EJJI'S CHARMED LIFE- THE SECOND COMING
EJJI'S CHARMED LIFE- THE SECOND COMING
My charmed life has been a matter of speculation, discussion, analysis and of course vehement disapproval. Who would approve in public a life like what I lead, when in fact the truth is that any ordinary human being would love to do what I have done, am doing and will do in future. After all, conforming to societal norms demands condemnation from purists. Approval would make you a societal pariah. Sour grapes! But I do know a few who approve my style of living and have even tried to live that way, some with total success, most unfortunately victims of attempted failure!
I was quite aware that I was going to have a massive cardiac problem. Reasons? Doing the best things in life that are mostly illegal, immoral or life threatening! Smoking, eating all sorts of foods contra-indicated for good cardiac health, living life dangerously, and other similar sins that make life worth the while.
In 2006, I did find that I had a few blocks in my arteries, with a maximum blockage of 30 to 40%. I was on cholesterol reducing and cardiac health friendly drugs. It was a waste of money, as I countered all the benefits of this medication with the sinful style of living mentioned above. So you may say that I was prepared for the final countdown.
It was no surprise that under extreme physical and mental pressures, I had text book symptoms of angina pains more than a dozen times in the last 3 years. That in no way stopped my doing things I should not do. Brinkmanship to the chore, and a total faith in luck! Call it foolhardy too.
In the last 3 years, with all these cardiac problems, I have done the Budapest Bamako Car Rally, driven to Timbuktu, driven tens of thousands of miles all over India, visited some of the most inaccessible and least known places in India, and of course done a fair bit of eating exotic and cardiac-unhealthy foods all the time washing the whole experience down with good vodka, rum and packets of Classic Mild cigarettes. What more do I deserve than a multiple arterial block requiring immediate bye-pass surgery.
In November and December 2009, I was with Mahesh Sriram and his friends in the best trip of my lifetime inside
At the same time when this group left Guwahati, Shyamala and Bhamini arrived to join me on the second leg of my trip which was with my buddies from Guwahati. This trip by road crisscrossed Nagaland, Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and there was no road we did not drive on and no village/town we did not visit, From Cherapunji in Meghalaya, Khonoma Heritage Village in Nagaland to Tawang, Sela Pass elevation 13750 feet and “Y Point” (located about 37 km from Tawang at the border with China, elevation 14,615 feet) in Arunachal Pradesh. And nothing happened to me, but for mild discomfort due to rarefied atmosphere. But I knew it was coming! See pictures at www.mediafire.com/ejji by opening the folder named "Ejji, Shyamala, Bhamini in North East".
As soon as I got back to Chennai on 20th December 2009, I had already self-diagnosed my problem. I arranged for an angiogram to be done. It showed 5 calcareous blocks in my arteries, two of them 92-95% blocked!!! It was decided on the spot to go in for a cardiac bye-pass surgery. The procedure was fixed for 5th Jan 2010 and three grafts were fixed, one using the mammary artery, and 2 pieces of veins from my left leg.
And here I was walking around from day 4, and back home on day 7. If this isn’t a charmed life, what is! That according to me is the difference between ‘living’ and ‘existing’.
See pictures of my surgical adventure at http://picasaweb.google.com/ejjiumamahesh/EjjiSCharmedLifeTheSecondComing#

