“4th June 2000, it was 11:30 in the night and we were returning from EsselWorld, I was on my mother’s lap and my father was driving. A truck coming from a wrong side rammed into our car at top speed. The impact was such that the steering wheel first damaged my father’s face and then hit my mother’s right thigh. We were lying there unconscious for quite some time, but no one came to our help. Finally, three men from somewhere came and took us to the Thane Civil hospital. Our condition was so bad that when my uncle came, he could identify my dad only because of his shoes. My grandmother herself had to remove the glass pieces from my mom’s body. There were no attendants in the Civil hospital, not even to wipe off our blood. My grandfather realised that my father’s condition was the worst and he needed to be shifted to another, better hospital at the earliest. So, he took him to a very well known hospital in Thane… but there they said they won’t operate my dad unless 35000 in cash were deposited.
In 2000, there was no easy access to ATM and arranging for cash at 2am was difficult. So, my grandfather… at that hour in the midnight went from door to door of our society and borrowed money from people.
Later my mom was also shifted there and when the doctors checked her, they said her thigh bones were smashed into pieces and she will never be able to walk again. The operation went on for 7 hours. Thrice the anaesthesia was given to her. As it wasn’t safe to give it more than 3 times, the remaining part of the operation… which included putting 60 stitches… was done in her conscious state. Just imagine the pain she must have gone through. Even thinking of that sends shivers down my spine.
At home, her legs were tied to heavy bricks so that they don’t move. We then stayed in a building which had no lift. Her follow up used to be after every 10-15 days, so every time we’d require 6 people to carry her on a stretcher downstairs from the 4th floor. I was only 3 then and understood very little about what was happening to her, so… I would ask her everyday as to when will she lift me again. When my Mama gifted her crutches on Raksha Bandhan, she decided that come-what-may she will walk again only for me, her daughter. She would use those crutches and climb down 4 floors everyday to drop me to my nursery. She started going alone on the terrace to practice walking. Time went by… and one day the doctor asked her to walk in front of him… and she walked. He was so astonished that he said he would frame this case in golden words. The next thing I remember was running towards her the and asking her to lift me.
Soon she started working with a rod in her leg and she would go to office using her walking stick. She would take my school bag, my nanny bag and her office bag and walk and drop me at the nanny’s on the 3rd floor, without the help of a lift. She would then rush to the station, climb the bridge, take the fast train and run to catch the train so that she would reach the office on time. In the evening, she would pick me up on her way back… and we had the same routine for over two years.
When my sister was born, she decided to work in Thane. My mom had always been an academically brilliant student and felt that her diploma didn’t do justice to her abilities. She was always kept aback at her job because she didn’t have a ‘degree’. So, few years ago she started her B Tech all over again. She would go to work, come home, look after her daughters and study till late in the night. She did this for four long years and finally did her B Tech. But didn’t just stop at that. She started her MBA in Project Management also the same year. Everyday juggling work, children and studies. During this she also got detected with asthma and her thyroid levels knew no bounds. She started having severe health issues and even got admitted because once her Haemoglobin count dropped to 4. Doctors were surprised on how she even managed to walk to the clinic. At 45, the Gynaec told her that she should undergo hysterectomy (removal of uterus) asap. It was saddening to see a woman at such a young age having to remove uterus and one of her ovaries. Its been five months to her hysterectomy operation and now she is having unbearable knee pain as a well known side effect of hysterectomy… arthritis.
She has been pursuing her MBA and in the first year even topped the University and got selected as an Academic Ambassador. She has been single handedly supporting a family of six people. Everyday she wakes up, sends her younger child to school and goes to her office which is on the second floor and has no lift. I ask her why are you doing this, if it pains you so much. She says..pumping her asthma inhaler… ‘I am totally fine’. My mom believes that we all have greater strength than we know, that everything is in the mind and our mind power can achieve anything.
I can not think of a better example than my mom of what sheer ‘Will power’ can help you achieve. Hats off to her!”
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