Just another story on radio, while driving to work...wait, just another??

Today was just another day of driving to work. It was one of the days when I was not on any call due to a sore throat and hence was on the radio. Usually, I do not focus on the ads as much and they keep playing at the background as our minds play around with various passing thoughts like hide and seek with our preoccupied and alert mind.

I was just about a kilometer away from office when something caught my attention.

The RJ had just posed a question to the guest on the show; he said, “You lost both your arms as at the age of 7 years, can you share how all that happened?”.

The guy on the other side, the guest of course, was very calm and positive as nothing has ever happened. It interested me more. Now what he started sharing, really gripped me. He said he and his friends, during childhood, would play with random things around. It would have been the same story with all of us- we would find anything and everything to amuse us at that age.

He continued to share that his friend was fond of playing with the guard wire which would hang near the high- tension wires in his colony. It seemed a lot of fun and one day this gentleman also, as a 7 year old, decided to take part in this risky game which seemed like a lot of fun!

They started swinging like those in the circus acts and were thoroughly enjoying the tenacity in the wire which made the swing much more fun. Now when all this was taking place, the friend suddenly decided to let go off his own hand from the wire and in that fraction of a second, the sudden release of weight caused the kids to get catapulted out and get thrown at the high- tension wires above- they held those wires for support out of reflex but those wires were carrying electricity of 11,000 volts!?

The friend’s body got completely electrocuted and charred and this person lost his hands forever!

It sent shivers down my spine as I am a mother to a 9 and half year old and it did hit me hard and I was still for a moment.

But there was so much clam in this person’s voice as he narrated that soon I was transported back to the present situation.

I had parked my car by now and the RJ took over.

He said that this gentleman did not stop living his life. He is the first Indian, without arms, to have a driving license as he has proven to the authorities that he can drive with his legs. He has also authored a book and it’s called- Look Ma, no hands!!

What a shaking, introspective start to the day which only made me all the more grateful of the life I had.

Respect and more power to his parents, who never made him feel like he lacks anything, even for a moment.

A sudden story, lot of validation of how much we have, how misfortune strikes people, how normal things of life is only a dream for others. Life is such a?different script for each and everyone of us.

Be there, Be kind, Value goodness over cool-ness, Value genuine people in your lives- Just be more humane!

Kudos to you #VikramAgnihotri, a double arm amputee and a racing driver!!

Also, a big shout out to our radio channels for bringing to us such incredible life stories!?

-By Priyanka Das.