Concern

“How is your health?” my mother enquired over the phone. I would have laughed and given her the same stereotype answer had it been some different time. I had a bout with fever 4-5 days before the conversation and I knew that she had her own anxiety over the health of her child. So I explained to her my condition (It was not easy to say that even though the fever is gone, I spent the entire day in the company of body ache) and completed it with a charmer that I have started to play tennis. She would have actually smiled. I could visualize her doing the same during the conversation. “Then surely you are not in good health, at least mentally. How come a guy who runs away from anything remotely physical started playing a demanding sport like Lawn Tennis? Is everything okay?” It was my turn to smile. “Yeah” I said. “What could possibly go wrong if someone has a mother like you?” Even with this kind of banter I could never miss the concern in her tone. There was nothing new in this episode. It happens to all of us.

However there was something new related to this incident. My friends were convinced that I had Malaria.
“All your symptoms indicate to this possibility” explained one of my friends. Before I could say anything he warned me “I have my degree in Biotechnology and you have yours in Computer Science. So don’t argue. I know more than you.” Surprisingly he got support from my other friends who were hell bent on taking me to the doctor. Now a confession: though some people romance with the concept of falling ill, I hate that. I hate visiting doctors and think that I have had my share of medicines for the entire life. So whenever there is any situation like the one mentioned above I try the method of avoidance. It is a good method and mostly succeeds.
“Let us analyze the situation. I am having spurts of fever with heavy sweating and body pain. But there is no fever since morning. So let me try this one day. If the fever comes again; we are going to the doctor tomorrow. It’s a deal.” My friends agreed to that. Fortunately there was no fever and I announced that I was in good health. My friends never accepted this declaration. They thought that I was hiding my fever. They also had the argument that body pain was persisting but since I was playing tennis during that time also (I know it sounds kind of foolish) so I attributed the pain to the physical exertion. They persuaded me to visit doctor several times but to no avail. In each of those efforts I saw concern and affection.

During those days I realized that my out station friends started to call me more often. Some directly enquired on my health while others tried to play it more casual and chatted on various issues. But the increase in the frequency of their calls clearly indicated that they still have concerns for me even though I have not met many of them for years.

My brother has a different way of handling the situation. He would just ping and ask “Kaisa hai”? (How are you?). It has been his style over the years. And so we would chat on different topics and whenever we have a conversation over phone he would seldom directly asks about my health but somehow we tend to know each other well enough to guess. My father, on the other hand, periodically cautions me for maintaining good health and the instructions tend to increase during situations like this.

Why did I write this? I don’t know exactly. I have taken many things in my life as granted. The support and affection of my loved ones are among those. However I have never before thought about the effects these small gestures bring on me as a person. Sometimes I feel that when there are so many people who think about us, care for us and shower their affection and love on us what could possibly go wrong in life. Whenever I have been down, faced adversities and have tended to falter I have found these people supportive enough to see me through those tough times. This post just considers the importance of the people in my life and duly acknowledges the role played by them in shaping me as a person.