Sharad was the COO at Institute of Product Leadership and had the sort of life that one would dream off. His days always started with zeal and enthusiasm and this day was no different. As he parked his vehicle and decided to board the BMTC Volvo to his destination, he had no inkling of what was to come. But no sooner had he boarded the bus, his life changed. His phone beeped and he answered it. His mouth was open and he tried to speak but he sensed a problem, the words refused to come out. He felt an intense pain the vocal chords as if he were being choked. His facial muscles contorted and he felt terribly weak. He immediately got out of the bus and somehow fetched a glass of water from a local Andhra, through gestures. He tried to speak but failed again. As instructed by his wife, he travelled his way back home.
Kalpana, Archana’s (Sharad’s wife) cousin, who was a doctor working Appollo hospital, was consulted immediately and she suspected it to be a stroke. Archana and Taru (her friend) drove to the bus station, picked Sharad and rushed him to Apollo. It was an insane drive. Sharad was flummoxed at the situation and Archana was totally panic-stricken and driving in frenzy. Sharad tried to calm her down as he had a strange confidence of not being into any clinically significant condition.
But Sharad did have a medical history. His Blood Pressure was not normal and he was placed on medication. But look most of us, he was wayward about sticking to it. He also believed that any ailment could be tackled through a strict exercise regimen and a healthy dose of meditation. But this aversion to medication causing such repercussions had never occurred to him.
Sharad was well versed in various languages; Marathi, Kannada, Telegu, Hindi and English. He was a fitness freak and used to exercise regularly, even visiting the gym twice. His loved experimenting with his exercise regimen; sometimes swimming 20 laps a day, breaking into a 3 km run apart from the weights at the gym. He had also been taking Tai Chi classes for almost 4 years. Someone on this schedule for the past 9 years encountering such a situation. Unfathomable, right?
The scene at Appollo was tense. Doctors parading around with their stethoscopes, nurses were carrying stretchers. Sharad was made to sit on one of them and an injection was pushed into his muscle which made him lose consciousness.
An emergency operation was conducted, it was successful but all was not fine. His brain got operated on and the scalp bore the brunt of 23 stitches that followed. But the worst of it was him not being able to speak for the next 9 months. His mind was perplexed, filled with frustration, bitterness and even suicidal tendencies. As a corporate sales professional, he talked for a living. To not be able to do that for the most basic things like summoning his 8-year old son tore him.
For the most part, of the first six months, he used to lock himself in his room.
Bur somehow, he chose not to give up, mostly for his son, wife, parents and his friends. Today, Sharad is one among those brave people who challenged death and defeated it. He thinks that one of the very strongest reasons to live was he, himself. His story was about his sheer willpower and the desire to live.
It was Sharad's speech therapist who first suggested that he wrote a book and later coaxed him into it. It was very difficult to start off, but once started he didn’t look back. Sharad has released his book
"An incredible journey from Stroke to Recovery" in Amazon and kindle. The book educates people on insights of stroke and the book is distributed for free to the stroke fighters in NIMHANS. All credits to the fighter in him, Sharad is today back to his normal exercise regimen and is able to do all sorts of possible work by himself. But there are still traces of the old condition. Sharad, as a part of the treatment, is advised to stick to one language. Hard for a polyglot, but I’m sure that he will be back voicing out lines in five different languages very soon. He is appointed as a consultant in Technotree Foundation recently.
Sharad was a survivor in the true sense, someone who not only fought but survived in a beautiful manner. After the success of his first book, he is writing his second book now which will be in the hands of the readers very soon. Unwind-Allaboutyou wishes all the very best to Sharad for the rest of the life ahead.
