Black Monday - The Downfall

Komal Korla a.k.a Kaylias. Yup, that's me. Just your average teenager in your average world leading an average life. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to lose. Yeah right. Who am I kidding. Average is a word I could only dream of being acquainted with. It's times like these that I look up toward the heavens and laugh! I laugh loud and I laugh hard. Am I an atheist, not at all. Am I fed up? Like you wouldn't believe.

The reason for this bitterness, you ask? The date, Wednesday, November 1st, 2006. The venue, The Dubai Modern High School campus. The time, 2:29 p.m., First Session. The day it all began. The day my life reached its ultimate low point. The day that should have never happened. Why did it happen? I don't know. How did it happen? I don't know. But, what I do know is that it was definitely unavoidable. Destiny? Who knows. Punishment from 'God' ? Maybe. The crime I committed? No idea. But please don't hesitate to enlighten me on that front.

But lets rewind a little. The time now, 1:43 p.m., First Session. Venue, the school auditorium. As school prefects our job is to send students for their respective clubs and games in an orderly fashion. Like that ever works. The NPA's (Non Prefect Association) were with us too. Frankly speaking, they deserved to be prefects as much as we did. At least most of them. The prefects scrambled onto the stage and strutted about. I stepped up to the podium and fiddled with the mic. The students stared up at me. The giggling started. Why is there always giggling when I step onto that stage? Oh right, I'm the 'funny one'. But, that day something felt right (Man, I have bad intuition). I felt this sudden emotionally charged and empowering speech formulating in my head. I gave my audience a confident look and before I knew it I was preaching away on the microphone. That day is quite hazy and I can barely recall what happened. All I can remember is I was saying some crap about how we should respect one another and how shouting at them is something I didn't like. Lame, no doubt. But, necessary all the same. Anyways, it helped. Dispersion was a breeze. Kudos to me then. JRod congratulated me on my fab speech. We hugged and I smiled. I felt good. I felt in charge of my life. Something I hadn't felt in a long time.

Mr. Gomes asked me to help some students cross the street and go to the gym for basketball. I watched as they scurried off in the direction of the gymnasium waving goodbye. I chuckled to myself and a feeling of satisfaction swept over me. I had done my duty. Time to get back to our play practice. That's right the girls vs. boys play showdown. The winner would represent Modern at the Varkey Inter School Play Competition. Sweet! But, Fate had other plans for me. I headed back to the auditorium.

Enter Bajpai. My good friend and partner in crime. With her jumper on and a straight face, she approached me. We knew we had to get started on the play and the plan was that today we would. For real this time. We were both charged up and high on life. Ready to kick ass! But, before that I needed to make copies of the new and improved script I had been working on. Who to give it to, though? At that point, as if reading my mind, 'Romeo' and 'Bolingbroke' appeared. Aimlessly loitering about. Perfect! 'God' seemed to be on my side at that point. Boy, was I fooled.

"Hey guys could you make 10 copies of these and meet us back at our practice KG classroom? We'll get the rest of the gang and see you there."

We split. Them to the photocopying room and us to the field to find 'the Servant' . The field was buzzing with the sound of our schools young athletes practicing for upcoming tournaments. We decided to start interrogating the 'high jump' girls. Yet another giggling bunch. I approached them and there she was. We had found our 'servant'. We headed towards the coach. I muttered some rubbish about the practice. Coach convinced. Next step find the others. As we started to leave I turned to listen to something the 'servant' was telling Bajpai and me. And that was the first big mistake I made that day. BANG!! Straight into the pillar. Ouch, but thank God for the protective cushioning. Bajpai and servant gave me a look of "Dude, be careful". Thanks Guys, I will. Yeah Right. Servant runs off saying she wants to try the hurdles before practice. Fine. We'll chill till then. Maybe check out those copies.

Next stop. The photocopy room. Note to self: Avoid Murthy. We should have started the practice by now. Time, 2:18 p.m. First Session. We walked in the sweltering heat with jumper and blazer on. Bajpai started talking about stuff and I listened. It's all a bit vague now. Then I talked and she listened. And we soon reached the room. Empty. They must have gone to the KG classroom. We left. The Sun was merciless. We walked through the quadrangle. Sweating. A lot. I finally had the sense to take my blazer off. We entered the cool corridor. Ahh shade at last.

Enter Anushweta. 7th Grader and fellow Student Council member last year. Smart kid. Good kid. She was holding a hula hoop. I forget what she said. But, after she came back the second time, Bajpai tried the hula hoop. She was good. Exit Anushweta. We were still feeling pretty hot. In fact, the humidity was killing. I needed an A.C. and I needed it now! Our best bet was the KG classroom in front of us. We charged inside. The cool air hit us and stung our faces. Oh Sweet Heaven! I ran closer toward the A.C and smiled. More giggling. I looked away from the A.C. Anushweta and a gang of girls were inside. The Aerobics Club. Cool. Bajpai and I decided that we would sit in here for a while to cool off at least. We sat on the tiny desks and loosened our ties. Things looked good and felt good. But, they weren't. Not at all. We started chatting with Anushweta about random things. It was fun while it lasted. Then my second mistake. The biggest of them all. Anushweta and another girl held a skipping rope from end to end and asked me to limbo. I said no and grinned. Bajpai and the others joined in persuading me to go ahead with it. I stuck by my initial answer. So did they. I looked at Bajpai. It struck me.

"I'll go if you go!"

Bajpai: No way!

"I dare you!"

