Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Life - Could be short, could be fun !

I got a rude rude shock this weekend. Shock of magnitude, as its said metaphorically, as if one is hit with several bolts of lightning. Around 6AM Saturday morning; I was asleep, but slowly waking up and in the kind of not very conscious mode. I got a call from someone I know – it was my friend’s (lets call him X) mom – I also know his mom fairly well. I knew that his dad was not keeping well and he has had severe problems. As soon as I heard X’s mom talking to me, I thought it was about X’s dad. As his mom was talking to me, I almost missed it the first time; nn the 2nd parse, I heard it correctly - it was not X’s dad, but it was X itself.

This X, a friend of mine for nearly 15years, who barely crossed 40, had a heart attack.

Apparently, the previous night at 7PM he had suffered a major heart attack; fortunately, his (doctor) mom told me that he had suffered it in the right ventricular part of the heart, where his artery was 90% blocked. His mother said if the attack was on the left side, it would have been much much serious, almost a goner. Fortunately, he was taken to the hospital on time, got the right medical attention and had an angioplasty done, sticking in a stent through him and removed the block. He is well.

A bit of background about him. He is a guy who is quite funny – he is a repository of jokes, funny stories about himself and people around him, anecdotes and past incidents. I suspect that some of the stories are imaginary. Since I’ve known him for many years, I’ve heard him repeat stories, with a different (real) personalities involved with different locales and settings – replete with inconsistencies with his previous version. When, I once pointed this out to him, he countered – whether I want to laugh or want to dwell in detail. I got the point. In a party or a crowd, one can easily locate him; just look for a largest group, where the most noise comes from and where the loudest laughter comes from – he probably would be in the center of the group, telling one of his story (albeit with a different person, I bet); due to this prowess, he once was named the "Goran" (the jungle story teller in the Phantom comics).

Such is this guy. This morning when I talked to his mom, she told me that he is fine and will be out of CCU and into general ward. Doctors have given him a schedule that he needs to maintain – it includes exercise (which he does not do), diet (which he does not care) and quit smoking (that he does not even try). His mom also told me that its better that we do not call him or visit him, since she wanted him to take rest and not talk much (which is kind of tough for him). I had heeded to her and refrained from either seeing him or talking to him.

Today, as I was returning from work, I had heard a familiar ring tone – from the movie Pulp Fiction, Misirlou - it was X. I had assumed that it was his brother using his phone; as I picked up the phone, I heard his booming voice on the other side… With that typical laughter, he set out to explain what happened between 7PM and 10Pm that day; including the masala’esque details and how he found the whole thing funny – ‘at 7PM, I was this close to death, but fully conscious, with a weight of 5000 kilos on my chest and by 10PM, I’m done – back to normal… My heart had stopped, they used the iron thing ... … Since I knew the Cardiologist, I asked him where did they pull you out from?...”

The Goran is back - with a great new plot for his future stories, all woven around his heart-attack and heart-arrest; I'm sure retold a several times over; and I'm very sure with a discerning but very interesting differences.

Back to normal, all is well. Life could be fun!!!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nicely written :-)

Anonymous said...

Not so nice.. If I were you, I d have drilled some sense into X.It gets irritating when someone makes a joke out of things which must be taken seriously. Its not as though he is a terminally ill patient, trying to laugh his way to the end. Things which came out of negligence arent to be brushed aside as insignificant.

The point being driven home, is pointless.

-S

EnGeetham aka "My Song!" said...

4x: Get well soon.

4S: fair points. but then there is a huge gray zone between the extremes of black and white. X is a kind of guy who has a different philosophy towards living. In any case, I think he has gotten his message and hopefully mending (whatever that implies). Regardless, I do wish he does not lose his sense of humour.

Rahul said...

Life could be short but yet could be fun

Tyler Durden said...

now that all is well and X is doing good, watch "Big Fish" with X. A story about a man whose stories are larger than himself :-).

EnGeetham aka "My Song!" said...

4Rahul: Thanks for visiting

4TD: Now X is well and kicking, I will tell him. You can do that yourself, one of these days after Nov 15th, when you come by.

Anonymous said...

Interestingly written !! Knowing X, am sure we will not miss his hearty laughs :) I only pray we get to have more Gorans. The more I see, the more I feel, that more are loosing on the nicer and sincerely enjoyable things in life.

EnGeetham aka "My Song!" said...

4DR: Perhaps yes on your last point. Its good to have the 'reformed' Goran back...

Anonymous said...

i agree with 'X' and his philosophy, but that shouldnt be a surprise. cant take life too seriously, but we do :( :(
-AW

EnGeetham aka "My Song!" said...

4AW: I think X is beginning to take his life seriously. Lets see how long does that last.

Anonymous said...

ahhh.. X.. zindabad.. Baki sab... khallas!!! or should I say "bakwas" - Varun

EnGeetham aka "My Song!" said...

4Varun: I think after a while, X would believe he is Zindabad; ie bad-Zinda :) after giving up all he was doing earlier...