I wonder how?????

This week, as I mentioned previously, I was not feeling too well. There was not much "enthu" so to say to do anything. And as I told myself, I did not do any strenous activities or play any sports, but just relaxed, did my study-work, watched movies, read stuff, and did not crack pointless funny jokes.

But what was probably the most amazing thing that happened was that, I did not have to see my advisor for this whole week!! Apparently, he was busy with some research proposal he was working on, and so he did not have the time or the inclination to meet up with me and my colleagues, and give us his daily dosage of sermons and advice and shit-loads of work. So what this means is, I did not have to work under any kind of pressure this week (something that is unheard of with my advisor) and I could find time to relax, watch my movies, do some reading, and keep my mouth shut!

There are two things I would like to point out here first. Number one is that such "free-weeks", are an absolute rarity to find. They must be like once in two years kind of phenomenon. And the second thing is that, even until the earlier part of this week, I had no idea that there won't be any answering to do in front of the BIG BOSS this week. So the question is, how on earth did my body/subconscious/the respiratory syncytial virus through which I contracted this cold ever know on monday itself, that this is the most ideal week to fall ill???

Given my foundations in science, I can promptly disregard the possibility of the virus having to do anything with this little serendipity. And the body, without the brain, is not much of an Einstein, is it? So given that my brain din't know how the week would shape up, I am left with no choice but to conclude that somehow the subconscious knew what lay ahead, and decided that it was time my body got some well earned and long overdue rest. Ofcourse, one might say that all of this is just a matter of chance, and nothing worthy of such a long discussion. But it is hard for me to assume that. Because since childhood, thats always the way its been with me. Surprisingly, I have never fallen sick at a wrong time, ever.

I remember when I was in my undergrad, and once, during my vacations, I fell really sick. And it was Prahi kaku who pointed this out to me. She said that there was one thing about my "falling sick"-schedules that always amazed her. And that was that, somehow, they were always at the most oppurtune times and places. Like I remember I used to unfailingly fall sick whenever I visited any of my grandparents, either those in Delhi or Pune. But now, coming to think of it, those are the best places to fall sick!! Cause when you visit grandparents, its not like you are going to have lots of friends around to play with, or too much roaming around to do. Neither is it like visiting a cousin, in which case there is a constant need to match up on stunts and stamina and pillow-fights etc. In general, one gets a lot of attention and love while visiting your grandparents. So imagine what happens to all that caring in the event you fall sick. Exactly, it all just gets astronomically multiplied and falling sick actually turns into immense joy!!! So there is no doubt no better place to fall sick on this planet. And my ability to do that so consistently in the past is what amazes me.

I dont remember falling sick ever during an exam, or on a birthday, or when on a picnic, or a big occasion like annual day or Utsav, or a touring vacation, all of which I brand as periods one should never fall sick, cause it kills all the fun. And this leads me to believe, that there exists some super-intelligence in the subconscious, that has seen the future, or is totally aware of it. A subconscious which knows when to instruct the body's immune system to take a break and get their bearings serviced.

So what makes good food for thought is, are we really the ones controlling ourselves? Or is there a greater being that oversees our existence and makes us do what we do? Someone who lives inside of us but at the same time not exactly us. And is it okay to be proud of the fact that this someone is far superior and super-intelligent as compared to you, since it is not exactly you? And is this someone equally great in all human beings, or is it what sets them apart? Now thats something I need an answer for.............

Knock..Knock...Not feeling well here

Everyone falls ill once in a while. And like everyone, I do too. Both fortunately and surprisingly, this is just the second occasion in the past one and a half years that I have felt listless and unenergetic. The cause of ill-health is severe cold and a throat infection as most of the times. In fact it is the only health problem, other than being under-weight, that has seriously bothered me in my life.

The point to make here is that, with adulthood comes this unavoidable need to combat illness in the fastest possible way. It is totally unacceptable any more to stay away from work under the pretext of "not feeling well". I dont think ill-health is unavoidable. But I do feel that by the mid twenties, a human must have realized what illnesses bother him the most, and for those particular illnesses, he should have a battleplan ready as to how to get rid of it asap. As I said, in my case, the illness is like a universal constant, so there should be a way to work around it whenever it is around. And thats the attempt.

Consuming a lot of hot fluids seems to be my immediate action in these situations. Cups of hot tea, coffee, turmeric and milk, keep finding their way through my alimentary canal, but they dont seems to have an effect. Then ofcourse, there are medicines remaining from the last time your physician prescribed for the same illness and you stopped taking them as soon as you started feeling a little better. But medicines somehow seem to take their own sweet time.

The biggest wall illness creates is that of lack of enthusiasm to do anything. I personally have a very full of everything life. There is always something or the other happening, and there is always a need to do something with my time. So I conclude that my body uses illness as a means to tell me, "You crazy bastard, gimme a break". And that is exactly what I have decided to do from now on. Any signs of ill health will be viewed upon as indications of exhaustion and a need to slow things down.

The number one thing to do is cut down on the talking. In fact, it is only when I fall ill that I realize how much b.s. I talk usually for no reason at all. There is no reason to start conversations with people I hardly know in case I cross their paths in hallways. Or neither is there any reason for me to refute to what friends have to say just for the sake of some rotten and totally uncalled for "element of humor". So remember, cut the crap.

The second thing to do is stop socializing. This is one thing I think I overdo. Somehow I have this constant urge of being with people all the time. That has to stop. Illness is the time to sit in ur home, lock urself up and become pensive. Keep all your brilliant ideas to yourself, and think of even better ones for times when you shall be fit as a fiddle.

The third and the most important thing to do is, stop thinking about it. You know how you always feel down and pissed off about yourself when you are sick. Thinking of things like, if only I had not had the extra scoop of ice-cream on my cone, why dint I stop myself from consuming that cold, tangy juice, etc. etc. etc. Well, you have to stop doing that! Simply because its not gonna take you to a solution. Neither will you get better thinking about it, and nor will you ever quit doing it in future. The attempt should be to think, okay, this is the situation I am in, this is what I cannot do for reasons mentioned before, and this is what I will do instead.

1. Watch a feel good movie all by myself.
2. Catch up on literature reading, magazine reading, newspaper reading, etc.
3. A novel should do no harm. Grab one and seem busy. No one will automatically bother you.
4. Definitely let your colleagues know that you are not feeling too well, and hence not to expect much assistance from you at work.
5. And do some thinking.

I hope you get the important point here, that you need to stop doing everything else, except for your work. Cause that is true worship and should not stop.

This is me.

 
 

Welcoming myself to the Blog world

Finally, I have got here. I have been toying with the thought of having my own blog since a long time now. And I did frequent blogs of a couple of my friends, giving my opinions and stuff like that. But it was not until I came across the blog of a certain Mr. Hirak Parikh, one of my acquaintances, that I seriously started considering having one for myself. So basically, in my first blog to my own blog spot, I would like to thank Hirak for the inspiration his blog has provided for me to start on my own. How far my blog goes from here, is a totally different question. But I am not the kind of person who will dismiss the success of something right at its inception.