The Best of Times & the Worst of Times - All in London

Charles Dickens started his finest work 'A Tale of Two Cities' with these lines:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…

And the lines are a perfect fit for my London visit. I landed a very good job in the month of August 2007. I got a call which left me in disbelief. The call suggested that I was on my way to an international career.

It was the best of times – from overcrowded DTC (Delhi Transportation Corporation) buses and Delhi’s Tube (DMRC) to Virgin Atlantic Business Class travel, the transformation was smooth and pleasant. It was the worst of times – from healthy life on the roads of Delhi to ICU (intensive care unit) of St. Thomas’ Hospital in London; the change was rough and painful.

It was the age of wisdom – from a national assignment to an international one; I sailed through written test, presentation and interview and got the job. It was the age of foolishness – I rammed a kart in the wall and my tummy into the steering wheel and almost killed myself.

It was the epoch of belief – I believed that nothing would go wrong, when everything was actually so very wrong. It was the epoch of incredulity – for almost 24 hours, nobody (colleagues, paramedics, doctors, strangers, taxi drivers) believed that something was terribly wrong in my tummy. I got proper medical assistance only on my second visit to St. Thomas’ Hospital (the next day) in an ambulance with my blood pressure touching abyss.

It was the season of light – I got a new lease of life. It was the age of Darkness – I reached a passé where I needed a new lease of life. An accident and delayed medical intervention helped me in reaching a point where my one feet was on earth and the other was in hell (kindly read it heaven).

It was the spring of hope – every passing minute was hurling pleasant surprises. Let me correct the facts it was not spring, but the autumn of hope. It was the winter of despair – everyone I approached echoed the same ‘NO!!! NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOU! IT’S JUST A SPASM.’ Later on everyone said, “You got a life threatening injury.”