Thirst!

Thirst! That's all, just the raw desire to have water run down your throat. If you've read about my description of the moments after the accident, you'd remember that I cried for water. But from then on, right upto the moment I opened my eyes, my thrist hadn't been quenched. And it wasn't for a few more weeks.

I longed to drink juices. I could only think of all the wonderful tastey drinks that I had in the recent past and satisfy my senses. During those weeks my thirst had reached so desperate levels that the mere thought of gulping water down my throat gave me immense pleasure. 

As a kid one of the parts of the Bible that really scared me to the core was the parable of 'The Rich Man and Lazarus'. Apart from the message Jesus wished to convey, the aspects of the parable that freaked me out was the way in which it described hell. 

The rich man who lived a luxurious life in which he had no concern for the less fortunate, was thrown in hell. But the poor begger Lazarus, who ate of the crumbs that fell off the rich mans table went to heaven. From hell the rich man looks up and sees Lazarus standing beside Father Abraham. Suffering from thirst in the burning fires of hell, the rich man asks Father Abraham to send Lazarus with a finger dipped in water, so that he can cool the rich mans tongue. But he cannot recieve even that much in hell. Father Abraham declines.

In the ICU the thirst I had was similar to what the rich man felt. I asked the nurses to do very little as to give me water from the cap of a bottle or to wet my tongue. But I recieved neither. Thanks to God, those sufferings were only for a matter of a few weeks, and not as the eternal suffering as hell. 

Once they changed me to the second tracheostomy tube in was allowed to finally drink water. It was such a huge relief when I gulped my first cup of orange juice. Tender coconut water and watermelon juice I drank to my fill. I really cannot describe the happiness I felt as I quenched my thirst.

Now it's over a year and a couple of months since those events. I have water and juices in abundance. As I write this post, I'm reminded well of the times when I suffered without something as simple and easily available as water. I guess every time I am thirsty, I should count the water that I drink as a blessing from God.