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Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Pain that glitters.

Sometimes in life, we come across situations when we suffer immense pain, which cannot be shared with anyone. Helplessness, vulnerability and trauma can weaken the strongest of people. This is a story from two months ago and no, I dint give birth.

I stepped into a popular state-of-the-art hospital that could give stiff competition to star hotels in the region. Apparently it is meant to be visited by people who have plenty of money to spare and have chronic diseases like sneezing and dandruff. They treat your acne problem and give you a facelift that can give Sridevi a run for her money, but if you have a cardiac arrest and go there on emergency you may die. My purpose of visit suited the hospital profile. The marble floors were immaculately clean and I am sure even those 0.01% germs that escaped Dettol were handled. We walked to the reception contaminating the hospital with the germs we carried involuntarily.
‘Ear piercing’ I mumbled.
 ‘Have you been here before?’ asked the receptionist who looked like Kareena Kapoor. Obviously not, young lady. People like me can come here only once in a lifetime. 
‘No’ I said.
She started a procedure that required me to provide details as though she was issuing me a new passport. When she finished her tedious yet systematic process, I received a card that looked like it was laminated and gold-plated, along with a bill huge enough to pay for the renovation of the ground floor. I was paying them to put a hole in my ears. It was not like I was asking for a heart transplant. I paid the bill (through my nose) and waited outside the specialist’s office.

There were magazines on the table, neatly stacked size wise. I dint want to contaminate them with my germ laden hands. My son who accompanied me had no questions so far but as we waited, he remotely sensed that this could be a Doctor’s office. ‘Amma I don’t have any pain anywhere! Let’s go from here! Now Now NOWWW’ !! How can children be so unreasonable? After paying a bill like that even a fire alarm couldn’t move me.
Few moments later, I was called. It was like entering an office from Grey’s Anatomy. The Doctor stared at her computer as we sat on the pristine white revolving chairs.
She then looked at me and politely said ‘Yes?’
‘Doctor, I need to get ears pierced’. I said.
She looked at my son inquisitively. Her look sent chills down his body. He in turn, gave me a death stare.
I corrected her in a split-second ‘It is for me’.
The correction was immediately made; otherwise a meltdown with ‘Why did you bring me here-I told you I have no fever -what is this- I want to see Appa NOW’ would have echoed through the hospital which always maintains pin-drop silence.
The Doctor then checked my ear which already had two piercings. She was amused. This was not as amusing to me as the cashier already put a hole in my purse. The procedure lasted hardly three minutes and two months of excruciating pain whenever my ear touched the pillow- which means I slept like a statue facing the ceiling for two months, and suffered sleepless nights whenever I twisted or turned in my sleep. Then there were nights I woke up and cried why oh why do we have ears on both sides !?

Now it is like an achievement I should include in my bio data and Facebook profile. I also made sure that my hair does not cover it at any time because hard work, pain, patience and persistence is for everyone to see. I literally burned the midnight oil for a worthy cause! I couldn't complain about this pain to ANYONE, not even parents or friends, as I did not want to willfully invite irritating responses like ‘Did I ask you to pierce your ears?’
 ‘What kind of emergency made you pierce a third time?’
‘It was your decision, suffer on your own’
People who get the opportunity to say the above dialogues enjoy sadistic pleasure which I personally do not intend to give them. So I suffered in silence the outcome of my own decisions.
Whenever it hurts and I have no one to say it to, I look at my reflection on the mirror, how cute my bejeweled ears look. It heals all kinds of pain. Trust me.

17 comments:

  1. As always your writing includes wit, truth & love. Felt every emotion you've written. Thank you for putting into words what many of us have been grumbling about the so called star hospitals in town.Felt the pain you experienced, dear.

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    1. Thank you so much for reading and dropping a comment, Sony ! Yeah star hospitals are money squeezers.

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  2. ha ha ha... so was it all worth it? Its been a long term dream for me to get extra pair of piercing.. Dreaming since college but haven't had the courage to do it so far..hopefully i will do it someday in future.

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    1. Just do it, your reflection on the mirror lessens the pain!

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  3. Well, did anyone tell you to.... (oops! sorry)
    :D

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  4. Why would you do that to yourself!!! I still cannot get over my memory of my first piercing, and I think I was 4!!!
    Funny post though!

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    1. Haha! The pain was so much that now they look like medals to me!

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  5. Good one sis. Felt your pain :D

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  6. Third piercing!! You need to get a bravery award for that!

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    1. Yes yes you are the one who understands me !

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