Between me and Sarmila, it has been a
friendship of more than thirty years. I know her parents, her relatives, and
her family as closely as she knows mine. We grew up in Kolkata. Now she is in
Delhi and I in Hyderabad. Back in Kolkata, every year our birthdays on 15th June and
18th August would be celebrated in Kowloon, our most favorite
restaurant in New Alipore. Birthdays were always very special to us. Even today, we don’t miss each other's birthdays. But mine this year
was very special because of what she said on the eve of my birthday, on 17th
August:
- Sorry, I didn't call you for
about a month because I was frightfully busy with my mom. Just listen. On 16th of July, I was
chatting up with my neighbor in their flat. Suddenly, with the weather beginning to change, slightly overcast. I remembered I had left the windows open and that my mom was alone in the flat.
She had not been keeping well for quite some time you know that.
- Yes, I do.
- By the time I could enter my flat, it started pouring. I rushed in and was shocked to find my mother lying flat in the living room bleeding profusely from the head. Not knowing what to do, I shouted Ma, ma please don’t die, please be alive, and kept on closing the windows to stop the rains gushing in. I called my neighbor, called the emergency, called Amit (her husband) who was in office, Nipa (her sister in Navi Mumbai) and asked them to come asap. When we admitted her to FORTIS Noida, the doctors informed that due to high BP, she fell on the ground and had a brain hemorrhage! By then, Amit was there, I called Argha (her son) from Pune, and Nipa was with me with Arka and Titli (Nipa's two children). Will never forget that fateful night Unto (my pet name). We said no to surgery simply because of her age. However, they tried hard to see what could be done and after four days in ICU, the neurosurgeons gave up all hopes and said it was just a matter of some few hours. When I asked how few it was, they said three to four. It was on Saturday 20th July I came to know that ma was leaving us. You know we had a gurubaba who used to rescue us from all difficult situations?
- Yes I know!
- He had given us a mala with his mantra and had asked us to apply during bad times. I remembered that and had it brought from home and touched that on my mom’s broken head, wished she left us without pain. Doctors had asked us to give her ‘ganga jal’ (water of the Ganges) per our ritual. Amit went to gangotri few days ago, and brought water from the gangotri. We gave her that, though she wasn't able to take that in. It was flowing from her stiff mouth. We started calling up people, and was deciding on which cremation ground to take her to. The next morning we got a call from the hospital and believe you me, we learnt that she was convalescing! Imagine brain hemorrhage! Amit and Nipa were awake the whole night at the hospital. I rushed in to know that although she was recovering she'd gone into coma. Doctors said it might take months for her to come out of it. After about an hour or so, Argha shouted in her ears, O dida! Dida! Cholo bari jabo (Hello Granny, come, let’s go home!)…and the miracle which had begun continued...within a minute my mom’s right eye opened for a second and closed. Vigilant doctors were surprised with literally eggs on their faces. They said they had never witnessed something as strange as this before! What they did after that was remarkable and unheard of Unto! They got an ear phone and asked Argha, Arka, and Titli to call out Dida, dida, and only dida as loudly as they could! Desperate grand-children did a pretty good job Unto!
- Yes, I do.
- By the time I could enter my flat, it started pouring. I rushed in and was shocked to find my mother lying flat in the living room bleeding profusely from the head. Not knowing what to do, I shouted Ma, ma please don’t die, please be alive, and kept on closing the windows to stop the rains gushing in. I called my neighbor, called the emergency, called Amit (her husband) who was in office, Nipa (her sister in Navi Mumbai) and asked them to come asap. When we admitted her to FORTIS Noida, the doctors informed that due to high BP, she fell on the ground and had a brain hemorrhage! By then, Amit was there, I called Argha (her son) from Pune, and Nipa was with me with Arka and Titli (Nipa's two children). Will never forget that fateful night Unto (my pet name). We said no to surgery simply because of her age. However, they tried hard to see what could be done and after four days in ICU, the neurosurgeons gave up all hopes and said it was just a matter of some few hours. When I asked how few it was, they said three to four. It was on Saturday 20th July I came to know that ma was leaving us. You know we had a gurubaba who used to rescue us from all difficult situations?
- Yes I know!
- He had given us a mala with his mantra and had asked us to apply during bad times. I remembered that and had it brought from home and touched that on my mom’s broken head, wished she left us without pain. Doctors had asked us to give her ‘ganga jal’ (water of the Ganges) per our ritual. Amit went to gangotri few days ago, and brought water from the gangotri. We gave her that, though she wasn't able to take that in. It was flowing from her stiff mouth. We started calling up people, and was deciding on which cremation ground to take her to. The next morning we got a call from the hospital and believe you me, we learnt that she was convalescing! Imagine brain hemorrhage! Amit and Nipa were awake the whole night at the hospital. I rushed in to know that although she was recovering she'd gone into coma. Doctors said it might take months for her to come out of it. After about an hour or so, Argha shouted in her ears, O dida! Dida! Cholo bari jabo (Hello Granny, come, let’s go home!)…and the miracle which had begun continued...within a minute my mom’s right eye opened for a second and closed. Vigilant doctors were surprised with literally eggs on their faces. They said they had never witnessed something as strange as this before! What they did after that was remarkable and unheard of Unto! They got an ear phone and asked Argha, Arka, and Titli to call out Dida, dida, and only dida as loudly as they could! Desperate grand-children did a pretty good job Unto!
- So what happened?
- Well, well, well, within a couple of hours she recovered and we brought her home…and now she’s up and about! That’s
what happened. Doctors say it’s a miracle. Though she has a huge mark in her
head…that will take time to heal, but she’s here with us!
- No, are you mad? Anyway, happy
birthday Unto!
- Thank you for this wonderful
birthday wish. You take care!
- You too. 
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