Of cricket and pain...

Lots of stuff to write...I have been wanting to write for some time now, but unfortunate circumstances have left me in a rather disadvantageous situation with regard to the writing bit..

For those of you who dont know (and those that come here), I have been in bed with a slipped disc since approximately 0010 hours on 7th May, 2009. Is it a coincidence that it was Baba's birthday? I'm sure he must've cracked a joke somewhere in Vasai which must've led me to break my back. Me and HDD agree that his jokes are harmful for our future, but this much? Damn, the guy's potent...

1) I supposedly picked up the injury when I was playing cricket. It was the remarkable weekend where I played so much cricket that I broke my back, or so I thought at the time, twisted an ankle and my thighs , and probably shoulders, would've paid to be seperated from my brain. Go figure. Although, I just discovered yesterday that I had fallen on the right side of my hip, and i've slipped stuff on the left side. So that explains nothing.

2) Would I do it again? Damn right, I would. Although my love for playing cricket far far outstrips my aptitude for the game, I see no reason to ever not play cricket when it is an option. Facing up to a fast bowler, especially the delivery I will never forget, the one that Mr. Dawande whistled past my nose, where I felt the air wheeze around my head while the delivery literally missed me by a whisker, and that which reminded me why I love this game. Of course, had I been infinitesimally late in moving away or the delivery had been fractionally closer to my head, I might have been typing this from some plastic surgeons bed, having my face reorganized. Lesson to kids: Although very very tempting, do not play on an uneven pitch without a helmet and an abdomen guard. The risk far outweighs the pleasure. It took me three four balls to even get my bearings right again. I was ducking to full tosses before AS told me to concentrate again.

3) Speaking of AS, his was the first ball that I actually saw swing. As in, I understood what I was doing and the ball was doing and got into line. Although it didnt help much as he cleaned me up pretty well.

4) Back to the disc. According to the MRI i got done, I have not one, not two but three seperate slipped discs in my spine. I certainly dont believe in doing things by half now, do I ?

5) The entire thing happened as I was packing for my vacation to Doha. Would you believe it? I just leant forward to pick up some thing, and I swear to God, I felt 3-4 small explosions in the small of my back towards the left side. Now, an interesting point to note is how quickly the brain gets into survival mode. I was frozen stiff, although the pain was excruciating ( 3 slipped discs have a tendency to hurt, just saying) and my brain was all about how to get me into a less hurting position. First, I tried to stretch to my bed. BZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. Wrong move. Then I tried to compress my body into a ball, maybe curl up. WRONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.  So basically, all I had to do was somehow maintain the same position, which was sitting on my knees with a hand outstretched, which was very uncomfortable. So, somehow I got my hand back, and fell over as softly as I could, into a position that I would stoically maintain for the next four hours on the floor of my bedroom. And all this, by my estimate, took no more than 10 seconds.

6) Another thing I discovered was how quickly I capitulated. What I mean is that I am normally very much anti-painkillers. I dont take them on the principle that I dont want to take loans my body cant cash. Pain is a means for letting me know what my body can or cant take. Also, it is a means of paying off the debt of pleasure that I acquire, normally while paying cricket. It is usually a debt that I am very very happy to pay off. Now, while I was falling to the floor, I would have given a body part for a pain killer. After I fell, my first thought was this was one of the catches or muscle pulls that I am used to. So, I asked her to get me a Cyclopam, which I discovered in the morning is NOT a painkiller, but at the time I thought it was, and I gratefully ate it. Something I had avoided for more than 6-7 years, and I had it within 2-3 minutes. But there wasn't any relief, because IT WASNT A BLOODY PAINKILLER. Food for thought ?

I've been writing this on and off...coz haven't been able to type it all at one go..so more to come laters !!

P.S.: If you will notice, I had been quite unfair to myself, only allowing scope for one "Good" reaction, with two "Bad" and "Ugly" reactions. So I'm presenting a fourth reaction "Barney". If the reference is lost on you, go watch "How I Met Your Mother". You can thank me later. Ciao.