Monday mornings

I hate Monday mornings. And this Monday morning was no exception. I hated it. No, I’m not stating the obvious. You see, there was no college that day (or at least we all planned to mass-bunk) So, I had other reasons to hate this otherwise beautiful, fresh, sun-kissed Monday Morning. I had been down with fever for the past two days which stuck onto me with such a dogged determination that it positively freaked out the folks around me. This Monday morning was very much the same, except that my head felt as if it was being smashed against a boulder every half a nano-second ( Wow! Speaking of thick-headedness) This fever, which I was talking to you about was dangerously hovering just above 104 degree Fahrenheit, resisting all the innumerable Dolos, Calpols and Crocins that I was swallowing.

So, with nothing much to do to improve the above-mentioned state of affairs, my mother called up the evil-satanic-filthy-nincompoop-scumbag ( read my doctor). He immediately advised to get me admitted in the hospital. ( May all the hell’s choicest curses befall him. Amen)

All my protests and threats fell on deaf ears as I was rushed to St. Isabel’s. There I was, stretched on a hospital bed, feeling absolutely sorry for myself. ( By the way, my loathing for Monday mornings grew manifold.)

The next five days that I spent in this hell-hole ( Room 180, Ward E, St.Isabel Hospital, Chennai) were the worst five days of my life. I was reduced to a lowly pin-cushion-of-sorts with nurses sticking injections into me to draw blood several times a day. Injections were stuck in to deliver medicine to my body. There were pain-killer injections too-only that they were very painful and seemed to have forgotten their job altogether. And, there was this eternal injection stuck into my left palm for the intravenous fluids.

Heavy antibiotics notwithstanding, the fever and the crushing head ache persisted. Now, I must make a mention of the weather here. In the middle of a very hot spell of Chennai summer, The sky turned grey and it started to rain heavily! Well! That provided me with a little solace…It almost seemed as if Mother Nature was weeping for me ( lol! egomaniac indeed :-) )

I am( and I’m sure my friends will vouch for this) not a very fussy person. I mean, I don’t drop off into a fit of tears every time something pokes me or some stuff like that…But this reduced me to a bundle of nerves, fried up my circuits and made me feel utterly helpless. In fact, several times I consoled myself by recalling my favorite line from Calvin and Hobbes:

I am put into this world to achieve a certain amount of things. Right now, I’m so far behind that I’m sure I’ll never die!
( So I had my laziness to thank for being alive still!)

Finally fever tamed, head ache tempted out, ordeal over, I was allowed to go home on Saturday. I let out a war cry of happiness. As my car went out of the hospital, into the streets, I felt like I was given a new lease of life. I was filled with love and good-will and wanted to spread it to the whole wide world. ( Such emotions were quickly tamed when I thought about my impending semester exams!)

Those five days of my life taught me a lot of things, which I’ll never forget in a hurry. It has indelibly changed me in several ways. I have realized that you can’t take anything for granted. Life is too short and precious to be spent worrying or hating each other. Spread cheer, warmth and happiness in other’s lives and in your life too. Hug somebody today, give somebody a compliment-that’ll make it their day. Light up somebody’s face. Make somebody feel loved and wanted. You would have then led a meaningful life…

(And yes, most importantly, it taught me to hate Monday mornings with a renewed, deep hatred.)