How does one cope with a situation when one is suddenly left with one functional hand.
The evening before Diwali, an accident with a cracker, boom, and it burst with full force, hitting my left palm and tearing away the top layer of the skin. When it happened, the bomb blast seemed like a (real) bomb blast. There was smoke all around, and for a few seconds, i could not see anything. I thought i had lost my vision. A while later, though, i started seeing stuff.
Some tissues underneath the skin on the palm got burnt as well. I screamed the loudest i ever had. Rushed to a tap. Put the hand under water. It seemed there was an exploding volcano inside. Ice cold water would be the only way i would stop screaming. And this continued for a few hours. Hand started getting swollen. osmosis, perhaps. Liberal doses of Silver nitrate.
Doctor said it would take at least ten days to be functional. The full recovery could take a month.
After the shock and the heat and the doctor came the next phase. The burn had rendered the left hand unusable.
Welcome to the one handed world.
Eating, washing, cleaning, driving all became major issues, each of which required improvisation. Some, like driving, had to be foregone. Many other things that i had always taken for granted became a massive challenge.
Including, how would i burst crackers the next day, Diwali.
Thank God my Blackberry has distinct and elevated keys. Had i been on a pure touch phone, things would have been very different. .
In a couple of days, newer friends emerge. Teeth, elbow, knuckles . These guys start pitching in. Silver nitrate facilitates.
A few days down the line, the left hand starts coming back into action.
Now, it is almost all back, with a few scaly layers being irritants.
As Mastercard might say-
Crackers- $ 100
Doctor and meccicines- $ 60
To be a 'leftist' again - Priceless
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