My Dramatic Birth

I am often referred to as a 'drama queen' by many a friends.As a protaganist of a very dramatic life it is hardly surprising.The script is a trifle convoluted though and does not conform to any genre.The likes of Shakespeare, Wilde,GB Shaw would regret their limited repertoire and applaud the playwright of my Lifes drama for its sheer ingenuity.Act 1-suspense,Act 2-tragedy,Act3-comedy etc.Well, the confusion and intrigue started at my birth itself.
I was born at Doon Hospital,Deharadun on the 25th of March 1960 at 2am.I was declared dead at 6am 24th of March 1960.The least exaggerated and the most dramatic statement i will probably ever make !The story narrated of my expected DOA by my grandmother goes like this...
One week before her due date , my mother realized that she had not felt my movement for over two days.She informed my grandmother, who with all her experience( she had 10 children in her kitty) realized that something was amiss.On the evening of the 23rd of March the anxious duo reached the hospital.The gynaec pressed down the stethescope on my 'to be' mothers stomach and could hear no heartbeat, feel no movement! (No ultrasounds in the 60's ,no devious ways of female foeticide either !It was the era of flower children).A team of doctors was summoned ...the prognosis was grim .My tearful grandmother was informed of my ill-fated status and my mother was induced to go into labour.
My grandmother cheerfully sat at my mothers bedside and tearfully ran out of the room in grief from time to time( a la Nirupa Roy in zillion films).A messenger of very bad news was dispatched to fetch my father who was posted in Roorkee at that time(thanks to the primitive communication in the 60s, mercifully the pigeons had been replaced!!}.The nurses of rm no 1 were in deep sympathy as they watched my beautiful 20 yr old mother go through her labour ,blissfully unaware of the storks changed plans!
My poor mother after almost 20 hrs of labour was ready to deliver.(C-Sections were carried out in extreme emergencies.Since my mother was going to deliver a stillborn, it was considered unneccessary to make her go through one!)At the unearthly hour of 2am, a very grim hospital unit were taken aback by a robust cry of a healthy female child of 6pounds !!
I am told an ecstatic nurse went yelling in the sleepy corridors of the Doon Hospital..'No 1 ka baccha ro raha hai'!!!My grandmother wept copiously( tears of joy this time).My father arrived in the wee hours of the morning and promptly fainted on hearing the news..(I think he is to date reeling under the shock of his first and only born child)..
So, what went wrong or right???My birth almost created medical history.It was later discovered that my mother was developing a tumour alongside of me.The tumour weighed down on me restricting the movements and as also drowning out my heartbeat!The tumour also ensured that i remained the only offspring of my parents.
Looking back , i feel that the way i have shaped up is directly related to the event of my birth.Born lazy ,(Could have kicked harder!), a survivor( how many stillborns live to tell their tale??),inadvertently agonize my loved ones( my moms labour, my tearful grandmother my fainting father!!)and ultimately make everyone really happy wherever i make an appearance,( the jubliant nurse, my joyously tearful grandmother, my fainting with relief father!!!!)..
No explanations are needed when i state that i love life and look forward to it every moment as an adventure, a very precious gift bestowed upon me...