On a cold winter morning, I experienced my ‘Platinum Day of Love.’ It was the day my
husband, Vinod, arrived to be at my side as I struggled to live.
I
was not on India, but in Berlin, where I had gone for a conference. I was
suddenly taken so ill that I had to be hospitalized. I had been suffering from
a cold and had been taking Crocin for fever on my flight. Delhi had been cold
and Berlin was much colder. The conference over, I collapsed at the University
where it was taking place.
It was December and Christmas time, but I was
in a hospital in a strange country, away from my loved ones. I was surrounded
by doctors and nurses. I had a severe case of Hepatitis A which had gone
undiagnosed till now. I had to take pills. I received so many injections that
the inside of my arm look like a red anthill. I was transported on a wheelchair
to several rooms for some test or the other for I was too weak to stand. The
doctors were cheerful, but I missed the love and warmth of home and country. I
was feeling sad and morose, wondering whether I would ever go home.
At the time this happened, my husband had just returned from
a trip abroad for work and had already spent the foreign exchange allowed
(there were restrictions then) by the government. He had none and no one had
any to give him. Eventually he managed to borrow a few dollars from my brother-in-law.
He had to arrange a visa immediately for himself since the doctors in Berlin
had asked him to come at once, “to see his wife’s face for the last time.” He frantically
got in touch with the Indian embassy. I do not know what he did but he did
manage to arrive by my side after a few days.
My brother-in-law’s friend, a stranger till now, met him at
the airport and offered his home as a place to stay. Somehow, Vinod had managed
against all odds to be with me, perhaps knowing that I had to see him in order
to make my way back to recovery.
He tells me that when he
walked into the room to see me, he did not know whether I would survive, I was
so pale and thin and weak. I tell him
that when I saw him walk in, I knew that I would survive. The doctors told me
that I was a spunky and tough woman, but it was after my husband arrived that
they noticed that I really began to recover. My liver, which had shrunk to an
abnormal size, began to regenerate itself. I know for a fact that all organs of
the body are connected. My heart had informed my liver, I think, that it was
time to embrace life again and not give up so easily. My husband was here to
make sure I did that.
Though it was a woman’s
section of the hospital, they allowed him to come and visit me every day. They also
allowed him to stay as long as he wished. This was a rule that was bent for my sake;
these hospitals have strict visiting hours. The doctors marvelled at the fact
that my husband would come and spend so much time with me. They had never seen
this kind of love and attention being showered on a patient.
I thank the Berlin
doctors for giving me back my life. I also know that it is Vinod’s love for me,
pure, eternal and rare to find, that gave me the strength to survive. All these
years, despite all the ups and downs that life has offered, he has never given
up on me, and has never left my side. I am encircled by his love.
The day he came to the Berlin
hospital is our Platinum Day of Love. And all our days together will always be platinum
days, pure, rare and eternal. Just like
platinum, glowing and strong.
This real life story has been written
in response to PlatinumDay of Love at Indiblogger.
