Let’s call our friend Anup, Anup Bhattacharya.
A pretty
ordinary lad in late teens, coming from an affluent Bengali family, average in
studies (or am being a little polite with my words). Just an average, boy next
door: like most of us, to whom playing cricket on the alleys is more important
than attending coaching classes, pricking and bullying mates more driving than
attending regular schools. Just like us: where the minute things matter more
than ‘so-called careerist goals’ or whatever blah blah. Just a regular story,
calm, serene life, isn’t it? But life is full of uncertainty, isn’t it?
One fine (or the ill-fated) morning things changed………for the
worse….and life would never be the same for our friend.
Just like any other day, Anup was riding on his cycle,
rightly on the left side, just anyone would do; but nothing was right about
that day: a reckless truck slammed…..and speeded away. Life changed for our
friend…once and for all...around…and as the saying ‘the world came crashing
down’. As he regained consciousness….lying in a hospital in South Kolkata…
amidst excruciating pain: surrounded by relatives.
Going fast forward the agony part: doctors have told the
relatives…. Gangrene is spreading fast……..and there’s no way of stopping it. ……
a race against time.
We keep on pouring venom against the doctors for their
commercialization; but there are (or should I say WERE) exception; an ‘eccentric’
doctor, a professor at Medical College..came down to pay a visit…….diagnosed
differently (or subtly in life-saving way)…….and our friend’s life was saved. After prolonged
rehabilitation…..he was up on his foot…on one foot preciously…and life would
never be same again as said earlier.
People who have been through these phases know: how it
feels. When your friends are kicking the football at the streets…you can only
gaze through the window glasses. The friend who used to sit beside you in your
class...leapfrogs a year ahead of you... when you are still fighting..Just to
get up…the excruciating pain...just to go to the toilet couple of yards away.
You get to know the true face of people… that you used to think of your ‘best
friend.’ A couple of days into the surgery…hundreds use to flock the tiny
hospital cabin..trying to enliven you up…and six months down the line..while
you still need support just to get down a single step….almost all of them have
faded away, moved on…with their life. Everything seems to work on their own
flow, everything is OK..except a single life.: or the people closely associated
with that single life too.
A friend of mine told sometimes back…life goes on: because
it has to move on. Isn’t it so true?
Jump cut…a year
ahead. A private coaching : five students and a respected teacher. Four of them
are so called scholar and our friend Anup: visibly distracted, dejected and
quite justified so. While all the other guys are busy in improving grades,
career plans… it seems no road ahead for our friend…as if the end of the road,
nothing to work on, nothing to work for, no goal.
And that’s when a simple
pep-talk life changed for our friend, again…….for good.
After the class was over, the teacher walked up to Anup..And
said “You are in a very advantageous position”. It was like WTF he
talking..While my life is in tatters…..with one leg shredded off……while I can’t
take a couple of strides on my own…..the moron is lecturing about ‘advantageous
situation.’ He went on with his pep-talk (or bullshit whatever!)…. “Look, you
have a Win-22 situation here. Nobody expects anything from you….so whatever you
achieve.. however less it is: people will acknowledge it as your success. See,
your friend: scholar indeed, but he has the pressure of failing…..anything less
than the preset bar..will be a failure for him. You don’t have anything like
this. It’s a classic advantage: Got for it”
Life changed….perception changed. The urge to fight on… to
fight for everything you are warned not to do..to look forward: a simple 2 min
pep-talk changed it all.
You know, what is more painful than holding on to the
crutches...more hurting than the physical pain of getting down the stairs: when
people show pity. It’s like someone mocking at your weakness, saying you don’t
have to work: because of your paternal wealth. As if the person is written off
from the books, whose presence hardly matters: who is destined to failure: have
no contribution to make. When down, we need encouragement, a simple pat on the
back to stand up again on your feet, to crawl (or struggle) back into life.
.
.
.
.
.
So, where we were….rather… we are 40yrs down the line.
Our friend bagged a decent job, completed his Chartered Accountancy
(in this order and not the reverse), and rose up the ladder….. And now is an
executive of a leading Insurance Company, posted at Kolkata: considered as one
of the stalwarts in his domain of expertise. And…a loving family.
While his own perception remains…he could have achieved more
had this not have happened……this is itself a success story.
‘The journey back to life’ is simply #Hats_Off. I can only
draw parallel with Lance Armstrong’s biography of the same name and ‘It’s not
about the Bike’……the way the Tour-de-France winner cyclist suffered from
testicular cancer…….fight against it……. With no known line of treatment…..came
back to win six more Tour-de-France.
This may not be such a narrative like the one of Lance
Armstrong…still this stands out…as….a classic example of an ordinary
person….putting in and extraordinary effort…..to get life back on track.
Is there any need to go for any theatrical success story; we
see in movies or read in books? I don’t think so. Real life is more fascinating
than reel life; my friend.
Only one thing to say: #Respect.
No comments:
Post a Comment