My love letter to Mr Pain

Dear Mr Pain,

                      Where do I begin, considering that all these years, I have confronted you with feelings similar to those of Lady Macbeth stricken by a ghost! No, no please don’t mistake me. I am not calling you a ghost, Mr Pain,  though you have spooked me out in the past, a good deal.

So vivid in memory are those episodes of life, when you would spring from nowhere and secretly take up residence, only to stir up some sort of rebellion in my body. You and I were ever on battle grounds, disputing your unwelcome entry into my territory. Ah, those elusive ways of presenting yourself! Well, if I were to list out,  the entourage of ailments and disabling conditions, where you chose to be the chief symptom in charge, the list would be endless! But I must confess, that your presence also meant that my central nervous system was in working order and that I was not turning into a jellyfish, devoid of sensations. And of course, you were ever like that red alert that prodded me to act well in time! In retrospect, I regret not having been able to thank you, for your warning signals. I failed to perceive you as the Godsent messenger(not the goddamn pain) in the inflammatory state of affairs within my body-system. I could not see through the greater good that was in store for me! (Labouring through childbirth, for instance, before the epidural took effect).

Invisible though you are, you have made your presence felt, in umpteen ways. Would I forget that it was only because of you that the deadpan and the ‘Snow queen’ face  broke out into a plethora of expressions? Not once but many a time, I have winced, frowned, clenched or simply bawled out like a strangulated cock-a-doodle doo. Well, Mr Pain, the irony is, that I have even tried to laugh you out, when a bomb dosage of painkillers failed to do their job. Ah, through these endeavours of extricating you from my being, I have never brooked your perseverance and persistence, in not giving up on me. You always made a comeback in my life.

You have kept your promise yet again and your entry has reminded me of the ‘spine’ of all existence. Lumbering through years of piled up lethargy, the lumbar spine sought your intervention to make itself heard and felt! Oh, yes Mr Pain, your presence, at present, has highlighted the oft-neglected backbone that bears the brunt of the vertically upright Homo sapien. And, this time, you have ensured to be a manifestation no less than the Vishwaroopam of the Great Vishnu (the truest, absolute form of the Hindu trinity), who looms large to reinforce the laws of nature and respect them as well– in my case,  drill in a bit of sense and sensibility.  Need I mention that your iron fists have crippled and chained me that I creak with the slightest movement?

But one thing Mr Pain, I have ceased to lament about it. Or, even crib about the fact that how unbearable you become at times. You pierce like pincers or even jab where it can hurt the most. I must say, you are giving me the toughest endurance test. But, I am slowly learning to rise to your challenge. I no longer look upon you as the dreaded foe and, nor do I fall into that shadow of fear, when you execute that ‘surgical strike’.  Yes, I have ‘grown’ in these few months to accept you as my friend, a long lost lover – whose seemingly harsh ways would unfold a new beginning?  

Through this “Pain-full” phase, I do look forward to meeting you in “person” and exchange glasses of champagne or red wine as a toast to our new found love(Psssst, my better half has reconciled with your constant companionship in my life. With due respect to you, we even refrain from calling each other a ‘pain’ in the wrong place). And, while we brace up for the rendezvous, let me just warn you a wee bit –

I wince when I wink,  and smirk more than smile;  I crouch like silly, I am still under your effect, you see!

Cheers & Love

Ms Pained

PS Please do not stand me up and give me a heart ache, Mr Pain.