She was a confident, twenty-four year old. She had
very caring parents who instilled good values in her, not just by word, but by
example. As far back as she could remember, she had always had health problems,
even as a kid of eight. She, however, happily went about her life giving little
thought to the ailments that cropped up lest they affect her joie de vivre. In
her early twenties she moved to another city, went on to learn a new profession
and excelled at it. She sought success and found it too, but in the bargain,
she further damaged her health.
Years went by and at the age of thirty-two she moved
back to her city, this time with even more health issues. She tried to ignore
them as usual, but a year later, she could ignore them no more.
Even as a kid, she had always been over-weight, but
having neglected her health she was now clinically obese. Suffering from a
thyroid disorder worsened the scenario. She began taking thyroid medication but
within eight months of the medication, something went drastically wrong. The
medication was having an adverse effect. Her thyroid and her weight were
spiraling out of control. She reached a staggering two hundred and eighteen
kilos. Resultantly, she suffered from several obesity-related ailments. The
soles of her feet began retaining water and every time she walked, it felt like
she was perpetually treading on live coals. Her lower limbs cramped because of
lack of blood supply. She suffered from high blood pressure and acute sleep
apnea, wherein she would choke in her sleep and wake up gasping for breath.
She kept ignoring the ailments and the symptoms. Two
months later, when the pain became unbearable, she could ignore them no more! A
doctor, a surgeon no less, was called for a home visit because she was in no
condition to even walk down two flights of stairs.
It was the surgeon’s first home visit. He was a
surgeon, not a mere physician, hence wasn’t ever required to visit patients at
their home. He examined her and honestly told her that she would have less than
ten days to live if she did not immediately undergo surgery.
The lady underwent a series of life-threatening,
surgeries over the years. These were major surgeries, not ones that could be
done laparoscopically.
All through her surgeries she kept up a brave
demeanor, more so for her parents than for herself, because she happened to be
their only child. Though her parents, too, stayed brave and very jovial, each
time she wheeled into the operation theatre, she saw a smile on their lips but
dreaded fear in their eyes.
She was a firm believer of karma, but in the
beginning when those series of surgeries began, she would wonder why she was
fated to be cut up so much and so bad. The surgeries left her with unimaginable
scars, some twelve or fourteen inches long, and some, even longer. Each time
her surgery scars would take five or six months to heal. She maintained there
was a reason for her suffering; she believed there just had to be one. She
wanted an answer as to what that was. She craved an answer!
She clung to her faith all through her pain and
agony. She believed that in spite of all she endured, there was someone up
there giving her the strength to carry on each day.
They say when you are at your lowest you grasp on to
whatever you can, to survive. One day fate brought her to a book. The book,
‘Many Lives, Many Masters by Dr Brian Weiss’, went on to be her log of wood to
survive the rapids she was drowning in.
Her earlier views and thoughts on karma cleared up.
She had always accepted the blows life dealt, but now, she accepted them
gracefully, as lessons. She knew that these were lessons she had to learn to
clear her karmic debt. She no longer questioned the blows life dealt, she
simply accepted them with a whole lot of love. She no longer felt the need to
question the Universe. In fact, every time life knocked her down, she learned
to smile and sent into the Universe, a ‘thank you’ for the lesson life taught
her.
The lady went on to live a healthy life. She still
lives! Yes, she does. She never fails to send out a prayer of thanks, each and
every day, for all the lessons life teaches her and for the strength life gives
her when she needs it, be it through family, friends, strangers or even a book.
She understands she has to nurture the soil (soul)
given. She has to plant the right seeds and water them with care and devotion.
The weeds need to be trimmed when they appear. She understands she has to give
the plants time to grow into a beautiful garden. She understands He never gives
us a ‘ready-grown’ rose garden. He teaches us to grow one of our very own. She
is learning to grow one too.
~ Bawi ~
Painting: Roses - oil on canvas by Khorshed Bokdawalla
Photography: Kainaaz Writer Bokdawalla
