India, July 16 -- The human mind is hardwired to take all things that come its way without much effort for granted. One doesn't have a moment to pause and ponder over the earnest efforts put in by one's life partner, co-workers and house helps to make life comfortable and hassle-free so that one is able to focus solely on earning a livelihood. I was no exception until recently when my wife met with a nasty accident. The orthopaedician advised complete immobilisation of the knee and strict bedrest. Now, the lady of the house, who would leave no stone unturned to make my life a seamless experience, was restricted to bed. With children away in distant cities in pursuit of higher studies, I found myself at sea to cope with the unexpected situation. Earlier, my mornings would begin with a cup of tea and a handful of soaked almonds served to me by my wife when I returned from the morning walk. Now, I became the one who brews the tea, opens the main gate, answers the doorbell, folds the linen and fetches the newspaper. It was a complete role reversal. Slowly and steadily, I coped with the new routine of doing it all myself. Though the house helps graciously pitched in to help us out of the critical situation by putting in extra effort, once they were gone after attending to their chores, the onus of running the household fell on me. Buying vegetables is a task not cut out for me as I've seldom had a close look at the vegetables in their natural form. Though I tried to play the "pick and choose" act lest the vegetable vendor considered me a novice, I admit I haven't been able to please my wife. "You've been overcharged for stale vegetables once again," she declared every time she peeped into my bag of greens. Earlier, whenever I'd be back home after a hard day's work, I would fling away my office bag and make myself comfortable before the television. Soup, salad and delectable dinner would keep appearing in front of me as I surfed across national and international TV channels. I never bothered to give a thought to all the hard work that went into satiating my taste-buds and voracious appetite. When brewing a cup of coffee, peeling the almonds, cooking rice, reheating the food and serving it to my wife became a part of my routine, it dawned on me how much effort and time goes into providing food for the family, something I'd taken for granted. A month after the accident, the situation, and the leg, limped back to normal. As they say, every dark cloud has a silver lining. All the bending, mopping, washing, rolling over to get hold of my charger and leaping out of the bed to grab my ringing phone or a glass of water have ensured I became flexible physically and mentally. My wife, on the other hand, got rid of her stubborn melasma (due to lack of sun exposure), and the habit of finding fault in the work of the helpers. Having lost some things and gained others, we have certainly emerged from the testing time calmer, stronger and better at appreciating the role of others who make our lives comfortable, day in and day out....