Five Minutes of Living in Two Different Worlds

I awoke up to extreme discomfort and took a minute or two to shed off the drowsiness to make out that something was utterly wrong with me. I was breathing heavily. The discomfort emanated right from the side where the most precious part of human body works, the beautiful and mischievous heart. I was sweating profusely and hurriedly reached to the AC remote to set the temperature to Hi Cool mode. In a feat of nervousness, remembered an article, I read a few days ago, which said that young people normally suffers massive heart attack, fatal in most cases. I looked at the wall clock. It was 4:15 AM and almost the same time I was born into this world on 21^st Feb, 1975.

I called my wife sleeping with our younger son. Siddhant was down with a bout of viral fever and my wife slept in a separate room with him so that, in the morning I remain fresh at office. I told her to get me admitted to GNRC Hospital immediately as bringing me to our Refinery Hospital may result in loss of precious time.

It had to be the dreaded stroke. It’s a curse of the increasingly sedentary lifestyle and the surrounding looked blurred to me. As my wife stood rooted in shock, confusion and nervousness, memories of the yesteryear’s struggle and aspirations for materialistic pursuit flickered at my mind. Yearning for fast track promotion at my job, meticulous financial planning for future and all these were about to go for a toss. Suddenly I realized, I have not lived life the way I should have for all these years. If only, I would have spent some more time with my children, did go to the evening gym instead of remaining hooked to the phone and restrained my ostentatious eating habit, I would not have seen this day. The thought of wife and the two small kids plunging into turmoil was even more unbearable.

Then all of a sudden, I remembered, Bhupen Hazarika was performing at a Bihu function when he suffered the first stroke. He didn’t make out the  confusion as he failed to sing the songs one after another, he was singing for so many years with gusto.  I remembered, I was worst in Sanskrit and used to get rebuked by Dr Srikanta Sarma Sir at our school.

 नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः। न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः।।

अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य ऐव च। नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः।।

Weapons can’t pierce, Fire Can’t burn,  
Neither water can wet nor the air can dry

Soul can’t be cut, burnt, decayed or dried
The forces of nature can do no harm

Soul (aatma) is permanent – Bhagavat Gita )

It seemed to be quite OK. I remembered all the words.

I asked my wife to hear me recite another one

केयूरा  न  विभूषयन्ति पुरुषं हारा न  चन्द्रोज्ज्वला

न  स्नानं  न  विलेपनं  न  कुसुमं  नाSलंकृता  मूर्धजा

वाण्येका  समलंकरोति  पुरुषं  या  संस्कृता धार्यते

क्षीयन्ते  खलु  भूषणानि  सततं वाग्भूषणं  भूषणं

(Neither ornaments like Keyura, nor garlands glittering like the moon, neither bathing, nor cosmetics, perfumed oil nor flower embellishes a person. It’s only his cultured tongue, a person adopts, decorates  him. All ornaments wear out, yet the ornament of cultured speech stays forever)

I remember word by word. No, it can never be a Stroke!

But my recitation at the wee hours failed to enthuse my wife.

 “ At this hour, you want me to hear all this ! Don’t you know when you were riding the train at bed, I was awake with the feverish boy. I was about to fall asleep and you called me to hear your Goddamn recitation.  You are crazy…..you need to see a shrink immediately. All along, I have been saying, you are never… never …. a normal human being” 

My wife says I snore like an old train running on steam.

I reached for the Aluminum and Magnesium Hydroxide gel which all of us familiar as Diegene. Gulped a few bottle caps in a hurry. Remembered, previous evening,  I couldn’t open my snacks as flurry of visitors swarmed my office room till Dinner time.

Grh….grh…grh…..grh…….

A big burp followed by one after another two way air outflows and I was feeling better and better.

I said to my wife “ I feel OK now. You may catch some sleep. I need to make a power point presentation for the Departmental review”

All the day’s planning flickered through my mind. The subjects which seemed trivial a few minutes ago with the prospect of a stroke, once more started looking important - Power Point Presentation, choice of colors for the walls of my apartment, planning for upgrading to a Villa, getting the Reliance Jio sim and many more.

And life goes on and on.

You can contact Kamaljit at kamaljitmedhi1975@gmail.com