A fresh innings for Vijay

I went blank. I woke up without knowing that we had moved from 29 to 30 August and as I looked around I knew that I was in a hospital room.

Kainaz my wife explained I had a stroke.

I signalled to my wife, “Am I going to die?”

“No” she said. I smiled and showed her “thumbs up”

At the age of 41, Vijay Santhanam, an alumnus of IIT and IIM-A with two decades in a senior corporate position, suffered a stroke. His left brain was affected, leaving immobile the entire right side of his body. His speech was limited to one word, “no”; he couldn’t recognise the alphabet or numbers. He communicated only through action. Within six months, Vijay resumed speaking, walking and working. Three years later, he went on to co-author two books before debuting with his solo work, My Stroke of Luck: Alphabet to Author .

This gripping non-fiction read is inspiring, as it retraces a painful phase of life, the courage and positivity shown in the face of adversity, and the determination to overcome it. And all of it narrated with just the right dose of humour. “I used to write articles on various subjects for my friends. When I had the stroke, I was sure that I wanted to write a book on my life, as writing has always been my passion. But the cricket fanatic in me saw me co-author two books on the game. Now I am happy to share my life experience and celebrate the human spirit via my book,” says the author.

The stroke, in August 2006, came as a blow to Vijay, his family, close friends and colleagues. The family had just returned from an enjoyable three-week vacation. Back home from office with a severe headache, Vijay was lying down after taking a painkiller. Recalling the day their life turned upside down, his wife Kainaz says, “When I returned from work I realised his health was not good. I rushed him to hospital even though he thought it was not serious. He was immediately admitted to the emergency ward. Later I told him that the doctor had assured that he would speak and walk. Only that the doctor was not sure when it would happen.”

These reassuring words ensured that Vijay did not surrender to depression. “When I realised there was hope to live, a fighting spirit aroused within. My only goal was to start talking and walking. Thankfully my logical and thinking ability was intact, so I tried very hard to become normal,” he says.

He had to start by relearning how to sit, talk and walk. This involved daily sessions of occupational therapy, speech therapy and physiotherapy. Virtually every step of his recovery was laborious, and the most important of them all involved taking a few steps unassisted. As he writes in his book, “It was a grinding effort to climb a slippery slope.”

And it certainly was not ‘as easy as A, B, C…’ “In the morning I would have correctly said a few letters of the alphabet, but in the afternoon, part of these gains would have gone blank, even while I gained new letters.”

Kainaz remembers them playing scrabble every night for word building, as also number calculation: “Initially he used to lose and did not like it; but in course of time, he became a champion. The first word he spoke, the first step he took was a milestone and it is etched in my memory.” Vijay’s own fondest moment is described in his book, when his 15-month-old son held his hand tightly after he returned home from the hospital.

One fine day in January 2007, Vijay went back to his job at a global corporation with a confident smile. Soon the cricket lover was inspired to work on a thesis on Sachin Tendulkar which, later in 2009, evolved into the book If Cricket is a Religion, Sachin is God , which he co-authored with his friend Shyam Balasubramanian. The duo also co-authored a second book, The Business of Cricket: The Story of Sports Marketing in India , in 2011. Confessing that the extensive typing involved was challenging for him, Vijay says, “This was one way I kept my mind busy with constructive activity. I was on top of the world when my friend brought me a personalised “Get Well” message signed by Sachin Tendulkar. Adam Gilchrist, whom I had met earlier, sent a video wishing me a speedy recovery.”

He is thankful to his doctor Tang Kok Foo, mother Hema for her immense help, his wife, close friends, and colleagues — “But for their love, care, support and encouragement I wouldn’t have recovered so well… My friends travelled from different parts of the world to meet me. They brought my favourite dishes and DVDs to watch and made each day end with laughter and smiles… there was no time for me to feel depressed.”

After 21 years in the corporate world, Vijay, who was the Regional Marketing Director for Singapore-based BP (Auto lubricants) Asia Pacific, retired in 2010. Apart from pursuing his other interests, spending quality time with his wife and children - eight-year-old Zarius and three-year-old daughter Zaina — he is currently working on his next book and is a visiting faculty at the IIMs for Sports Marketing. The man who has valiantly defied the odds to emerge victorious sees life as a pack of cards: “We have to play our cards with a positive attitude and always focus on our goals.”

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