Manasi Profile picture
May 23, 2023 18 tweets 8 min read Read on X
Yesterday I tweeted on b’lore’s shabby #infrastructure that killed a 22 yo. Today I write about what happens if you survive an accident on B’lore roads. My story. Of 2 accidents & 2 surgeries. In 2 years. See the pictures below? That’s my leg that I have to live with bcos of bbmp twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Ironically I was walking & cycling both times I fell. Was a big believer in sustainable mobility. Now? Am not sure. I share this story to highlight two issues - money & mental health that shatter because of bad infrastructure. Statistics can only give you numbers. I am the face. Image
It has cost me an upward of 6 lakhs, had me bedridden for a year and almost broke me mentally to survive it. I worked in the field of journalism and this injury almost forced me to give it up. I have paid for bad roads and footpaths with my taxes and then my health and my mind. Image
Let’s start at the beginning. In Feb 2020, I put my foot on what I presumed was solid ground at a dug up footpath, slipped and did a leg split that would have made a Russian gymnast proud. Ended up with a grade three MCL tear. This was on 80 feet road Indiranagar
For the uninformed, MCL is that ligament that keeps your knee in place. To cut the long story short, I underwent ligament reconstruction surgery and was confined to the bed for three months. I had just about started my physio when the 1st lockdown happen. ImageImage
Boom! That put paid to anyone coming to help me medically. I lived on the second floor without a lift so was effectively living the life of Rapunzela without her hair. Couldn’t even work much. But let me breakdown the cost.
My surgery cost me ₹ 1.3 lakhs. Every time I had to be taken to the hospital, I had to get me a stretcher because I couldn’t walk. That ambulance cost ₹2000 every time. Which was about 4 times. Also add ₹500 to the two guys who carried me down. Every time.
I needed a live in help for the first month because I couldn’t move at all. She cost ₹20,000 a month. Asked her to leave after a month because she started to drop hints about all the unsavoury guys she knew. I couldn’t even run in case she caused trouble. My Walker was my bestie Image
My physio therapy cost me ₹600 for every session, five times a week. But during lockdown nobody come to help. My knee stiffened up and I couldn’t bend it. I had to go to a specialist for this when places opened. It cost me ₹13000 every month. This went on for about six months. Image
It took almost a year to get back on my feet but... In December 2021, I was cycling one early morning near cubbon park when I fell to avoid hitting a pedestrian who almost tripped on a uneven footpath. Broke my leg in four places. They called multiple compressed fracture. ImageImage
I was bed ridden for almost eight months to allow the 2 rods and 21 screws they used in my leg to settle down. I couldn’t walk without support. I couldn’t go to the bathroom without help. By then I was exhausted. ImageImageImageImage
But I had to start my physio. This time it cost me ₹20,000 per month. My live in help cost ₹20,000 per month. A month after I came home, I was diagnosed with COVID! I hadn’t stepped out. I couldn’t. But the virus found me.
I stopped everything after three months because I was exhausted. Mentally, I hit a wall and couldn’t fight anymore. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t think. I gave up. 2022 was a year where life stopped for me. But it wasn’t over for me. Image
I went into the hospital again in June 2022 because of a serious kidney infection because I reduced my water intake after my surgery. Going to the bathroom was a nightmare, so I did this instead. Doesn’t work so well when you are on blood thinners. This stay cost me ₹60,000.
Statistics tell us that road accidents and injuries cost india about 3% of its GDP. It accounts for reduced income increased medical costs et al.I don’t understand % and economic terms very well.I gave you a gist of what I have spent over the last 3 years all because of bad roads
I am grateful for being in a position of privilege where I managed to pay for all of this without having incurring debt which I couldn’t payback. I am still undergoing physio. But It is traumatic to step onto the street now. For someone who had wheels for her feet, it killed me. ImageImage
But what happens to those who can’t afford it? We all use the same shoddy infrastructure afterall - rich and poor. To be vulnerable on Bangalore roads comes at a very heavy price. And not all of us can manage it.I went from living it up to barely getting through. Who compensates? ImageImage
Shoddy urban infrastructure creates a stress on our healthcare system.We don’t have access to quality universal healthcare.What of the poor? And to live with the repercussions of engineering incompetence for the rest of my life which has changed my quality of life irreversibly...

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More from @manasipkumar

May 21, 2023
The tragic death of a 22yo in Bangalore as her car submerged in the rains at KR circle brings us back to the labyrinth that is #bangaloretraffic. Clearly we have it terribly wrong. But where did it start? Why do our underpasses flood? Somebody should ask him - Dr S Subramya Image
#Subramanya became the BBMP commissioner in 2007, handpicked by #hdkumaraswamy. Bangalore was growing exponentially. We had shut down HAL and the swanky new Bangalore airport had come up (close to Goa). The Cauvery Junction was pivotal to the smooth flowing traffic to the airport
#subramanya came up with the idea of an underpass which was (rechristened as magic box) at the junction. This was the first of its kind infrastructure experiment in the country. The idea was to make Mekhri Circle a signal free corridor and year was 2008. This was his brainchild.
Read 16 tweets
Mar 25, 2023
To be a sportsperson in our country is not the easiest. There aren’t enough facilities and most of our sportspeople are now roadside vendors. Now imagine being a para athlete in a country that isn’t for the specially abled. If that isn’t bad enough, read this beauty.
Here is a checklist that you will need to meet to be a paarathlete in india. A)there is a registration fee that you need to pay to participate in the qualifiers. The national dept stipulates it at ₹1000, the karnataka state demands ₹3000.
B) to add insult to injury, the Athletes have to pay a penalty of ₹10,000 to the national para athletics, if they fail to meet the minimum qualifying standards. Every event has a set standard that a sports person has to meet. But it is unheard of to penalise them if they don’t!
Read 7 tweets
Mar 24, 2023
It is a week since I am constantly getting calls from numbers which show up like this on Truecaller. The lady tells me this is an election survey and they would like to know which party do I support!!! The last I checked we were a democracy. @ceo_karnataka this is a thread FYI
With the upcoming #karnatakaelection, We expect campaigning. When asked whose office is conducting the survey, the girl on the other end told me they were not at Liberty to disclose this. My questions to you are - how is accessing my private number by random people legal?
How is asking anyone who their preferred political party is before the election not akin to asking who I would vote for? What are the rules for digital campaigning in the upcoming elections? What are the penalties?
Read 4 tweets

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