Rusted Nail

A couple of weeks back – the 6^th of October to be precise – I went out to buy a pair of sneakers. And to clarify things, it was for moi. The plan was to go for regular casual shoes type of sneakers and not necessarily the types used for needs that generally involve straining of body muscles. As usual, I dragged Raghu along, since it was also a long time since we had visited our original “kadamai” spot – Spencer’s Plaza.

While waiting at Raghu’s house, I opted to first go to the ATM and get some cash. So I stepped out of his main door and reached for the latch in his gate and in the next instant I cried out in pain, accompanied by muted expressions of profanity. If you wonder why the mute button was On, it was because Raghu’s wife Madhu was around and I still had to maintain some decorum. 

But you the reader may be more piqued as to why I shouted out in pain in the first place and that is what the rest of this narrative is dedicated to. It has been a practice of mine to blog about many of the trivial things that go on in my life and off late, I have passed on that honour to Facebook. But there are still some trivial things that I blog about and hence this narrative. So where was I? Ah the crying in pain after reaching for the latch in a gate at Raghu’s house.

Before I get into the details of why I was in pain, I must also elaborate on what caused me that pain. It was the gate. The gate is probably older than even Raghu and by that, I am only implying that it was created in a day and age when gates were sturdier than those that are created today. And again, by virtue of being that old, it was also rusting and some parts of the gate did bear signs of having seen a coat of paint in the past decade or two.

So, when I was reaching out to move the latch from its seated position, a flake of paint or probably a piece of the gate itself (in the form of a piece of rust of course) pierced the gap between the nail and skin of my middle finger. For the first 15 seconds or so, I only felt some pain in the nail-skin region and I was more engrossed in shouting and muting, than checking what really happened. It was only after that 15 second period, that I looked closely at the finger and saw something dark protruding from that nail-skin area. 

I was able to pull out the part that was outside of the nail and only after doing so, did I realise that the piece had wedged itself even deeper. It was then time for more action to unfold, when Raghu, Madhu and I decided then debated the next course of action. Wash it. Pull it. Cut it. All sorts of ideas were floating around. We finally decided to do all of them in that order. A piece of soap was brought and lathering of the nail was done in the hopes of dislodging that piece stuck inside the nail. After some 10 minutes, all the continuous watering ensured that my dry skin became drier than usual and wrinkled like anything.

I then suggested using a drop or two of some oil to help lubricate the piece out of its current residence and also help my skin expand. But no, that didn’t help either. Madhu then brought out her makeup kit and when she opened the box to show the assortment of blades and files, I just couldn’t but help remember Dexter’s kit! Anyways, we selected one instrument that seemed to be the right one for the job and it helped a little.

Meanwhile, we also used a nail cutter to cut some more of the outer nail and so these other instruments were able to make some inroads in the removal process. But there sure was some part still deeply embedded inside the regular nail. It was then the turn of Raghu’s mother to try her luck with her instrument of choice – the choice of my mother in general and I am not speculating when I say that it is the choice for most maamis – the proverbial “ooku” a.k.a Safety Pin. She did manage to poke some more part of it and then suggested that we let that piece grow itself out of my body. That seemed to be a logical thing and so we finally put an end to the festivities!

The next morning, I opted to get an Anti Tetatnus Serum injected in me, lest that piece of paint or rust cause some kind of infection. I went over to the Doctor’s office in my Office campus and told the Nurse that I wanted a shot. She told me to first consult the Doctor, checked inside to see if there was any other patient being consulted and then told me that I could go in since there was nobody inside.

When I entered the consulting room I found that the Nurse was being very true. There indeed was nobody inside; including the Doctor! The Doctor then came from a cleaning room on the side and took stock of my position vis-à-vis the metal in my nail. She suggested that I consult a Surgeon since she was not equipped to try and dislodge the piece and may end up pushing it deeper. However, she did write a note to get the shot of ATS.

I got the injection done on my hand – I always get my shots on the arm and never on the bum – and for the next two weeks, I watched my nail grow. It is a very difficult thing to watch how fast your nail grows and we generally get to gauge it when the Election officer marks the indelible ink on our finger. I had a similar thing going on for two weeks, courtesy this piece of metal and last weekend, I was able to cut it off the nail. 

But I still have a lingering feeling that some part of that piece could still be inside my system because, I do have a magnetic personality, right?