Does the title of the post remind you of a regular feature in the Tinkle Digest we used to read as kids? "It Happened To Me" were little real life stories that happened to people- funny anecdotes and laughable memories of childhood... :) Er... sorry, all this is beside the point.
I am here to share with you a story...
I had gone(or come?!) to Chennai-pattinam on the 27th of February for a friend's wedding reception. The next morning was bright and sunny, the air crisp and chilly. I wore a new kurta- faded blue-grey with a bright blue neckline... you should have gathered by now that I was... happy! :) I was visiting my 'leetle' sis at IIT. Once there, I was munching away to glory at their tifanys :) On the way to her room, we saw this group of hostelites, clad in night suits, sopping wet in hues ranging from magenta to purple to green and yellow. I dont know how, but my kurta was spared... probably for another colour! :) It was 'holi' and there was bhaang and music and masti :) This is a perfect day... Nothing could go wrong :)
At about 12.30, Kichu(my leetle sis) and I left for Kasturbai Nagar station so I could join some of my friends at City centre for lunch and later head to the beach before we all parted ways and went back to work, after a happy and lazy weekend. We got the ticket and were waiting in an almost deserted platform. (Does this scene remind anybody of The Woman on Platform No 8? :)) As the local train crawled(or should i say whizzed?!) into the station, I got onto the train- safe. No falling, no dangling, no clinging on the edge. :) For a brief moment then, I searched for Kichu's face on the platform, a strange feeling of being alone in a new city creeping up my mind. I notice Kichu finds my wallet on a bench there and looks at me for a fleeting second.
What happens to rationality just when you need it, I dont know. Dont ask me :) Realising I have no money with me, I hurry to the edge of the train, thinking fast... I can just get off and take the next train. So I take a step, just one. Just as my foot touches the solid floor of the platform, I feel it melting and slipping away into nothingness. I realise the train had begun to move a nano second ago. As the realisation dawned on me, I saw nothing. Not the people on the platform, not the train's inside, not the train's outside. Nothing.
That one step shattered my proverbial perfect day. My perfect weekend away from work. In about 4 seconds from then, I feel like I'm being thrown about in random directions and it comes to a halt finally- oh, not the train, you know- the feeling of being thrown about :) I remember not losing consciousness except for the first four seconds of oblivion. So here I was, crouched in a narrow space that I feel is some sort of passage way, crammed, hurting and very uncomfortable. I dont move at all. I'm still as a rock. Without moving an inch, without craning my neck, I look to my left... I see the dusty compartment edges of a train and the grimy wheels rattling on the tracks, creating a whirring noise in my ears. On my right, I dont see what I expect to see- legs of people of the platform. Instead I see only the small wall that connects the platform and the ground where the tracks run. My first reaction- Thank you, God. I'm alive.
As I sit there crouched, I decide not to panic. Its pretty amazing now, when I think of that moment. What kept me calm, what kept me alive, what made me sit like a rock, what helped me make my decision not to panic. I sense immense pain. A sort that I've never experienced. Its piercing and hurtful and my breath comes in gasps. Yet- no movement. I wait for a few seconds for the train to go by. It feels like eternity. Once the train has gone, I decide its time to assess the damage and I realise simultaneously that Kichu, who came to see me off, might not have seen me stepping off the platform and might leave the station.
I bend down to find both my legs carefully folded under me- thankfully, not at odd angles. So I was sure my legs were ok. Maybe a fracture or two, but largely ok. My head felt like 10 kilos of iron. I was horrified to find a stream of blood steadily flowing from my head, down by face, partially blinding my right eye vision and staining my brand new kurta! My chest hurt, I could not breathe. I thought I yelled Kichu's name. What I dint realise was that it probably only was a whisper. Random hands came to me from the platform above me. I knew there was hope.
I realise I'm being lifted. A dark man with a beard, looked like those workmen you see on a platform- came sprinting to where i lay. I saw him cry out loud for help. 4 more hands. Some great effort. I rise into the air. They struggle and stagger a bit... the bright sunlight blinds me for a second, then i see many worried faces floating just above me... among the strange unknown faces, I see my angel peek in and I knew then, I was not dying... not just yet. Kichu's face in that one second, communicated a million things in one go. That face is forever etched in my heart.
As I passed in and out of consciousness, I could sense a pair of tiny hands hold me, jerk me awake and constantly reassure me of her presence and that things were going to be ok. In a situation like that(I wouldnt wish it upon my worst enemy) with blood pouring down your face and not being able to breathe, and images of ur family and friends looming large in your head, not to mention the freaking thought that this might be the last you are seeing the world, those tiny hands were the hands of an angel in no disguise- their owner was my kid sister.
At a time when you have someone you love in a near afatal accident, in a city where your parents arent there, and u are just a college kid, to call for an ambulance and not risk waiting for it and rush your loved one to the hospital in a state of panic- that calls for remarkable courage. At the cost of sounding cliched, I think I'd not be here today if not for Kichu. :'-) I remember telling her not to tell our parents. I was saying something like- I am stupid, I'm so sorry, I'm stupid. And stupid I was. :P
Once at the hospital, I was immediately examined with all sorts of scans and tests to ensure the head injury isnt serious and hasnt resulted in internal bleeding. I was blessed- with another life! :) I was shaken, not broken... er, except they found a fracture in my spine. :P I was on a lot of sedative, i think. While shifting me from one lab to another, i see a multitude of faces, all a little worried, a little encouraging, smiling and patting my head... college friends, office colleagues, Kichu's friends, it was wonderful to know so many people cared. I could not do anything... except cry.
Around 6.30 that evening, I open my eyes- they take a little while to get adjusted to the light in the room- mostly white. As I recollect the events of the day, a sense of fear creeps into my heart. I close my eyes for a second. And there I am, being thrown about and the nothingness feeling, then the crouching in the passage way. I open my eyes. Am slightly panting and sweating. I turn to my right and who should be there? Appa(Dad). Strangely, he did not look mad at me. Not even cross. He smiled. And in his usual assured self style, came to my bed. I thought he had cried. And then, I cried.
In two days time, Amma had flown down to Chennai too. And I was to be there for 6 weeks. In bed. No sitting up, no getting up, no walking, no raising head, no using pillow. I was bed-ridden.
The next post will tell you how beautiful life has been since then. Those six weeks flew by and yet have made a significant change in my life and those around me.
This post, however, is meant to tell myself more than you, that life is beautiful, and irreplaceable. That I'm thankful for a sister who is a savior, who puts others before her interests, who is responsible in adverse conditions, who is rock hard and determined not to give up, who is the strongest pillar of my life. Without her, I dont think I'd be able to live. On nights when I have another fall from the train in my dream, I can sense those angel hands holding mine and telling me things will be ok.
