My Wish Granted!!

God always has HIS ways of granting a wish, as long as the end objective is achieved, you should be happy!! I learnt this the hard way and after that incident I thought to myself, I better be careful in wording my wishes even to GOD!!! 

So it was early Feb 2005, chilly weather all round and as usual, I was in one of those slogging sessions at my work place. I was in the firmware development team, and we had to get an AIRCRAFT SIMULATOR model, up and running, in time for the AERO INDIA 2005. Some gyaan, on the AIRCRAFT SIMULATOR, for those who have little exposure to such highly sophisticated machinery. This is an exact replica of the cockpit of any fighter aircraft (ours was a replica of SuryaKiran fighter aircraft). The course of the flight as he simulates the run gets displayed on the screen right in front of him, so that he can actually feel the working on the controls at his hands. The real flight situations are simulated with all the gadgets displaying actual values on the panel in the front of the pilot. The control stick is mounted in the cockpit for the pilot so that he gets the basics of flying, right, before he tests his skills in air. This whole simulator is mounted on a motion platform, which would give the feel of the flying in the actual cockpit. Wow!! Cool!!! This was the general response that I got from everyone I spoke to, about my nature of work in those days. But believe me; the terminology “rocket science” is not used just for the heck of it. Just to make the simulator, feel like a real cockpit, all the untouched parts of my brain were rattled to find the answers during the design and development phase of the product. Think of a real fighter aircraft, where everything has to work perfectly, and every time; with pin point accuracy!! No wonder “rocket science” is the buzz word used in the software industry, when anyone speaks about the complexity of the software being developed. 

Coming back to ground, the team had been slogging it out for the past one month, and the day before we could send the SIMULATOR to the exhibition, we were once again in a night out situation!! Nothing new to me, by then I was a seasoned night out champion!! At dawn, when the simulator was ready, it was transported to the YELAHANKA AIR FORCE Base station for the Aero India 2005. Since we were a part of the exhibitors, few of my colleagues including me, had got the exhibitors pass, which meant that we could roam around any stall in the entire exhibition area, not to forget the air show display, on each of the five days, for which the event was very popular for. 

Since, we had slogged our hearts out for about a month or so, we had got a break of 5 days after the exhibition. Respite from the regular verbal bashing from the CTO for the integration issues, inconsistency issues etc. Just as the break was about to get over on a Saturday, I just wished that it would have been great if I get a chance to extend this break!! My wish was timed so perfectly that it landed perfectly in the just then cleaned ears of the GOD, who probably smiled and said, “Vatsa asthu!!!” 

As it turned out, myself and Pinky (Anup S, my engineering project mate), were going to Pradeep’s house on that Saturday evening, and just near a signal after the Vijayanagar bus stop, an auto (probably GOD SENT ;)), rammed into the bike which pinky was riding and I was sitting pillion. My left ankle got crushed between the front wheel of the auto and foot rest of his bike. Pinky had bruised arms and when I tried to get up from the fall, I realized that my left foot and my left leg were at obtuse angles to each other :)!!! I had fractured my ankle badly, and till date I can’t believe that we two actually got up and went all the way to Pradeeps house on the same bike. Pradeep who was petrified learning about the accident, insisted that we rush to an orthopedic surgeon immediately. 

“This needs to be operated immediately, your ankle is broken”, is what the doctor said. For someone who had not gone under the knife until that time, in his entire life span, it was not exactly a shocker, but definitely something which was difficult to digest. That was something I was totally unprepared for, and the first thing I asked him was to wrap me in plaster and send me home, and I would get the needful done. 

So for the first time in life, I entered my house, a big plaster from knee all the way down to my feet, holding pradeep and pinky for support on either side. A more than concerned mom and granny :), who had never in their life seen me in that state, just could not speak anything.  Words of assurance that I was ok, pacified them a bit, also the fact that before going home, I had consulted our family doctor who suggested that I meet Dr Sanjay Pai, an orthopedic surgeon of noted reputation gave them some relief. 

“Ya we will operate it, he should be able to walk in 3 days” said the surgeon!! There I was on a Sunday evening, on the operation table, under the knife for the first time in my life. The anesthetic that was given to the spine, had just begun to take effect, when I could feel the scalpel tear through my skin near the ankle.  Probably because of the effect of the local anesthesia, I started to feel sleepy, and when I woke up, the first person I saw was my mother with a concerned look on her face, just to check if I was alright :) I just smiled and said, I was fine, and din’t feel any pain whatsoever. Little did I know that once the effect of anesthesia subsides, the pain would be unbearable. 

That night I must confess, must have been the most painful night, I have ever spent in my life. I could hardly lift my left leg, and since it was tightly bandaged, the pain was indescribable. Even to turn to the side, I had to call in the nurse to lift my leg, as it felt so heavy. The pain shooting up every 5 mins, made me cry, well, almost!!!  “Mard ko dard nahi hotha”. But, the searing pain came back to haunt me time and again, every night. My daily routine was to eat breakfast, read some book, have lunch, read some book, drink tea with some biscuits, read some book and finally have dinner, then try to sleep. The initial few days were frustrating, when all that I could do apart from reading, was stare at the wall opposite to my bed and read the poster which said “Smile, things will improve!!”.  However, there was an unwelcome change on the 4^th day, when the nurse came in with a walker, smiled and said, “come we will go for a walk!!”. That sentence scared the daylights out of me, and I could not even run away from there :) Till that time, keeping the leg horizontal and moving it around on the bed itself was a herculean task. How would I put my weight on that leg and walk!!! The nurse would not relent, and believe me, when I put my leg on the ground and put my left foot forward, I screamed :) and few more steps and I could not take it anymore. I limped back single foot back to my bed.  I started lamenting that in future I would never be able to run, never be able to bowl, never be able to trek.. all the list of “nevers” came in front of my eyes, when the doctor, came in and asked, “how was your walk, my friend :)?” “Very adventurous” was my reply. Looking at my detested look, he said, “I promise you, another 2 months you will be able to run and even play football, leave alone cricket!!”

His words ringing in my ears, I spent the next one month in my home :).  I got all the princely treatment, (though I must confess, children are always princes or princesses to their mothers, whatever age they may be, the love remains the same) and in some strange way, GOD had granted my wish, the end objective was achieved!! I had asked for a break, and I had got it. Two 3 inch long screws with couple of pins to hold those two screws were embedded in my left ankle. The pain reducing with each passing day,I was able to walk with a limp after 4 weeks, and was able to walk freely thereafter.  And yes, after 3 months, I was indeed trekking in the caves of Ulavi, near Dandeli. 

Both the doctor and GOD had kept their promise!!!

A[V]I