Fractured foot, strengthened spirits

About two months back, I suddenly couldn't walk that easily. Every foot step made me wince with pain and after a battery of tests and tons of doctor visits, I got diagnosed with a foot fracture and screeeeeccccchhhhh…. went the breaks on my long impending bollywood dance classes, travel plans, gym routine…and on life. Overnight,  I was forced to go from being a duracel energiser bunny to a partial egyptian mummy with a bandaged leg.  The doctors prescribed the usual medication and rest, and I prescribed to myself a heavy dose of self-pity.

To be fair, it really wasn't easy to cope alone with an injured foot, manage doctor visits, work, food and just life in general. I had never had this degree of  severe illness while being away from home before, and more than ever, I came to appreciate and miss the love and attention that had been bestowed upon me during illnesses by family and friends back home. However, at some stage, I got too caught up in the frustration of partial immobility and incessant pain and almost felt like life would never return to normal again.

It was during this phase that I realised who my friends were, who cared and who didn’t.  The sheer indifference of some people that I  previously thought cared appalled me. At the same time, the warmth, concern and love of people that did care brought vast cheer into my life. It made me appreciate just how important it was to be there for friends during both good and bad times. I also felt blessed to have wonderful colleagues who tried their level best to distract me whenever they noticed that I was writhing with pain.  The kindness of complete strangers (from never having to stand in a bus to the patient MRI staff who dealt with my sudden case of nerves due to the 20,000 disclaimer forms that I had to fill in) made me have the epiphany that the world is still a very nice place after all.

Long hospital visits and sleepless nights gave me a lot of time for self introspection. Instead of running on the treadmill of routine day to day life as I had been doing thus far, I paused and started asking questions. Not the heavy duty “what is the purpose of life” type of questions..let’s leave that to the Deepak Chopras and Sri Sris of the world-but  more the usual, quarter life crisis type.  I suddenly realised that half of 2014 was already over without me having ticked off even a single item on my new year resolution list. The solitude helped me to take some really difficult, heart-breaking decisions to get my life back on track.

But what made the most difference was a visit from my father for a few days- There ain't no medicine even half as powerful as the love of one's family. That visit made all the difference and helped me get back on my feet (literally and otherwise).

A big thank you to all of those that cared and stood by me during this time- I can never appreciate enough how much strength it gave me. More than anything, it has hopefully made me a better friend and  a better person. And rest assured, the energiser bunny will soon be back into action…she has a whole list of items to tick off before 2014 ends and only five months to do so. She is raring to go now! So watch out world, it will be you that will knocked off your feet this time round!