" I kept thinking about my responsibilities, my family, my children. It is for them that I wanted to continue living."
-Dr. Gazala Gayas
Author: Alfisha Sabri
August, 2021
My children are my heroes. I am a mother to three boys, all of whom I have brought up with utmost love and care. We are a well-knit family and my boys are doing well in life. My eldest son is a managing director of two companies, the second one is pursuing Medical Engineering from Glasgow University, and the youngest is currently in class 12. They have their aspirations and I have mine. I am the Head of the English Department at Amar Singh College, Cluster University, Srinagar. In the next few years, I aspire to be the Dean of Academics at the same college.
At work, I am appreciated for my adaptive disposition by my students and colleagues, and at home, I find solace in the ethical values that my children have imbibed. All, however, has not always been only glittery.
I have been diagnosed with diabetes, hypothyroidism, and tachycardia. To make matters worse, 10 days before Ramadan 2021, I caught the deadly virus. I was completely shaken and my sugar levels were distorted. When I got my CT scan done on the third day, it was bilateral pneumonia, but mild. But after a week I was still on medication and my fever was still high. I got another CT done. This time it showed severe pneumonia. They changed my drug regime but it was getting worse day by day. My sugar levels crossed 500, my HB was only 7gm. It was like dying every day. There was my health that was far away from any improvement, and then there was my family’s. I had contracted the virus after my husband and one of my sons were already infected by it. It was as if everything around me was falling. For the first 10 days of Ramadan, I was sick. Not for a moment did I lose my faith in Allah. I kept praying to him. It was not death that worried me; we all have to die. But I kept thinking about my responsibilities, my family, my children. It is for them that I wanted to continue living. Perhaps it was this will to live and faith in Allah that helped me recover.
On the 11th day of Ramdhan, I held my first roza of this year. I am doing better now. As soon as my fever came down, I was back to my duties - domestic and professional. My face was de-shaped but I was alive. I had survived coronavirus. I was happy. I started working out because it helped me taper my medication. Gradually, one step at a time, I was back to my life. Gradually, the rest of my family also recovered. I cooked special dishes for my kids in Ramdhan and the joy that I found in looking at my whole family together at the dining table was immeasurable.
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