JOIN USAfter approximately one-hour-forty-five minutes after an operation by two doctors helped by four nurses at a private hospital -- Suresh, my roommate, was shifted to a general ward at 4 am on that Sunday. He had 21 stitches on the right sole, a dislocated shoulder (needing another operation latter in the day) and a deep cut on his face. His two-wheeler had bumped into a speeding ambulance.
His injuries were less compared to his colleague, the pillion rider, who sustained three fractures on right leg, four of his upper teeth knocked out and the forehead had a deep wound, and above all the metal shock of meeting with an accident left him unable to recognise anyone They were riding home after finishing the night shift at 1.30 am.
Police officials and the hospital staff told me that their survival was nothing less than a miracle.
With all sympathy I sat next to Suresh in the general ward, held his hand and tried to console him: ‘nothing to worry, you will be alright within a few days.’ He was silent. I thought the pain and injections made him so, but after a few minutes he said, ‘Can you update my Facebook status message saying I met with an accident?’
‘Write on my wall that Suresh met with an accident. He crashed into an ambulance -- got 21 stitches on his leg and a broken shoulder.’ Reaction to that request was beyond my senses.
He was not done with that yet. ‘All my plans for Valentine’s Day crashed. The Bryan Adams show, college reunion... now I can’t attend any of them. You add even this to my Facebook wall,’ he said with a pinch of pain in his voice.
The first thing that struck me at his request was the SMS joke of a criminal sentenced to gallows. He was asked by the jail in-charge as to what his last wish was. The criminal replied ‘I want to update my facebook status as- Dead.’
I was irked by my friends weird wish. While I spent a sleepless night at the hospital worrying about him, he was thinking of a status message for Facebook. When asked why he wanted to post a message, he said: ‘For sympathy. My Girl friend(s) will feel sympathetic about me and will call. You never know what will happen next!’