First Night at School

Dear Saikors,

Very recently, I was in an Intensive care Unit, more precisely an ICCU. The Doctors had some problems with my heart and put me in there.

My protests that I can walk were turned down and I was very embarrassed, when I was taken on a stretcher into a room, the AC was purring, the one bed was neatly laid in fresh white sheets. But the room had a repulsive distinct chemical smell.

It was as if the doctors there, wanted to conduct a timing rehearsal; there was a flurry of activity all around me. To stop my protests that I was o.k., first thing a nurse did was to put an oxygen mask over my face. One sweet looking nurse opened the buttons of my shirt and started fixing a lot of wires all over my body. Another was fixing an intravenous to my right hand, yet another was fixing something that looked like hanger clips to my left hand, which lead to various electronic machines. In 3 minutes, the doctor walked in and asked “All set?” and switched something on and all the machines around came to life making strange beeps.

“How are you Mr. Revi?” The doc asked me in his Tamilian accent, his face so close to me that his nose touched my O2 mask. But how could I answer? I just raised my eyebrows and then wondered what signal he took it as.

“Don’t worry you will be fine, we will put you to sleep now.”

That was when it struck me like a jolt of lightening. Sleep? Will I be able to see the world again? Will I survive?

The Doc was injecting something, and I knew I had very little time before I loose my senses.

I wanted to recollect my total life before I fall asleep. The entire 46 years in 3 minutes time? First it was my family, my children, parents, brothers and sisters, friends, my school life, college life, marriage, the happy moments with my children. It is very strange, how our mind can condense 46 years into such small time and I still had some to spare.

I was a little scared, frankly, very scared, as scared as a small boy on his first night at school.

I was 10 years old then. My dad left me in the evening after finishing all formalities of admission in our school. All went well until the time to put off the lights at night. My bed was sixth from the door in Gupta house. And I was terribly scared. Everything around me was new to me, the smell, the sounds and a dreadful feeling of loneliness. Of course there were always stories circulated of haunted places. The older kids always loved to terrorize the younger ones by whispering tales of ghosts sliding through the walls and flirting across the floor and into the bathrooms. Many believed these stories, I being one of them.

The strange sounds of insects and distant barking of dogs made me tenser. I tucked in my mosquito net and covered myself from head to toe. But that night I was out of luck. I had to fight a battle with my bladder and unfortunately I was going to lose. I simply had to go to the bathroom.

I removed the covers over my face, looked around, every thing was quite except the rustling sounds of mosquito nets under the fans. The shadows looked eerie.

My bladder was almost unbearably full. I took the courage, got down from my bed and ran to the bathrooms. Remember, those days there was no wall between the dormitory and the bathroom and it was even more scary.

As soon as I opened the door of the first toilet (there were no urinals then), I heard some strange sound, a GROAK (a combination of a grunt and a croak). My legs started to tremble but I managed to jump inside and slam the door shut. I emptied my bladder in a false sense of security in the closed toilet,

Then, I heard footsteps outside. Suddenly terrified, I jerked my legs up and tried to pretend I wasn’t in the room. I heard a door open, heard the footsteps continue across the floor to the sinks. The water came on and then a toilet door creaked open. I was shaking, I had no idea why, but I knew I needed to get out of there. Slowly I pulled my shorts up and stepped out. I looked around, I didn’t see anyone. Then I heard a toilet flush, but the doors of the toilet were open. I think I stood there for a few seconds, stunned and in shock. My mind simply refused to process the information. I was cold but sweating. All of a sudden I could move, and I did, running for my bed and literally tearing the net off. I covered myself from head to toe again. I could feel my pillow wet with sweat. I was trembling.

I heard foot steps again, coming closer to my bed, closer; Stop near my bed. I could sense someone standing beside my bed. He/She/It was trying to enter my net. I was sure it was a ghost after me. My body, literally shaking from head to toe. I jerked open the sheet over my face. It was Mr. Ranganathan, our house master tucking my net in.

“Revi, are you alright?”

“Relax Mr. Revi, I just gave you a sedative injection, have a sound sleep” the doc said.

 ZZZZzzzzzzzz.

Ravi.T (813)