Simple solutions to Eid alarms!

A series of unfortunate incidents began just the day before Eid holidays started.

First, my refrigerator went kaput; imagine Eid-ul-Azha without a freezer or a fridge. This is the king of all disasters, and I literally begged the customer service of the refrigerator brand to come and fix my dead freezer.

Now, the difference between a random mechanic and a brand engineer is in the bureaucracy. A regular mechanic comes as quickly as possible, while the official customer service providers dilly dally over a long list of formalities.

On an average day alone, this was quite the task -- taking a minimum of seven days. However, thankfully the brand's emergency service system was active during this Eid break, and it took them just two days to get my refrigerator up and running again.

In many ways, I am lucky that it started running smoothly on the morning of Eid.

Meanwhile, my mother, guard, house help, and nearby grocer had given me racks of empty space in their fridge temporarily. They had warned me, however, that come Eid day, they would no longer be able to ensure this support.

Amidst the stress of Eid drawing closer, my anxiety forced me to spend my Eid bonus on getting a local brand freezer, with raving reviews and top-class prompt customer service.

While all this was happening, my mother fell ill. Doctors attending house calls are not common in Dhaka. So, normally one ends up calling all of their relatives who are in the profession for a quick fix. An impossible taks in my case, as most of them were either on holiday abroad or busy in cattle markets.

So, I had to run to the hospital ER. Their ECG machines were not able to initially process the electrocardiogram of my mother due to technical glitches and finally gave a normal report on the fifth attempt. The emergency doctor prescribed relaxants and saline, for my 76-year-old mother, who was also fasting that day.

Thankfully, it was a blessing to see that the nurses and doctor attending her were in high spirits, which made the experience comforting for me.

Drama continued as I returned from the hospital. My son was frantic as his geriatric dog was limping and howling from arthritic aches. I must have been the luckiest person on earth, as I got through to an emergency vet call centre and got his prescriptions.

However, stores that stocked veterinary medicine were all closed, while the recommended option for using human medicine was also out of production. All pharmacies in Uttara said the same thing, so I tried the emergency online medicine service, and voilà! I had them in my hands.

Phew! I think this is enough for one reading, and I am not going to go elaborate any further about the other mishappenings, but I just want to reiterate that this holiday I survived because of the city's emergency service providers.

I was humbled by the efforts of all emergency service providers, who were on duty this holiday, to allow me -- a hapless Dhakaite -- to enjoy her Eid morning tea without pressing every panic button available.

Thank God for the emergency services in the city during long holidays.