Day 6 was spent at the hospital, predominantly in the CCU, with Biji. Raj Kumari Soni was born in 1920, in the town of Kangra after the end of World War I. The daughter of Dr Bhawani Sahai Soni, a surgeon in the British Indian Army, and Smt Draupadi Devi from Bir, grew up in the Civil Hospital in Kangra where her father worked. Posted to Aden, during World War I, probably as part of the Aden Brigade, an Indian regiment, now present day Yemen, Biji's father would later on build Santosh Cottage, their home, in Kangra Town. This house was the first house to have electricity in Kangra and during Biji and Papaji's wedding in 1938 the first electric bulb in the entire Kangra Valley was lit for all the town people to witness. Biji joked that most people probably came to the wedding to see the electric bulb rather than participate in the wedding. Santosh Cottage was also the first house to have a septic tank; engineers from Calcutta came to Kangra to build the tank under Papaji's auspices. The backyard, now, has the biggest mango tree that I have ever seen and the house remains, largely unchanged, apart from a new roof, since it was first built in the 30's.
If normal humans run at a 100% Biji runs at about 115 - 120 % Her blood sugar is a bit higher than normal, her heart rate and BP are a bit higher, and the pitch of her voice is also a bit higher than usual. However, right now, her heart is beating considerably higher than the usual 115 % Right now, its running at about 175% approximately 150 beats per minute and it refuses to fall. Its been doing this for at least the last 10 days. This is the second time that she has been in the CCU in the last 3 weeks. She was in Failure when she went in, on Day 2. The decision has been made to cardiovert and as I sit in the CCU, intermittently I glance up from my book, watching her sleep with her mouth open, but not snoring. She looks gaunt and tired, but when she wakes up this time, at around 3 pm, she wants to sit up and we start talking about Himachal and her childhood. This, for me, is my favorite topic of discussion. Both Biji's and Papaji's life to me is something out of a steampunk fantasy novel. Their experiences seem far removed from my own, as if we're now living in a 'real world', whereas the one they lived in, and spent most of their time in, is somehow, removed from the present. The words 'glory days' come to mind.
In my head this is what they look like, younger, dashing, filled with life, not the aged grandparents who I know now. Heart beating its life away or hands trembling, but insistent to still use knives, despite the many cuts the fingers receive. My time spent with Biji talking about her time in Himachal is a window into my own sense of youth as much as it a window into my own sense of how I will age. At the time that Papaji was Chairman of IFCI, I've been told that they would inevitably be either at Ashoka Hotel or Oberoi - Socializing - every day - Biji would later maintain that she would get bored and Papaji, a teetotaler, I wonder what he would do, amongst a sea of people sipping their drinks? The women watching the men, sort of like a old timey cricket match.
This morning the heart that was beating at 140 is now beating at 55 in response to two life giving jolts of 150 Joules and some large doses of Amiodarone and Beta Blockers... large doses. Those individual cardiac cells, beating to the beat of their own drums, now seem to be beating in unison. The last five hours have seen my appetite return, and I've conceded that I should probably buy some pickle to take back with me to the US. I rejoin work on Day 10, the same time that the family, in Delhi, makes its way back to the crematorium and then to Haridwar to immerse Papaji's remains in the Ganga. Day 10 is important but I will not be a part of it. Such is life Papaji would say.
If normal humans run at a 100% Biji runs at about 115 - 120 % Her blood sugar is a bit higher than normal, her heart rate and BP are a bit higher, and the pitch of her voice is also a bit higher than usual. However, right now, her heart is beating considerably higher than the usual 115 % Right now, its running at about 175% approximately 150 beats per minute and it refuses to fall. Its been doing this for at least the last 10 days. This is the second time that she has been in the CCU in the last 3 weeks. She was in Failure when she went in, on Day 2. The decision has been made to cardiovert and as I sit in the CCU, intermittently I glance up from my book, watching her sleep with her mouth open, but not snoring. She looks gaunt and tired, but when she wakes up this time, at around 3 pm, she wants to sit up and we start talking about Himachal and her childhood. This, for me, is my favorite topic of discussion. Both Biji's and Papaji's life to me is something out of a steampunk fantasy novel. Their experiences seem far removed from my own, as if we're now living in a 'real world', whereas the one they lived in, and spent most of their time in, is somehow, removed from the present. The words 'glory days' come to mind.
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| Mr and Mrs Khanna with Mr Jaiswal ~ Mid 70's |
This morning the heart that was beating at 140 is now beating at 55 in response to two life giving jolts of 150 Joules and some large doses of Amiodarone and Beta Blockers... large doses. Those individual cardiac cells, beating to the beat of their own drums, now seem to be beating in unison. The last five hours have seen my appetite return, and I've conceded that I should probably buy some pickle to take back with me to the US. I rejoin work on Day 10, the same time that the family, in Delhi, makes its way back to the crematorium and then to Haridwar to immerse Papaji's remains in the Ganga. Day 10 is important but I will not be a part of it. Such is life Papaji would say.
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