Mard ko dard hota hai: Harman Baweja
The newcomer injures his leg before his first ever stage performance. Has now been advised to take it easy. Though every attempt was made to keep the near-calamity a secret, Harman Baweja had a serious accident hours before his first stage performance last week.
While rehearsing back stage in Bangkok, Harman slipped and fell. His entire right leg got stuck in an awkward and twisted position.
Harman recalls, "I had always imagined what it would be like if I got injured just before a performance.
But my first performance?! Come on, have mercy." His first reaction was one of panic. "I felt something had definitely broken. My instant reaction was, 'God! I won't be able to go on stage. People will think I chickened out.' "
On seeing the leg black, bruised and swollen, Harman knew his worst fears had come true. "I sat staring at my leg and so did everyone else. 'What now?' was everyone's thoughts as paramedics rushed in. I was in acute pain and I took a painkiller, which I had brought from Mumbai. I never travel without them. I don't trust medicines in foreign countries. But that wasn't enough."
At this point in the behind-the-scene action magic happened. "A paramedic took out a spray and before I could protest, sprayed my leg profusely. The pain was gone!! My next question to the medicos was, if I danced would it injure my knee permanently? No way was I going on stage if I was going to have a troubled knee for the rest of my life. I was told that if I don't dance, my leg would heal in two weeks and if I did it'd heal in a month. So I went on stage as per schedule with a paramedic standing out of stage range, just in case."
Harman's performance went through like a dream. "But after the accident, my woes didn't end. Minutes before I went on stage, the button on my trousers broke. I quickly asked Priyanka's designer Gavin to sew it back. But it didn't hold. So I grabbed someone's belt and just stuck it on. By then, I was determined to dance , no matter what."
Did the bad leg force the newcomer to change/slow his rehearsed steps?
"Only once, just once I stopped for a second when I wasn't supposed to. No one noticed. I danced to the best of my ability. The response was overwhelming. But I'll never forget my first stage performance. Hopefully, the ones to follow will be smoother."
At the moment, Harman is limping around with a leg-aid for his injured knee and thigh. "Not quite feeling like a war hero. But not feeling sorry for myself either."
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