The Kinder Side of Life:

“Please sit down here,” said the old man at the Bank in a classic case of role reversal. The younger man was being offered a seat by an elderly person. The younger man was none other thane me while the old man was one of many who displayed the kinder side of life to me for about three months last year.

The reason for this was that a fall in my office had resulted in a torn ligament. Thanks to modern surgical shoes I was quickly up and about. While the surgical shoes got me back on my feet quickly, they could not camouflage my discomfort. Add to this the fact that I had to often walk around with a stick and the world had ceased to be a stage and had become more of an oyster as I was largely confined to home.
Indeed the old man was not the only person who displayed this side of life to me during my short travails. On the rare occasion that I stepped out o f my house, the people in my building (mostly the elderly) wondered how I was managing since they had seen me take my brisk morning walk regularly. One of them said,”Tumhe nazar lag gayee,” meaning that an evil eye had befallen me. Even that much maligned species, Mumbai’s autowallas often melted enough to ferry me over short distances or literally go the extra mile.

I have now resumed my walks and my life. As I look back, I am filled with a sense of gratitude to all those who conveyed their good wishes to me during a rather trying period. And who can forget Nimish, Gurdeep and Vidhata the three original angels who ferried me to hospital after my fall in the office or my boss Srini who lent his car for the purpose.

This tribute to the kinder side of life would not be complete without a special reference to my friend Deepak. Early on in my treatment, a decision had to be made as to whether I should opt for the surgical shoes which entailed a sizeable investment or opt for the conventional cast. All of us friends when we have a medical problem immediately get in touch with Deepak. Sure enough, I was dialing Deepak and he had the answer as usual. “Ravi, I know you. You are incapable of sitting still and being in a cast will hamper your movements no end. This will totally demoralize you. Forget the cost, just opt for the shoe,” he said. That decided it. Needles to say that Deepak’s words were prophetic and his advice was based as much on the psychology of the individual as on medicine. Looking back, I must say that being mobile made a huge difference to my treatment. And it was more mental than physical. In the immortal words of Jeeves, Deepak the best doctor to walk the planet without a formal medical degree had grasped “the psychology of the individual.” Thank you Jeeves, I mean Deepak.