Yeah, guys, I’m sorry. Once again, I messed up the order. A log that deserves to be the first in the tribute series is being written right at the end. My apologies for confusing you, as I always do 😊, but I assure you that I will make it up to you in this log. I might be mentioning the people with the highest priority last, but after all it’s like they say, right? – “Last, but definitely the most.” This log is for those people to whom I owe everything – the magical word that spells “F-A-M-I-L-Y”. Those people whose support and love are truly unconditional, and with which, no force in the world can stop you from achieving your goals. Those people who can make even the unfavourable favourable, unbearable bearable, gloomy happy, painful painless and unpropitious propitious. Those without whom we wouldn’t be anywhere and those with whom we can be anywhere.
Right down from the moment that started it all, where my Dad got me to the Hospital in 11 minutes (which also probably saved my life), to my grandmother, uncles and aunts travelling 3 times a day, every day, for hours in the traffic to drop home-made food for me, all the way up to when I’m writing this blog, it has truly been possible due to the tremendous support and teamwork that has enabled my amazing journey to bear fruit. Every step, every minute, every hour, it has been their well-informed decisions and fighting spirit, that has enabled their boy to get back to life.
The kind of amazing things that can be done by family is truly a force of reckoning. They, somehow, always know what the need of the hour is, whatever the situation may be. What kind of bond is it that coaxes a sister to not only manage her master thesis, but also travel fortnightly regularly to check up on my health while I was in the hospital (all this while she was staying alone in a foreign country, trying to set up base in a new city). . And even after I moved out of the hospital, continuing that very affection and care to such an extent that she could point out if my left hand’s movement is off from even a few small degrees, all the way from 7000 km away. My dear sister, while I was in the hospital, somehow, always knew what was going on in my mind and used to constantly drop in from time to time to surprise me in the thera-hall and elevate my mood, and troubleshoot problems hampering my recovery. In fact, there came a point ,where even the therapists began expecting and eagerly awaiting her arrival, and even my father’s arrival from Dubai, for that matter, as whenever they would “visit”, my recovery would automatically shoot up. From “BROWNIE” and playing my personal DJ, all the way to being my go-to source of inspiration, support, solutions, and strength, she has done all sorts of miracles – from bringing my voice back to even movements, that we all thought were impossible. She would know in the blink of an eye what was going wrong and help me navigate through some of the toughest obstacles that planted themselves in my journey. She was like a guide helping a navigator get through a tough forest path.
And then there is my mother, who has not left my side from day one and has quite literally lived every complication I have faced along with me. She would be my constant guardian angel, making sure I tread my path carefully, step-by-step. She has been like the super powerful Graphene coated shield, covering me every moment, every angle, from every harm. She never ever gave up, and still does not, on the strong belief that I can achieve everything under the sky.
Not to forget my father, who was heading this entire expedition. He was constantly looking out for everyone, and always knew exactly what was needed to push on. There was no problem which would ruffle and trouble him, medical or non-medical. It were his bright ideas that constantly kept fueling my inner positive fire to go on. In fact, they had reached a level where they would know that something (be it test or obstacle) was coming, even before it was in sight. Believe it, when I say it was the team that made this journey successful.
Words cannot express my immense gratitude and indebtedness towards my family for everything they have done for me and just for sticking around with me and providing me the strength to keep going, come hell or high water.
What unspoken bond is it that forms such an unbreakable bond that can weather even the biggest of category-5 Hurricanes not just effortlessly, but painlessly and happily? It has to be more than just a blood bond that can work such wonders. After all, I doubt that just some genes can bring somebody back from the brink of calamity. What kind of bond is it, that enabled my mother to not only stand strong by my side from the first moment all the way till end, constantly being on “high alert” all the time, even ready to take on anybody (be it doctors, nurses, therapists) to see the best health of her son.
It is this bond that makes them superheroes in their own right, for they can do things that one sees only in books and movies. They are, as a matter of fact, the real heroes of my story. In fact, I think, whether we realize it or not, they are the real heroes of most of our stories. Now, finally, onto the discharge Log … see you next week folks.