I cannot do without writing about what happened to me yesterday (14 May 2009). We were having launch in the office at around 1-10 pm. There were several delicious dishes including fish, which my friend brought from home and chicken which we ordered from the hotel nearby. I almost finished my launch – and probably I was putting the last mouthful of rice mixed with fish curry, when a fish bone got stuck in my throat. It felt horrible. Since childhood, I am afraid of fish bones and hence, I am not an avid fish eater, though I like it.
As I felt the pain, I abandoned my meal and rushed to the toilet basin (as I did not want to make noise which could make others having meal fishy and embarrassed).
I was advised to eat bananas, which would take the fish bone down to the stomach. In fact, generally people eat bananas, or bread, or hot rice – without chewing – to get the fish bones eradicated. I tried all of these, but the fish bone seemed adamant.
I tried to vomit out. I did it for at least 15 minutes, almost, I felt, I emptied out my stomach. But nothing worked. I felt so weak.
It was then I decided to go to the doctor. Smiling, I explained to the doc what had happened. He checked my mouth, sprayed a small quantity of local anesthesia which made my tongue heavy and throat numbed.
Then, he easily removed the fish bone with the help of his instrument. "There it is", he exclaimed as he plucked out the fish bone. It was a tiny one, which the doc handed over to me. The entire exercise hardly took five minutes. It was an easy process but then he charged me a fat fees – Rs 500/- bucks. He also prescribed some medicines.
My friend mocked me saying a small peice of fish cost me rupees five hundreds (given that in Delhi, one kilo fish cost around Rs 70-80). Relieved that I felt, I did not think of the monetary loss.
