It has been a
tough time for well-known writer Apurva Asrani (of Shahid & Aligarh fame)
in the recent past. In a post which shook his well-wishers some months back, Asrani
had revealed that he is quite unwell and a lot of his movements are restricted.
But that will soon be a thing of the past, at least that's what his latest FB post indicates. Check it out:
Sometime ago,
Asrani had written on his FaceBook:
"Almost two
months ago, I woke up with the right side of my pace completely paralysed.
Fearing a stroke, I was rushed to the hospital, and after an MRI ruled that
out, my condition was diagnosed as Bells Palsy—where the facial nerve is
inflamed, causing loss of muscle movement.
What causes this
is still a mystery, but they gather that it could be a viral infection. Stress
is a major factor and god knows I had more than my share of that in 2017.
This condition is
reversible, but it could take weeks, months or even years in some cases. Mine
was accompanied by severe vertigo, and I couldn’t stand without falling
over.
Apurva Asrani Poses For A Selfie
After taking
antivirals, steroids and doing weeks of physiotherapy and acupuncture, there
was still no thaw. One senior neurologist told me to be prepared that if there
was nerve damage, I might never recover from this.
Fortunately after
a harrowing month, the face finally began to thaw. Everyday there is a little
progress, tiny little twitches that promise to grow into something more
significant tomorrow. And I
wait patiently.
I am certain that
in the next few months, there will be significant improvement. But I have to
confess that the fear has been indescribable. I have been unable to smile. To
shut the right eye. To walk without falling, to eat or even drink water without
spillage.
When I walked in the street and
people looked at me, there wasn’t the warmth that I was used to. My face
drooped to one side, one eye wide and unblinking, and my mouth twisted. I
realised how blessed I had been to be able to smile, (it really can do wonders
for you.)
Apurva Asrani Suffers From Bells Palsy
And I learned so much about my ‘life’ on social media too. Every time someone
saw my carefully shot picture, where I withheld the extent of my condition,
they’d say ‘why aren’t you smiling? or ‘what’s that weird angle’? or ‘how
strange your eye looks’?’ Many would go on about how not smiling doesn’t suit
me, and I felt as though I was expected to oblige an ‘audience’ by baring my
teeth.
And isn’t that
the very problem with how we use social media today? We put our best face
forward, post a pic that took ten rejected shots to make. Filters that took
several minutes to tune. Then you see these pictures and think, so and so looks
so good—all the time!
We big ourselves
up, showing off our talents, our achievements, our rewards. ‘I got promoted’,
‘I bought this car’, ‘I went on that holiday’. You see these posts and think so
and so is doing so well—all the time.
Apurva Asrani Gets Cured
And there’s nothing wrong with
posting the good stuff, the problem is that nobody’s sharing the shit stuff.
The stuff that’s making us fall apart. The bad face days, the lost jobs. The
loneliness. The fears. The failures. The ugliness.
Aren’t we all
those things too?
And I wonder, if
we were a society that didn’t set such high standards, wouldn’t life just be
easier for everyone?
My heart goes out
to actors and actresses, who project a perfect life, but are crumbling on the
inside—unable to show anyone the cracks. We see them happy, performing for us,
laughing, dancing for us, and one day when they drop dead, we wonder how this
could have happened so suddenly.
Well it didn’t.
It happened over years, while we were applauding their dancing, their spirit,
their joys and encouraging them to smile for us."
Not too long ago,
Asrani was in the news for an alleged script credit fight over Simran with
Kangana Ranaut.
Get well
completely- and soon, Mr Asrani.
Image Source: facebook/apoorvasrani