Guest Column | Health is the crowning jewel of life
Col HP Singh (Retd) writes if life is the greatest gift, then a healthy life is a jewel in the crown; there is so much life has to offer and yet one succumbs to ego, jealousy and anger, which disturb the harmony of the body, mind and spirit
“I never fall ill,” I would retort as soon as somebody started bombarding me with unsolicited health advice. After all, removing my tonsils four decades ago had so far been the only time I had required hospitalisation. As they say one should not brag about Divine benedictions, and I was soon eating my words after a two-pronged attack of dengue and typhoid brought me down.
The twin diseases were like a stone dropped in placid pool whose ripples would take days to subside. When my platelet count nosedived, I was taken to the nearest private hospital. However, dissatisfied with the medical care provided, we decided to shift to the Military Hospital.
A patient recovered is a customer lost and sarcasm was all I could use before paying a bill of almost half a lakh for the few hours spent in therapeutic captivity and by the time I was in the hands of the combat healers, a lot of time had been wasted and weakness and rising temperatures had taken a toll on my body.
It was a collapse at an ungodly hour in the dark of night that raised panic and sent me to the intensive care unit. The last time I lost consciousness was during flying training days when my instructor subjected me to a high level of anti-gravity acceleration. However, this time the experience came at a rather embarrassing place : the washroom.
Wired with instruments monitoring different parameters, never had I known hours like these. Infusion of platelets, medicines and fluids through my veins was another maiden experience. With five of my co-patients on ventilator and one with terminal cancer, my heart went out seeing their plight as I wondered if they would ever lead a normal life hereafter. Even though placed in a much better league in comparison, I struggled to maintain high spirits in that gloomy odour of sorrow. The praiseworthy doctors worked round the clock like a shadow of God on earth in their struggle of pulling patients from the jaws of death.
As I waited for time to heal me, I felt a conviction grow on me. If life was the greatest gift, then a healthy life was a jewel in the crown. There was so much life had to offer and yet one succumbed to ego, jealousy and anger, which disturb the harmony of the body, mind and spirit. Wasn’t it better to count your blessing rather than nurture the pain of regrets, deficiencies and failures? We climb sublime heights on wings of fancy, little realising that life was stranger than fiction and an invisible microbe was enough to lay bare the fickleness of fortune.
While I have no clue where I fit in the great scheme of things, nor do I seem to have any role in the cosmic drama, thankfully the veil of illusion that had clouded my vision has lifted. I walked out of the hospital, emaciated, but wiser with a heart full of gratitude leaving little room for negativity.
Thank God for adversity, it has finally dawned upon me that happiness is the highest form of health and the only constant in life.
harrypal71@yahoo.co.in
(The writer is a Mohali-based freelance contributor)