The return journey

Illness isn't good, it's perhaps one of the 5 worst things that happen to us in our lives, and the worst thing is that an illness can take so many shapes and forms. Physical or mental, whenever you have it, you feel like the bottom of a well that hasn't been cleaned since the end of mid-evil times.

I have been down and out for the past 8 days or so. Even though the illness was nothing too serious (just a nasty flu and high fevers), it was extremely inconvenient. See no matter how comfortable your bed maybe, you can get tired of lying in it. But whatever your illness, the most interesting part of it is the return journey. I feel that when you fall ill, you start traveling into a dark, cold, uncomfortable hole. And every passing day takes you deeper and deeper, until you start losing track of time and reality (of course both these entities are extremely relative).

And then begins the slow process of recovery, a.k.a. the return journey. Slowly and not too steadily you start finding your way back. There are many wrong turns, which take you back instead of forward. But eventually (if you're lucky enough) you find your way out of the hole. This coming out of the uncomfortable darkness is the healing of the physical being. But then the light around you suddenly blinds you, and your brain shuts down. You cannot see, you cannot breathe, you cannot even begin to fathom this place you've emerged to. And now you begin the mental part of the healing process. The mind slowly makes up its mind to face the light, and slowly you open your eyes, and learn to keep them open. Suddenly you become as perceptive as a 4 year old, taking in everything you see, observing even the minutest details, all the while bringing yourself up to speed.

And then, you are at the same pace as the world around you and start making up for the time lost. This in a way ends the mental part of the healing as well. So in terms of both practitioner and psychiatrist, you are healed.

This is how I've felt every time I fell ill, and recovered. Up until now I have been lucky enough to find my way back. Wait luck isn't the right word. No, I have been gifted enough to find my way back. And even though I detest falling ill, I love this journey back, which brings with it some small moments of total enlightenment, or Buddha moments as I call them, where everything just falls into place, like that perfectly timed cover drive on a seaming and swinging cricket pitch!

Let me just be thankful right now, for keeping me in synch. I would just wish that these small moments (the basic essence of life) would last me forever...

Someone wrote me about the special bond they share with their brother, how they just know, without having to say anything. I just wish this bond could be made our global village, and not some hi-fi telecommunications company, that takes over everything with their cheap cell phone, cheaper talk plans, and vulgar adverts.

I am thankful though of being aware of such a bond and that it exists. I guess hope is the answer to all our follies and inadequacies as the supreme race on this planet. Our supremacy only overshadowed by our stupidity!

Have fun...