It all started last year. She was way too thrilled to meet her long lost friends but destiny had other plans. The day she landed, her mom was laid up with "Chikun"gunya. She knew that it was her turn to look after her mother. Her plans to meet her friends had gone awry.
By the end of the trip, she learnt a lot about herself, a kind of introspection and enlightenment! As she boarded the bus back to her place of job, she promised herself to be a more dutiful, dependable daughter.
In her place of work, she was assigned a new project, a work to be completed offshore, but one day, out of the blue she was asked to apply for visa. She did, but fate played spoilsport again! The week when she was supposed to travel, she was diagnosed with "Chicken" Pox. She needed somebody to take care of her, so she headed home to be with her parents. All through the journey, she was thinking of the hard work that had gone haywire, a classic example of God proposes, human supposes, God disposes!
She reached home and was taken straight to what is known as the
isolation room. She was given strict instructions not to strain herself in any manner –not to surf, read books etc. Other excruciating instructions were not to have bath, cut nails, comb hair etc till the pox recedes.
Imagine her plight! Blisters all over her body, quite itchy but not allowed to scratch. On top of that, the blebs were wrapped up with Neem and Haldi paste. She had to withstand the pungent odor of the pus and the paste. She was quite hungry but the thought of having food with dirty fingers made her feel sicker. Any noise downstairs enthuse her and she yearned to be a part of the conversations but not allowed to move out of the room. She always enjoyed loneliness but all of a sudden she craved for company, somebody to share her anguish and annoyance. She made animated communications with ceiling and pedestal fans (Yep, two fans to beat the heat!). In her good days, she enjoyed wakefulness and when she needed good rest, she was denied, for humidity and blisters played dirty. Weird dreams traumatized and tormented her. For two weeks, the regime of being dirty and dingy continued.
One fine day, she was allowed to take bath with only water and no soap. She felt like a new born baby having its first bath. Three days later, she was allowed to take bath again, this time around, Haldi and Besan powders were provided. This bath also took her out of isolation. She was quite elated being back with her folks, discussing and dining with them. Her doctor advised her not to use any cosmetics (which included soap and shampoo too) for another two months. Diet restrictions would continue for the same amount of time.
The disease taught her a lot about life – One need to keep improving one’s inner beauty, for the external one can be tarnished quite easily. In the hour of the need, one gets to know the people who one can really rely on.
Now, she is back to work, quite astonished as well as annoyed to see the number of mails that have bombarded her inbox. On top of that, she has again moved to a new project, challenging one once again!
She has decided to take life as it comes, no point in wailing about the past and vexing about the future. There is always a "Chicken" that can ruin the current flow of reality.
