Sunday Bloody Sunday-U2
“O-ve blood needed urgently for 2 year old baby for open-heart surgery ...Pls contact for details…”
My memories flashed b4 my eyes to the scene in 12th grade when I had pierced my own finger for a bloody swab of blood in Biology class where we were supposed to test our blood… After the icy needle slit a wide opening in my hands and a drop of blood emerged, it was supposed to be muddled with chemicals X and A…and with all the good things that make Powerpuff girls put into and yali-yadi-yada that drop failed to clot, meaning I was O-ve. The Bio teacher squelched at the sight and ended up giving me disgusting mirthful smirks…Upon my inquisitive look as if trying to tell her sayin “Get a grip gal!” she clarified in her squeaky non-baritone voice,
“Child you are blood group O-ve, meaning your blood group is the rarest in the world coming out to be 1 in 10,000…So in case you are a rash driver, better start lookin cse I guess ull be needing it, and oh! One more thing, Only an O-ve can donate blood to another of its species, so remove the attitude that you don’t care as fast as you can” her voice trailed off…I looked around and asked if anyone else is O-ve as if in a pleading sort of way, but all in vain. I was the only one in my class of 80. Harsh but true. Memories trailing off, I said, I can do something.
The next very day itself I went to get my blood tested in the nearby medico center. Ok I am sorry, I don’t know my blood group for sure but hey, I have never found the need to get it checked and of course, you cannot trust what you do in Bio pracs. So I went to this swank place and said I wanted my blood group tested. The receptionist counter questioned “ Do you want a blood group test with Rh factor coupled with Haemoglobin or WBC count or RBC count or just a plain blood group test? “ Her inquisitive smile tricked me into going for a complete blood examination costing this exchequer a whopping 300 bucks.
I was ushered into my seat in a corner cabin whose air-conditioning unit was working overtime to make sure that patients feel this added chill coupled with the feeling of having a needle pierced without anesthetics. There was a girl, a good lookin one (very hot!) (( sorry for my pervert ness but what to do? I act hysterical when I am tensed)) in the seat next to me. The nurse emerged from behind closed doors with a needle so huge that an entire tank of fluid will fit into it, and asked me whether I would like to go first. I had a horrific image in my flash memory of Saddam Hussein being ushered into the noose…I shuddered and asked for a couple of minutes… the girl in the nearby seat agreed to go for it first and an instant wave of shamefulness swept over me.
I looked the other side trying to avoid the site of the goat being rubbed with Iodine before it was sacrificed…Mercy! In an instant I heard an ear-piercing scream and my agent-like reflexes made me look at what was going on…And I saw, I saw the 2’’ needle halfway down and the nurse’s tired eyes strained trying to find the right nerve…It was a horrific sight and so much the less for me than for her because she was staring right at the needle as if to control its shiver rather than looking away to somewhere else…The proverb proved right(is it even a proverb?) “ Beauty and brains never go together” Amidst all the din the needle came out with its syringe compartment filled to 3/4th which I guess was more than what a 2 year old malnourished African baby will have in his entire body. The girl ended up crying hysterically. Made me ask myself, what is the girl testing the blood for?
I didn’t have time to think further as the nurse came back after centrifuging the girls sample with a fresh needle. She didn’t waste much time in rolling up my sleeve and shot a quick question to me as she carried forward, “Is there any specific reason why you are doing this test?” I cross questioned my conscience with the same question, do I really need to do this? I didn’t have time to reply as the needle tip emerged out of my skin after conquering its explorations underneath my skin. I say that was fast! I held my nerve to avoid congratulating her for her nice work and just gave a quick nod.
I slept weakened like a wounded soldier from his battle-field after coming home. I didn’t waste a second to go and collect my report as soon as possible… worried that the doc might come up wid some other conclusions ;) I snatched the file from the receptionist and confirmed, I was O-ve. I said to myself “OK, calm down now, act like who you are, act like Bond, act cool” so I called up the number thinking I won’t spend the babies precious seconds. The call ended up with 2 beeps and cut short. I redialed and this time was greeted with a never ending succession of beeps. I waited patiently till a cool voice said “This number is temporarily out of service.” I dialed and redialed again and again. All in vain. My head went into a tizzy trying to recollect all that had happened in the last few hours. ‘Keith Urban-Raining on Sunday’ played in the background. NS Sidhu screamed at the back of my head “If ifs and ands were pots and pans, ……………there would be no tinkers “. -'Blood lost in the battle, never saw the war', no wonder they call Irony cruel.






