Where is Ghumakkad?

Where is Ghumakkad? Where has he vanished? Has he gone hiking, Scuba or Sky Diving or into a forest where there is no internet? He has not contacted us through WhatsApp, chat, email or any other form of communication. We are worried. 

The above messages of anxiety are not from my human well-wishers but from: 

• my laptop, 
• the stray dogs and pups, 
• the promenade by the lake where I walk four times a week, 
• my yoga mat, 
• my spiral staircase that takes me up to the terrace to check on the mangoes, 
• the Golf Course where I play three times a week, and 
• the Avenue in my Enclave where I take after-dinner walks.

The above visual has been created by my Naman my eleven-year-old grandson in California.

So, what happened?

Ghumakkad recently underwent cataract surgery on his left eye; therefore, he is off all screens and devices as advised by the eye surgeon. 

Anyone who has undergone cataract surgery must be confined indoors and use eye drops about 15 times during the day. This means when the patient is awake  from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. almost every hour one of the eye drops must be put, much like a cuckoo clock chiming every hour. And this has to be administered with utmost care. Do not press the eye that has been operated on. Ensure your hands and fingers are properly sanitised and do not touch the tip of the eye dropper directly with your fingers. No head bath in the sweltering heat. No rolling over in the bed-- you can not sleep on the left side (the operated eye). So many restrictions!

After cataract surgery, when your eyes are covered by dark glasses, the world feels different. Without clear vision, your other senses step in—sounds seem louder, touch feels more important, and you notice small things you might usually miss. For a while, you become more aware of everything around you in a new way. Like I relished listening to Ameen Sayani's recordings of the famous radio program Binaca Geetmala dating back to 1950s and 60s. Music was my constant companion after the surgery. Here is a sample of the Geetmala being played while I sit in the verandah.

Gratitude

Ghumakkad is grateful to Col Rajiv R, Subedar Gaikwad and Ayah Suvarna at MH Secunderabad for professional healthcare. He is also thankful to caring friends - Col. Tiwari and Cmde Srivastava for taking him to MH numerous times. To Col Somayaji for giving practical tips, as he underwent cataract surgery on his second eye at age 83, to his sister-in-law Sarita for flying down from Jaipur to lift his spirits, to his grandson Ansh for adding cheer, and to the house staff - Farzana and Pooja—without whom things wouldn't function with ease. 

Thank you all for being patient and concerned about Ghumakkad's well-being. This message was typed using speech-to-text and may not be perfect in punctuation and grammar but nonetheless I wanted to communicate with you all.  

Special thanks to Ghumakkad's sister, Poonam, who actually gave the idea during one of the conversations. She said, "Bhaiya, we all miss you, but more than us I think your laptop must be missing you," and that gave me the idea for this story.  And of course thanks to Ashi, my daughter and a master story-teller for patiently editing the garbled speech-to-text. 

I am sure many of you know family or friends who have undergone a similar scenario. Feel free to share your stories/anecdotes.

Ghumakkad will be back soon. Stay connected and do leave a comment to encourage us.

Thank you and God Bless. 

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Akanksha Bhargava/ Secunderabad and Pleasanton/ 19th April 2026

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