<p>My health was fairly fine when I was a young boy. Except for occasional bouts of fever and certain epidemics like measles and chickenpox, there was nothing unusual that needed extra care.</p>.<p>However, things changed once I became a student of the Pre-University course in 1969 (PUC was a one year course at that time) — considered to be a turning point in one’s life. For me, it was so for a different reason. I was for some unknown reason afflicted by asthma. Most of the time, I was consuming various capsules and cough syrups. I always had wheezing, cough and phlegm, which disturbed the sleep of mine and others.</p>.<p>I had a rickety body structure and my ribs showed their presence on the chest. I had to face snide remarks that birds could build nests in my chest. To my advantage, I was exempted from joining NCC which was compulsory those days. The visiting doctor, after quizzing me on the medicines I was taking, asked me to take deep breaths. When he was convinced of my asthma, he declared me unfit to join NCC.</p>.<p>The problem of asthma continued even after I joined BSc in 1970. During my examination season in 1971, one night at around 10 pm, I had a severe attack of asthma.</p>.<p>My father called a doctor who lived in the neighbourhood. He came home with his kit, and after examining me, advised that I should be administered with an injection. I was reluctant, but the doctor was insistent and I had no option but to accede.</p>.<p>The disposable syringes were not in the market yet. Injections were administered with syringes made of thick glasses and long needles which were cleaned with hot water after every use. The doctor administered the injection after drawing the medicine from a vial. It was an antibiotic — possibly penicillin which was commonly used those days. After the injection was administered, I developed giddiness and fell down unconscious.</p>.<p>A few minutes later, much to the relief of the doctor and my family, I regained consciousness and became normal. But this is what happened later: I do not know what chemical reaction took place in my body after the injection. I became totally free of the problem of asthma and the disease never bothered me again.</p>.<p>However, my rib-caged chest and rickety structure continued to bother me for a long time. When I appeared for the UPSC exams in 1976, the medical board that examined me declared me unfit for the Indian Police Service (IPS) as my chest measurements were less than the minimum prescribed.</p>.<p>Much later, my body condition improved. I was perfectly normal in the eighties and nineties. It later went to the other extreme. Now I find it difficult to get ready-made garments for my size. I make a perfect figure for advertisements by slimming centres on how a person would appear before he undertakes slimming procedures.</p>.<p>Amid all this, I can never forget that mid-summer night about five decades ago when an ordinary injection made me bid adieu to the problem of asthma. It was certainly a medical miracle for me.</p>
<p>My health was fairly fine when I was a young boy. Except for occasional bouts of fever and certain epidemics like measles and chickenpox, there was nothing unusual that needed extra care.</p>.<p>However, things changed once I became a student of the Pre-University course in 1969 (PUC was a one year course at that time) — considered to be a turning point in one’s life. For me, it was so for a different reason. I was for some unknown reason afflicted by asthma. Most of the time, I was consuming various capsules and cough syrups. I always had wheezing, cough and phlegm, which disturbed the sleep of mine and others.</p>.<p>I had a rickety body structure and my ribs showed their presence on the chest. I had to face snide remarks that birds could build nests in my chest. To my advantage, I was exempted from joining NCC which was compulsory those days. The visiting doctor, after quizzing me on the medicines I was taking, asked me to take deep breaths. When he was convinced of my asthma, he declared me unfit to join NCC.</p>.<p>The problem of asthma continued even after I joined BSc in 1970. During my examination season in 1971, one night at around 10 pm, I had a severe attack of asthma.</p>.<p>My father called a doctor who lived in the neighbourhood. He came home with his kit, and after examining me, advised that I should be administered with an injection. I was reluctant, but the doctor was insistent and I had no option but to accede.</p>.<p>The disposable syringes were not in the market yet. Injections were administered with syringes made of thick glasses and long needles which were cleaned with hot water after every use. The doctor administered the injection after drawing the medicine from a vial. It was an antibiotic — possibly penicillin which was commonly used those days. After the injection was administered, I developed giddiness and fell down unconscious.</p>.<p>A few minutes later, much to the relief of the doctor and my family, I regained consciousness and became normal. But this is what happened later: I do not know what chemical reaction took place in my body after the injection. I became totally free of the problem of asthma and the disease never bothered me again.</p>.<p>However, my rib-caged chest and rickety structure continued to bother me for a long time. When I appeared for the UPSC exams in 1976, the medical board that examined me declared me unfit for the Indian Police Service (IPS) as my chest measurements were less than the minimum prescribed.</p>.<p>Much later, my body condition improved. I was perfectly normal in the eighties and nineties. It later went to the other extreme. Now I find it difficult to get ready-made garments for my size. I make a perfect figure for advertisements by slimming centres on how a person would appear before he undertakes slimming procedures.</p>.<p>Amid all this, I can never forget that mid-summer night about five decades ago when an ordinary injection made me bid adieu to the problem of asthma. It was certainly a medical miracle for me.</p>