We had had a bitter argument the night before and hadn't so much as smiled at each other when the day dawned. I reached office and settled down to work with a heavy heart. I wasn't certain whether I'd have the heart to prolong the silence when I returned home in the evening -----nor was I certain that I'd have the heart to apologise.
It was around 1 pm that the door opened and Vimalendu walked in, with a smile and an apology and an offer to treat me to a luscious lunch at TK's Oriental Grill. I am no fan of Far Eatern cuisine and have never experimented with sea food, being mostly a vegetarian by choice, lapsing once in a while to enjoy a chicken soup or grilled fish. My husband thought, however, that I should at least taste prawns and lobsters and where better to do that than at TK's !
The lunch began with fresh juice and a fruit salad, and then came the prawns ---- a bite here and another bite there, and I was pretty clear that this wasn't a lunch I'd really relish. This was no ordinary lunch, however, and so I braved the lobsters as well, barely looking at what I was nibbling at. We spoke of this and that, laughed a little, smiled a lot ---till 15 or twenty minutes into lunch, I began to get an itching sensation in my throat. Some more juice, asked my husband, concerned that the chef had overdone the spices.
A glass of watermelon juice later, I was feeling much worse ----- my eyes had begun to water, and a strange feeling of fear was beginning to grip me. I need to see a doctor, I said, but the F&B Manager kept insisting that I'd be fine and I only needed to "rest". By this time, I'd begun to sneeze, my face was swelling up so fast I could barely see, and I was experiencing something akin to panic.
Listen, are you sure this isn't a plot to get rid of me, I asked Vimalendu. A quick call to a doctor confirmed our worst fear ----I was in anaphylactic shock.
Vimalendu contacted the nearest hospital, informed them of everything that had transpired thus far, and then drove as fast as he could possibly in the terrible afternoon traffic of Delhi, right up to the Emergency entry.
I could barely breathe, had all but forgotten the lunch, and could only silently pray to the Almighty (in whom I had never believed ! ) to take care of my children when I was no more. The doctor on duty clasped my hand reassuringly, and such was the warmth in his expression of concern that I relaxed a little.The mandatory oxygen mask, epinehrine shots and several hours later, I was pronounced fit enough to return home. A very lucky escape, the doctor told me ----- and do take care to avoid prawns and lobsters, he cautioned, as if I'd forget the experience in a hurry !!
Every time we now have an argument, we settle for coffee at our favourite coffee shop ------its unexciting, unadventurous, but guaranteed to get me home :)
It was around 1 pm that the door opened and Vimalendu walked in, with a smile and an apology and an offer to treat me to a luscious lunch at TK's Oriental Grill. I am no fan of Far Eatern cuisine and have never experimented with sea food, being mostly a vegetarian by choice, lapsing once in a while to enjoy a chicken soup or grilled fish. My husband thought, however, that I should at least taste prawns and lobsters and where better to do that than at TK's !
The lunch began with fresh juice and a fruit salad, and then came the prawns ---- a bite here and another bite there, and I was pretty clear that this wasn't a lunch I'd really relish. This was no ordinary lunch, however, and so I braved the lobsters as well, barely looking at what I was nibbling at. We spoke of this and that, laughed a little, smiled a lot ---till 15 or twenty minutes into lunch, I began to get an itching sensation in my throat. Some more juice, asked my husband, concerned that the chef had overdone the spices.
A glass of watermelon juice later, I was feeling much worse ----- my eyes had begun to water, and a strange feeling of fear was beginning to grip me. I need to see a doctor, I said, but the F&B Manager kept insisting that I'd be fine and I only needed to "rest". By this time, I'd begun to sneeze, my face was swelling up so fast I could barely see, and I was experiencing something akin to panic.
Listen, are you sure this isn't a plot to get rid of me, I asked Vimalendu. A quick call to a doctor confirmed our worst fear ----I was in anaphylactic shock.
Vimalendu contacted the nearest hospital, informed them of everything that had transpired thus far, and then drove as fast as he could possibly in the terrible afternoon traffic of Delhi, right up to the Emergency entry.
I could barely breathe, had all but forgotten the lunch, and could only silently pray to the Almighty (in whom I had never believed ! ) to take care of my children when I was no more. The doctor on duty clasped my hand reassuringly, and such was the warmth in his expression of concern that I relaxed a little.The mandatory oxygen mask, epinehrine shots and several hours later, I was pronounced fit enough to return home. A very lucky escape, the doctor told me ----- and do take care to avoid prawns and lobsters, he cautioned, as if I'd forget the experience in a hurry !!
Every time we now have an argument, we settle for coffee at our favourite coffee shop ------its unexciting, unadventurous, but guaranteed to get me home :)
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