Don that matters!

Friday the 14th November, 2008:

Don met with an accident - a chest-on collision with a truck on his way to office. It could have been fatal, but he escaped with minor injuries. On his instructions, his friends didn't inform me till Varsha pinged...
4:31 PM varshacon: hey...
sorry to hear abt Nilo...
I was too engrossed reviewing the pub story to heed the G-chat pings...I had to send it by evening. I saw Varsha’s message pretty late..the moment I did, my head began to spin.
4:40 PM me: what?
4:41 PM u there?
varshacon: hey..arent u aware abt what happend to Nilo dis morning
“It must be some official issue”, I thought. “He must have got an UD (under developer), or he must have had a big one with his boss. But could it have affected him so much that he did not call me the entire day? Impossible!”... I could not get myself to think the worst yet.
me: no
iv been trying to reach him
varshacon: oh no...i thot of pingin u in mornin itself..but dint find u online...
me: pl tell
4:42 PM quick
varshacon: nthg serious actuly..
“Did he meet with an accident? Why does this girl just not come to the point at once!”
me: cn i hv ur number?
The suspense was too much to bear. My fingers felt numb on the keypad.
varshacon: gimme ur number
me: 9########7
She called. Don had met with an accident and was at Apollo. And she sent me those pictures.
Somebody had the nerve to click on when my man must be lying somewhere nearby, injured. I felt like blasting the photographer, the truck driver, everybody. I could not get myself visualize he was actually "there", that the bike there was his bike and it was my man who went through “that”...that it could happen to me!

Hell broke loose! It was just another hyperbolic English idioms, so heard, so zing-less till that moment, when I was actually ‘standing under one’. It was one of those rare moments when in one moment you’re so exploded with countless ideas, one after another – each, as profound, as shuddering – that your brain halts numb.

I rushed to my phone. I had called Vikas (his colleague) sometime back asking him to tell Don to charge his mobile and call me back. Did he not know it already? Why did he not tell me? His number was busy. I quickly changed...stacked my purse with all cash I had...Medicines, bills...I might have to stay back at the hospital...this place so sucks...autos are such scarcity...can I call somebody to pick me up...Sarang...he’ll be busy...Rajoo...he’s not in town...why is Vikas not picking my phone! Damn! Shall I tell Papa? I can do that in on my way to the hospital. O GOD CAN I JUST SEE MY MAN ONCE... Vikas finally picked it and told me Don is safe and they're on their way back home. Don talked to me....I cried..............................

They’re reaching home in 10 min. I rushed to the mirror. Combed my hair and put the sindoor. I’ve been overwhelmed many times doing that. First, it was when I used my Maa’s sindoor. I felt like I was becoming her. But this time it felt the most intense...it made me feel so married, how that little red streak so mattered, so completed me.
Vikas and Rajesh dropped him home. He was limping badly. The jean was torn. He had a thorough body check up at Apollo. No internal injuries. Just bruises and muscle aches. I kept staring at him. How this one man’s existence so decided mine! How my life revolved around him!
He’s sleeping now...right beside me. You know he has this habit of sucking his lower lip when he slumbers very tired. I can stare at that face...on and on. And the world feels just right!

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Varsha's response to this post was too vivid and pragmatically scripted to sit unnoticed in my Comments section... So decided to push it over here:

woooooh... is that my name thr !!!! Varsha is glad to have herself in dis lovely writeup...

Well, that morning I was lil busy with one of our stretch projects (needless saying – initiated by Nilo, the fundu idea generator) to shape it for a proper demo to our manager. Was stuck with something, but left it thinking this can be taken up by Nilo !!

Here it starts : Shahid (PM [for time being] of the same project) walked into my cube & with a low voice whispered “Nilotpal ka accident hua hai” !! I was so very shocked to hear it that started bombarding him with all sorts of hows and whens…queries , but he was busy trying to contact Nilo so I had to bounce from my seat for further investigation ! What I see is all the DEVs and our Super Manger gathered nearby Nilo’s cube discussing abt the happening and few trying to reach him and his fndz…that chaos hinted me something like this – “He and his friend were almost reaching office but near Hill Ridge a truck driver made a wrong turn which lead to this accident” – one’s immediate question would be – “How is Nilotpal yaar ? “ so was mine! And they announce – Nilotapl is absolutely SAFE, just minor injuries near elbow (read this word in caps as one of the most relieved moment of the day for me at least). I really like my entire team, and this worry on everyone’s face gave me another reason to love them :). Then we see a mail with the acccident’s horrifying pics attached !!! You can’t imagine the hardest time one can undergo looking at those pics….uffffffffffffff…was the word i uttered with eyes closed and a aaaaaaaaaaah…thank god….for _____ !!!

I was under the impression that Nidarshana must have already been informed.. but unlocking my computer shows me an orange blinking area minimized with nidarsana written on it. Opened it n there is a message like – Hi Varsha, wassup ! Was lil skeptical like how cum .. she ..aummhhh !! Anywez, pushing this confusion at some corner of my mind, replied as mentioned above. And when she asked my number, my heart beat rate was almost 100/sec …how do I inform her…wasn’t getting proper words …n hence was the delay ma’am :) !!

Rest is beautifully authored above ! For everybody’s information – I and Niru became online friends (hi hello fndz basically) on Wednesday, and it was Friday that was not so great to have the second chat!!!

Aaah, lazy lions, sorry to write such long .... but wait, here is where your place for attention (review of the writeup):THE WRITEUP IS BLESSED WITH SUCH EXPRESSIVE FINGERS THAT YOU CAN’T TAKE YOUR HEART OFF WITHOUT REALIZING IT . I CHALLENGE EVERY DIRECTOR ON THIS PLANET TO EVEN COME CLOSER TO PICTURIZE THE FEELINGS WHAT THIS LACONIC PARA FROM "First, it was when I used my Maa’s sindoor. I felt like I was becoming her…. " HAS PORTRAYED !!! JUST OUT OF THE WORLD !!

And thanks Niru for sharing your feelings with us, so I know now that You cannot express unless you realize your realization completely !! Nilo and Niru, you know what I was to complement/suggest Nilo on Friday ?? :) (Just thought of it while I was travelling in bus to office)……. To be continued…..enough for today I guess !!!

I'm touched! Thank you Varsha!

Now listen to what Don - the victim-made-hero, went through...