A Second Chance

The birth of a child is the happiest and most beautiful day for the parents and the whole family. My birth was a little more special and bought additional joy to my family because I was the only girl child born after three generations. My four big brothers were just as excited as my grandparents and my parents to have a sister. My mother always wanted a girl, and my father was so confident that he had already decided on my name before my birth.
As I was the only girl in my family, they wanted to celebrate and immediately planned a trip to my native place, Delhi. As per the formalities, I had to go for a check-up prior to travelling to ensure that it was safe. But two words pronounced by the doctor – stress echo – were enough to take away anybody’s breath. A stress echo test is made to identify coronary artery blockages and diagnose heart patients. My family’s jubilation soon turned to anxious worry. Their worst fears were realised when the test results were handed out to my parents. My heart was abnormal and would require immediate surgery. Soon after my birth, I was a heart patient.
Our doctor was not ready to perform a surgery on me as I was underage as well as underweight, which required specialised care. I was taken to Delhi where I was admitted into the All India Medical Institute for 8 days. As I was only 5 months old, I was on my mother’s feed; but the doctor’s strictly warned that I was not to have any salt. Due to these conditions, my mother ate her food without salt for two months, a sacrifice that I will always remember. I was successfully operated on the 10th of August, 1993. I spent four months in Delhi with my maternal family and flew back to Mumbai as a healthy and a normal child.
This early surgery has left its mark on me through my life. I have become aware of the power of second chances and never want to waste the one I have been given. I was inspired by my mother to become a leader. And that is what happened to me even as a child – I was the class leader from the play group till the fifth standard. I won many school and interschool singing, drawing, debates and elocution competitions and I was always the ranker of my class. Dancing and music were also very close to my heart. In the third standard, I started learning Kathak at which I excelled under the guidance of my teacher, Madhurita Sarang. In my first interstate under-12 dance competition, I ranked third. At the age of nine, I started learning classical music under the guidance of Shri Kishna Rai Soni and trained my voice for six years under him. Having a passion to not give up thanks to my second chance has helped to train myself and excel.
I passed out my SSC from the reputed Auxilium Convent High School and sought admission in Ruia College. Here, I took part in the Maharashtra Utsav where I won the third prize in Rajasthani folk singing. Now, I am making my future doing my Bachelor’s in Mass Media from Ruia College and learning Animation from the Frameboxx institute.
I still have these moments when I am under a lot of stress and I feel like can’t overcome my problems. I feel overwhelmed and fall sick quite easily. I have to go for regular checkups and be conscious of my health as my heart is a vulnerable organ for life. I can’t run beyond a limit; after a while, my lips turn blue and my body becomes cold. But I remember who I am now – a very well-settled and multi-talented person. The credit for my overcoming my fear of being ill and for making the most of my life and getting my talent out there to show to the world goes to my mother for being so supportive and caring. And I hope to continue to shine in the same manner in my future.

Volume 1 Issue 7