If there's one thing both Bajpai and I can't do it's chicken out of a dare. She got up and we looked at each other. The game was on! We started. Got through the first round. We stopped. We started again! Successfully finished 3 rounds. We took a break. Should have stopped. But, we didn't. We fooled around a bit. Bajpai and I tried some matrix moves. Next, some more limbo. Bad idea. Anushweta stretched the rope. The game had begun again only to end in disaster. I stared hard at the rope. I was ready to restart this game with a bang! Boy, was I right! I bent backwards and the next thing I knew the rope fell on my face. I was caught off guard. Fell straight down and banged my head hard on the floor. THUD. 2:29 p.m., First Session. How did that rope fall? How did I fall? Everything went black. Luckily Bajpai shook me out of it. I felt dizzy and dazed. The pain was excruciating. They helped me up. I was lost. I felt nauseous, sweaty and giddy. Someone even asked if I was just joking. No. Obviously not. No one could have faked that fall. They sat me down on the tiny desk. Bajpai on my right and Anushweta on my left. Both held my hand and told me to relax. I felt better. However, that was short-lived. Suddenly I was highly confused. Where was I? What happened? Somebody help me. Questions and random thoughts filled my head. I looked around rapidly. Something was wrong. The darkness was returning. I felt light-headed and sick to my stomach.

"Guys I don't know what's going on. I feel weird. I've never felt like this before. I feel dizzy..."

I had barely finished talking. Bajpai and Anushweta immediately helped me up and rushed me to the clinic. The other people close behind. Both of them at my side. Holding my hands. With every step I took I was losing it. My consciousness. My sanity. I felt like I was dying. My life was draining out of my body. It felt awful. Frightening almost. I told them to stop for a minute. I couldn't go on. They didn't listen. I tried again. The motion was too much. I was losing touch with reality. Someone ran forward and informed the nurse. She came out with a wheelchair. A maid took Anushwetas hand out of mine and took over. Bajpai was still there. I finally reached the wheelchair. At last! I plonked down. Relief. But, only for a second. The sick feeling swept over me again. This time it was much worse. I was wheeled into the clinic. I tried to call Bajpai with me. I was losing consciousness. I was scared. I saw Anushweta rush up the staircase. She told Bajpai:

"Stay with Komal. I'm going to call her sister."

The clinic door closed. The doctor rushed out. By now I was barely awake. I was made to lie down on the bed. At last, a bed. Didn't really help, though. I was breathing fast and I was breathing hard. It was hard for me to move or say anything. Enter Mrs. Murthy, our Supervisor. She ordered the doctor to check my blood pressure. Somewhere in the clinic I heard the nurse on the phone:

"Hello, Kaumal's mother? I y'am calling from the Madurn Hieeee School Cleenic"

And then suddenly, the darkness took over.

By, the time I regained consciousness I saw Mrs. Sara Singh and Mrs. Reshmi Menon standing at the side of the bed. They had looks of pity on their faces. They tried talking. I was groaning and could barely speak. I was feeling drugged. The doctor gave me a Brufen. I closed my eyes. I opened them again. Enter my mom. "Again?" She asked sadly. "Come on, lets get you home."

Enter Juhi, Avani and Dhwani. I could barely see or do anything for that matter. I just squinted and groaned. Hand on my head. There was a bump. A big one. The Brufen wasn't helping. Juhi tried speaking to me. I barely replied. All I could say was tell Mrs. Murthy we were practicing. She tried to make me laugh. Didn't help. Thanks, though. She left. I blacked out again. Woke up in the car. The nurse slammed the door. Some kids saw me and whispered..."There's Komal!"

My driver started the engine and we left the building. I lay down in my moms lap. I listened to the low drone of the engine and soon the darkness returned. Out cold again. The consequences of this one little fall were huge. It's times like these that one begins to question faith. You can't help but wonder...Is there really a 'God'? What followed was a series of Doctors appointments, tests and me living my life for a long time as a vegetable. One that could bathe and stuff, though. Yeah, I have this thing about being clean no matter what. Life was miserable. Bajpai called a number of times. When no one was home I couldn't move to answer the phone. When they were there was no point as I couldn't talk anyway. Life sucked. I sucked. T.V sucked. 50 odd channels and nothing good coming on a single one! Unbelievable. I would be drugged and out of it most of the time. Sleep. Wake up. Bathe. Sleep. That was my life. I couldn't even eat. I felt too damn sick. As for the pain. Unbearable and constant. Bathing would make me weaker. But, I wouldn't stop. Not ever. I hated what had happened. I couldn't move. I could only stare. and blink. And stare and breathe. But, soon that was a problem as well. Suddenly, I would jump out of bed with a start. My lungs would fail me. I would suddenly stop breathing. Then after much panic would start again. My parents were worried sick. My neck was stiff. I was incapable of doing anything!

That's when my parents arranged a series of checkups...Abroad. After my appendicitis incident, my parents stopped trusting Dubai Doctors. They called Delhi. They called Texas. Done. My mom was going for a wedding to Texas later. If need be she would arrange for my ticket. I would see the doctor there. Everything was set. They got permission. They booked my ticket to Delhi. Business Class as usual. This time I needed the leg space. My mom packed her bags. Packed my bags. My dad packed his bags. Checked my bags. We were set. Disha, my sister wanted to come. Fat chance. In our family missing school unless absolutely necessary is not an option. She stayed. We left.

As we drove towards the airport, I thought to myself. Why me? Why now? What would happen next? From here where? I would have to wait and see. I would recover soon enough I'm sure. It's just bang on my head. A week maybe two. I'll be better and doing my play very soon. Exams were close. I would study. I would apply to colleges. I would lead my normal life again. But, 'God' had other plans for me. Plans I couldn't have expected even as a worst case scenario. I stared out of the cab window and watched the buildings go by. And somewhere along the way I blacked out yet again.

Note: Definitely not my usual humorous style. But I do believe that a blog is a place to vent and I desperately needed the release. Sorry, if I disappointed any readers.