Another
thing the incident has taught me is that how
precious are the gifts that God has given
us; our limbs, sensory organs, etc. which
are usually taken for granted. Only when we
lose them, we know their value.I used to be
a person who planned everything and was very
systematic. But now sometimes my plans and
schedules go haywire because I have to depend
on somebody who is not as punctual. I get
frustrated easily when for things, I could
have done, I have to depend on other people.
Another factor that makes life miserable is
that in India, 99% of the buildings and places
are not wheelchair accessible. This has restricted
my mobility considerably. I am no longer able
to go to my favourite bookshops, restaurants,
theatre, etc. But I am getting used to it.
I joined back on duty after
spending nearly eight months in different
hospitals. I used to go to the office is a
hand-controlled car. My company gave me enough
help to get settled in. They gave me an office
in the ground floor, made everything wheelchair
accessible and gave me every facility to make
me comfortable. After working there for about
18 months I resigned from the company. The
main reason for this was that I was not able
to go to work regularly and because of pressure
sores (due to continued sitting) and increase
in spasticity which made it impossible to
make the wheelchair transfers independently.
So I started a consulting firm along with
my brother. The advantage was that I could
work from my home. It was during this time
that I thought about writing. Since my mobility
and hence social activities were restricted,
I had a lot of spare time. So I started on
my first book, without any idea of how to
write a book. But reading was one of my hobbies
and good books always inspired me. Whenever
I was depressed, I used to read books about
people who have struggled and succeeded against
all odds. These stories of courage, determination
and perseverance used to charge me up and
I will start working with new strength. Today
almost 4 years after the accident I am the
Managing Director of a successful software
development company and have authored 11 books.
I am quite satisfied (as satisfied
as I can be) and enjoy the work that I am
doing. The friends, the work, good books,
motivational videos, movies, etc. help in
keeping the depression at bay. Only when one
doesn’t have anything to do depression sets
in. I am not saying that, I don’t get depressed.
Occasionally I do. When I see people riding
bikes, climbing stairs, doing things that
I am unable to do, I feel sad. Sometimes I
cry. In fact, it helps in clearing the mind.
But in my viewpoint, the occasional ‘bouts
of depression’ is a natural process. If one
has suffered such a lot and still doesn’t
feel depressed then he may be having a mental
problem.
But mind is more powerful than
the body and there are no wounds that time
can’t heal. When I was in the hospital one
of the doctors gave me a book by Gorgdan McDonald,
‘Ordering your Private World’. The book is
about how life can be made enjoyable, peaceful,
comfortable and worth living by making ones
private world (mind) in order. That book has
helped me a lot in attaining self-discipline
and courage and has taught me to handle frustrations
and depressions.
Another thing that has helped
me in continuing the fight was a piece of
poetry and an article which came in the Reader’s
Digest. First the poem. It is ‘Don’t
Quit’ by C. W. Longenecker. The article
I am referring came in the Reader’s Digest
September 1994 issue. It was titled ‘Lessons
my children taught me’ by Chang Hsiao-Feng.
In that article, she writes about adversity
" When God closes all doors, He opens a window.
Often we spend so much energy banging on closed
doors that we forget to feel and enjoy the
breeze coming through the open window." Now
I am learning to enjoy the breeze coming through
the window.
(End)
