Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
I could barely hear her voice, though she was visibly yelling at the driver, hand-signalling him to keep going. Yes, I was in an ambulance, the victim in a hit-and-run case.
Gasping for breath, with sunken eyes, weakened limbs, and a pale face, I was on the stretcher.
I could hear voices and noises.
“Is my time up?” I pondered, lying there.
I could feel the nurse pricking a needle into a vein on the top of my left hand. It was painless because the bleeding from the accident made every part of me, painfully numb.
Suddenly, the stretcher stops moving and everything comes to a stand still.
“We’re getting the medical team ready for you. Stay strong,” said the nurse to me. I could barely agree or disagree.
I could remember all my loved ones at once. Mom, Dad, Husband, Children, Sister… Everyone’s face passed by mine. All loving faces of family and friends. I love them all. They love me back.
I prayed silently, “God, for once, give me a chance to live. I still want to make my presence felt in the world. I still have unfinished goals and dreams to fulfill. You cannot be so unfavorable to your creations.” I could not hold back my thoughts or tears. All the while, what the nurse saw in me was an expression-less tear-marked face.
I pleaded to God, and to the traffic around me oblivious to my situation, “I might die, Please let me go.”
I had little luck. Probably, the traffic was busier than me. There are people transporting things, going to office, or heading for that very important business meeting.
I could feel the driver and the nurse trying their best to keep moving. But without much cooperation from the ‘busier’ people on the road, blocking my ambulance, I started to lose hope.
Once again I prayed silently, “Guys, I might die, Please Let Me Go First…”
Then all of a sudden, something dramatic happened. I could see that I was flying high in the air, high above everything in the world. Feeling so light, I didn’t understand why the nurse seemed to panic. Feeling so light, the traffic that blocked my way now looked very tiny. I’m now high above everything tangible in this world.
To the world, I’m now dead.
Author’s note: Thank you all the busy people who do not give way to an ambulance. You’re successful in liberating souls from the earth! This is a piece of fiction aimed at societal awareness. Let’s take an oath today to stop and let the ambulance pass… How is public behaviour regarding allowing/stalking ambulance in your city? In Hyderabad, there is certainly room for improvement. A real-life incident inspired me to write this story. Nothing in our life can be as important as saving another life by just giving them permission to move before us. Please share this message across your extended groups and save a life!
A version of this was first published here.
Image source: shutterstock
Let's make the world a better place! read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
Please enter your email address