A saying in malayalam goes like this :"Even ambrosia turns into poison when taken in excess"..(Sorry for my underdeveloped skills in translation..the original saying is "adhikamayal amrithum visham")..I must have come across it at least a hundred times in my short depressing life.But never realised the enormity of the literal meaning till recently.
Few days back, i was enjoying an evening leisure after a really crappy examination in front of the PC and fighting with my sister over things that seem utterly irrelevant compared to what happened minutes later.My 80 year old grandmother was in front of the TV for her daily dose of serials. Everyday she sits in front of it from 6.30 P.M. to 10 P.M. and we leave her alone to dwell in her own world of 'Mega' serials.
At some point of time,at which both me and my sister were totally engrossed in our own worlds, a scream fell into my ears..it was rather like some body being chocked..My brain, subjected to years of 'noise' from the TV, ignored it for a whole minute (a most regretted whole minute ) until curiosity took over and i decided to turn around.
The second i realised the strange noise was coming from my grandmother, time froze and the world went mute..i could see her arching her body and going rigid, as if she was hit by an invisible bullet...As i tried to dash towards her to stop her from hitting the floor, it felt as if i was walking through water..As if i was trapped in some kind of glitch in the time space continuum...i don't remember screaming out for my sister or throwing away my mobile (my most priced possession )so that i could hold my gran..she gasped and wriggled in my arms..you think watching hours and hours of tragedies and horror movies would prepare you to handle stuff like this...but it was so damn scary.
I cursed my incapability in driving the car with our guidance (translated to am a scaredy-cat)
I cursed the stupidity of my parents to buy a house so far away from humanity.
I cursed the we-don't-socialise-with-the-neighbours attitude drilled into me.
After half an hour (which felt like a decade..i know how cliched these dialogues sound..but it really did) as she was rushed into the hospital I was cursing that one minute of carelessness..
After two long days in the ICU, gran was diagnosed with an inflammation in the brain caused by high sodium level...plainly saying, from excess intake of salt..Gran had been putting her own measure of salt into what ever she ate , because she can no longer sense the food the way we do..Aging had wore of her sensory glands,says the doc.
It was salt..NaCl.10 H20, corrects my sister..that ruined my university on the following day...that broke down a very healthy 80 year old woman and made her so sick that she no longer remembers how to take a bath...that engraved that scream into my brain and made go on and on for three days, driving me more insane than i already am..Curse you common salt..You may make my food taste yummy, but i will never forgive you!!!
PS:people, Keep an eye on your sugar and salt intake..they are both villains...
