wife’s weak and tired voice. It caught my breath. There would be many
vehicles in the college campus on election duty. I wondered whether any vehicle
hit her.
“Where
are you now?” I asked.
“Did
any vehicle hit you?”
I
put my next question before she could answer the first.
“No, I am not hit by any vehicle. But I
slipped from the stair case and fell down. I am unable to get up. The police
and the officers standing around are asking me to which hospital I wanted to be
taken. I thought I should consult you”, she replied.
I
looked at my watch. It was 2 PM. If I could catch the 2.30 train, I would be
able to reach her by 4.00 PM.
“Tell
them to take you to Indira Gandhi Co-operative hospital”, I told her.
That
was the nearest and best in my opinion. Moreover, I had a close relative
working as staff there. I wound up my days work, informed a colleague on my
urgency to leave and left the office. I called on my relative at the hospital
and informed him of the accident. I told him that she would be reaching the
hospital in half an hour time. He patiently listened and replied not to worry
and that he would take necessary care.
I
was restless in the train. I called on a close friend of mine who was then
working in the town where the hospital was and requested him to be at the
hospital for giving any assistance required. He readily agreed. More than an
hour was over. By then, I thought she must have reached the hospital and
someone might have attended on her. As I thought of calling my relative again
to enquire, he gave a ring to me.
“The doctor has attended on her and an x-ray
is taken of both legs. There are multiple fractures on both the legs below the
knees and he is suggesting that she be taken to Baby Memorial Hospital or at
MIMS”, he informed. “He seems to be not confident to do it with the present
facilities available here”, he added.
I
kept silent thinking on what to do next. Both hospitals suggested are in Calicut
city, where I worked.
“The
doctor said that she should be taken immediately without any delay”, He
cautioned me.
“Can You arrange for an ambulance to take
her?”. I enquired.
“Done”, he answered.
The
ambulance was ready when I reached the hospital. My friend, relative and the
doctor too were waiting there for me. The doctor briefed me on the case,
convinced of the necessity to shift to a hospital with better facility and
advised me to be quick on it. He signed on the discharge papers, gave me the
X-ray report and went back to his duty. I paid the bill. Suddenly, it came to
my mind that the balance cash in hand was very less. My face fell. I had only
carried a small amount of money that I usually carry and not the sum required
to meet with the present type of exigencies. Cash was there, but in the bank.
Those days, it was not a practice with me to carry the ATM card since I knew
well from my experiences that I was an easy victim for pick-pockets. (Later on
I always carry ATM card even at the risk of losing it.) I told my friend that I
would take a taxi, urgently go home and come back with my ATM card. I admitted
to him that I did not carry money, even enough to meet the minimum requirements
at the hospital. He put his hand in his pocket and it came out with a bundle of
cash.
“This is twenty five thousand rupees. This
would do for meeting the immediate expenses.” he said. “Go fast. Don’t lose
time”, he advised.
I
thanked him.
The
down-pour had not ceased. When you felt that it was about to stop, it started
up again with a newly acquired vigour. This had been so all through the night
and the day.
The
journey by ambulance started. She was in a stretcher lying before me. We were the
only ones in the ambulance, apart from the driver. This was the time to seek
the details of the accident from her. Her face had fallen. I was not sure
whether she heard one onlooker at the hospital commenting that she wouldn’t be
able to walk any more as before. I wanted to redeem her confidence first. I
assured her that whatever would be the consequence, I would always be with her
to share her misery. Then I asked her how it happened. She said that due to the
rain-wet umbrellas and the mud carried by the slippers of all those who came
for the election duty, the marble staircase was fully slippery. She was climbing
down the stairs with ballot papers in one hand and her umbrella on the other. Her
airbag containing personal articles was hanging from the shoulder. She was in a
group of people and while slowly stepping down, someone in urgency came fast
from behind and his hand got hit on her shoulder bag sending her off balance.
As she fell, people were walking past her in haste from behind and many
happened to crush her legs without their knowing it. When she cried and said
that she was unable to get up, one man was heard to comment that she must be feigning
injury to escape from duty.
The
ambulance was not even half way through. I felt the natural call to urinate. I
had done it before leaving the office, but now hours had gone by and I felt the
necessity again. The frequency happens to be more when it rains continuously
and you don’t sweat. Suddenly, I thought of her. She must have left from home
early and would she have urinated after that? I asked her and she answered in
the negative. She wanted to do it, but thought that she would have to wait till
she reached the hospital. I looked at my watch. With that sort of rain and the
traffic, I was sure that it would take another two hours. I opened the small
window to the driver’s cabin and requested him to stop the vehicle nearby a
stationery shop. When he did it, I went out and bought some plastic bags. And
then again I requested the driver to stop at a convenient place so that I could
help her to urinate. It had been a difficult task for me to raise her waist,
hold the bags in double and allow her to urinate.
As
we proceeded further, I called my colleague who was staying in the city to
kindly come to the Baby Memorial Hospital, inform the hospital authorities of
our arrival and do the needful. Two hospital staff with the stretcher was
available, the moment we reached the hospital. My friend from whom I sought
assistance was also there. It was nearing dark. She was quickly taken to the
hospital bed. The doctors attended on her and immediately admitted her. Later I
was informed that the operation on both the legs would be done on the following
morning. She was admitted in the ICU. My friend remained with us all this time.
I thanked him and bade good bye.
I
wondered whether I should inform my daughters who were far away, about the
incident. First I thought it was not necessary and it would simply make them
panic. But then I felt that they would blame me later if I didn’t inform. So, I
informed them. Since I had nothing else to do, I flicked through my face-book
page. There were a lot of postings on my time line from my friends and
relatives wishing me a happy birth day. For the first time on that day, I came
to note that it was my birthday.
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