29th March 1996. 22 years to the day and time when I had a near fatal motorcycle accident almost losing a leg and an eye. Besides being out of action nearly 6 months. When doctors said I'd never be able to walk straight, squat or sit cross legged.
Brings back memories of how my then girlfriend, now wife Shital Mehta still hung in there, didn't give up on me or dump me and would come to see me at the hospital in between her CA exams. How my dad took a break from work for a few months to see me through multiple surgeries. How my mom told the doctor he's an idiot and told him I'm gonna run, forget walk, out of the hospital. How my colleague and brother Azhar Shamim covered for me at work (back at SSC&B Lintas) and ensured I wasn't missed - I know that must have been hard. How my pal and brother from a different mother Jehil Thakkar watched out for my parents, aunt, Shital when news of the accident first broke and of course got me a fresh chaddar as the gandus at the public hospital [Topiwala Nair Medical College - full topi man!] I had to check in to as it was a hit & run police case insisted on stripping me and keeping me nanga in my chads there - thank God there were no camphones then else he'd probably have invented Instagram just to upload my pic. With a Valencia filter. How my haraami friend Sandeep Jain cried cause he had just relocated to the US and couldn't be here.
And how all the prayers, best wishes, bad jokes - including ghastly accident stories they insisted on telling me - yeah Chintamani Agashe that was you - and love of some of my closest friends Siddharth Mehta Anand Nemani Aditya Vikram Somani Suresh Chablani, Vivek Kothari & Dharmangi Sonawala's brother Ashish among others got me through and back. How a random stranger - Shekhar - who had stopped to pee decided to help me off the road (though I'm not sure if he'd washed his hands first) unlike regular passersby who probably wouldn't want any part of this mess. We are still in touch and great family friends. He's in the white pyjamas in this picture, runs a flour mill at Napean Sea Road and still has the happiest smile ever when you meet him.
We got the number of the car and tracked the owner down but never did manage to get anything out of that. And it's cool. I've made peace with that, forgiven him as he probably has erectile dysfunction anyway due to bad karma - his bike's never getting outta neutral!
I can squat, sit cross-legged but I still can't run - but that's out of choice.
And now I'm not allowed on a bike - that's out of Shital 's choice.
I have a really cool scar above my eye - that is a great conversation starter when I can do my Heath Ledger/ Joker imitation - you know how I got this?
But the eye, the leg and the love for life, friends, family and the love of my life - my wife - are still intact.
Ride on!
Brings back memories of how my then girlfriend, now wife Shital Mehta still hung in there, didn't give up on me or dump me and would come to see me at the hospital in between her CA exams. How my dad took a break from work for a few months to see me through multiple surgeries. How my mom told the doctor he's an idiot and told him I'm gonna run, forget walk, out of the hospital. How my colleague and brother Azhar Shamim covered for me at work (back at SSC&B Lintas) and ensured I wasn't missed - I know that must have been hard. How my pal and brother from a different mother Jehil Thakkar watched out for my parents, aunt, Shital when news of the accident first broke and of course got me a fresh chaddar as the gandus at the public hospital [Topiwala Nair Medical College - full topi man!] I had to check in to as it was a hit & run police case insisted on stripping me and keeping me nanga in my chads there - thank God there were no camphones then else he'd probably have invented Instagram just to upload my pic. With a Valencia filter. How my haraami friend Sandeep Jain cried cause he had just relocated to the US and couldn't be here.
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| Me with my sexy leg, Shekhar in the white pyjamas with his son who's now a laywer, daughter and wife Sujata. |
We got the number of the car and tracked the owner down but never did manage to get anything out of that. And it's cool. I've made peace with that, forgiven him as he probably has erectile dysfunction anyway due to bad karma - his bike's never getting outta neutral!
I can squat, sit cross-legged but I still can't run - but that's out of choice.
And now I'm not allowed on a bike - that's out of Shital 's choice.
I have a really cool scar above my eye - that is a great conversation starter when I can do my Heath Ledger/ Joker imitation - you know how I got this?
But the eye, the leg and the love for life, friends, family and the love of my life - my wife - are still intact.
Ride on!
