Helpless

You know… Sometimes in life, some things happen that make us feel utterly helpless. I was there today.
My parents are on a pilgrimage tour of the Himalayas. They’ve been enjoying and regularly updating me (thanks to BSNL’s amazing coverage). But they hadn’t called in the past 2 days. And they weren’t reachable either. That was really bugging me.
And here I was in Cochin, working a Sunday, just about to start a workshop for some so-called budding surgeons, when I received a call from my brother. Seems my parents were stuck in Badrinath due to some landslide on the downhill route. I frantically call them and I’m finally able to connect. Seems it’s freezing there. No power. No hot water. Appa being appa, is coping up pretty well. Amma isn’t. Even as she’s telling me not to worry, she starts stuttering due to the cold. She’s shivering and her voice sounds awful.
Just then, a doctor walks up to me and chides me for taking calls. It takes a lot of restraint to give him a polite reply. I feel like killing him, but sanity prevails. Helpless…that’s how I felt.