Bypass

I was in a remote village in Kashmir, where no network works except for SCOM. I didn’t buy this mobile SIM because I wanted to completely immerse myself in nature. I wish I had. Sometimes, a decision haunts you forever.

There are no mobile networks in Kashmir, and even the WiFi is extremely limited, only working for a couple of random hours during the day. When I checked in at hotels, I could sometimes get a signal if I was lucky, but otherwise, I was completely cut off from the world.

On the third day, the WiFi luckily connected. It was a relief. My phone started buzzing with notifications from Binance, Kucoin, Instagram, Facebook, Discord... and WhatsApp. I clicked on the WhatsApp notifications and saw around 50 messages in my family group. The voice notes wouldn’t load, but these were the messages:

I froze for a second. I didn’t know what was happening. I tried calling my elder brother on WhatsApp, but the CALL JUST WOULDN'T CONNECT. I texted him, and he sent me a voice note. I replied, asking him not to send me a voice note and instead to explain in text what was happening. He tried to dodge my question, but I kept asking. I was getting frustrated—there are no signals here, and it’s only a matter of minutes or seconds before I’d lose connection again. WHY WASN'T HE JUST ANSWERING WHAT I WAS ASKING??

He finally told me that they had taken my dad to the hospital. The doctors said his heart’s condition wasn’t good and that he might need surgery. He didn’t mention a bypass, but he couldn’t stop me from reading the messages in the family group. I had already seen those texts. I didn’t know what to do. What could I have done? Sitting in Arang Kel, enjoying my solo trip—I started feeling guilty.

I haven’t talked about this to anyone yet. Anyway, I borrowed my tour operator’s cell phone and contacted my father. He was completely calm and kept reassuring me that nothing serious had happened and that I needed to calm down.

It was around 10:30 p.m. I asked my tour operator what options I had. The option was to hike down from Arang Kel to Kel, which is about a 40-minute to 1-hour hike. From Kel, I would need to find local transportation to Sharda, then from Sharda to Keran, and finally from Keran to Islamabad.

I didn’t know what to do. The tour operator told me it was best to calm down and get some sleep. But I couldn’t sleep. The guys in my room were smoking hash; I thought maybe some of that would help me calm down, but then I thought, what would my father think of me if he found out? So I stepped outside the room to get some fresh air.

Mind you, this all happened on either a Saturday or Sunday—I honestly didn’t know. I had lost track of time without a mobile phone. The next morning, we hiked down and got into our jeeps, only to find out that the roads were being constructed, which meant we couldn’t go any further.

Was this a game? Was this a test? I tried my best to remain patient and composed. We had to spend the night in Sharda.

Finally, we moved back from Kashmir to Islamabad. On our way back, I got mobile signals. I called my dad, and he was, as usual, very calm. He told me they had been looking for the best cardiologist. Isn’t this ironic? A family full of doctors. A younger brother who’s an aspiring cardiovascular surgeon and one of the best students in the city. An elder brother who’s an experienced doctor. And the person having these cardiac issues is also a seasoned doctor. Life loves playing ironic games.

I reached lahore yesterday and I'm staying at my uncle's place. As soon as I reached, I booked my flight back to Karachi. The closest flight I found was of 8 am 13th of August. I booked that. After around 5 minutes of booking I found out my flight has been cancelled due to some operational issues.

I tried to remain calm. I booked again. 8 am, 14th August. The booking was done. I had to spend one more day in Lahore. After around a couple of hours I received this email:

I let out a little chuckle honestly. I'm always the funny jolly guy. Trust me. Even if you ask my family members or my friends they'll ALWAYS tell you that Huzaifa is always the funniest. But who do I talk to?

There's one friend. She ALWAYS keeps a check on me. She kept on asking me to please let it out and talk to her but I have never done this. How do I just let my emotions out? Sometimes when I don't know what to do, I write. I write here on my blog. Because I know my family members, none of them would read it this far 😂😂

But sometimes I just need to let it all out. It's 5 am in the morning of 14th August, and I am finding it very hard to sleep.

Texted my dad at 2 am. Are you up? He called me. I talked to him and cried for about 10 minutes after the call. Even though there was nothing to be emotional about in the call but I just couldn't keep it in anymore.

I just want you all to pray for our family. That's the first time I have asked for anything personal on Steemit.