I
frequently have been spouting the homily that if you’ve got two legs, two arms,
and two eyes, you’re already well off and should have nothing to complain
about, but should go ahead and enjoy using them. Well, I can confirm that this
is no platitude, but one of the most profound verities of life. I can say this,
because I’ve got a broken leg and can tell you it’s no fun to be hobbled!
So if you feel hassled because you’ve got to
go and do the shopping, I say, by God enjoy it! There’s nothing like the charm
of wandering the aisles of a store, among all those comforting aromas of
detergents and soaps and spices and bakery products and so on… why would you
not enjoy it! Similarly, what a great thing to be able to go into the kitchen
and fix a meal or a drink, whenever you feel like it! What a blessing to be up
and about walking in the morning sun, or running up the stairs to your private
library, or whatever! Or driving your kid to some place or picking up a friend
from a bus station or airport! Or fixing your pet dog or cat its evening meal
or rolling a ball for it!
On the
other hand, there is not much use fretting when you are laid low by some such
thing, and it may be better to do the best with what is left. I read a very
nice article the other day about the books one has not yet read, and the
realisation that perhaps you’ve got more books than you’re going to be able to
read in the time left (and some of the great books of the world are actually so
dreary that it’s probably a waste of time reading them in all their long-drawn
out original). The author jokes that some books, like Proust’s Remembrance of Times Past, can be
thought of only when one is really ill, or has broken a leg and is laid up! So
I am using this time to read up on certain academic topics that one wouldn’t normally think of.
We’ve all
read the adage that no one ever regrets not having spent more time at work, meaning that when you
reach the end, you generally wish you had been closer and kinder with your
family. So how does one feel when one’s mobility is compromised, perhaps in the
long term (or what’s left of it)? Well, I don’t think I have too many regrets,
except perhaps that I wish I had been attentive enough to document all my trips
and visits to the field with photographs. Apart from this I could have a sense
of regret that my pursuit of interests like music and academic writing couldn’t
be pursued seriously. However, what I realize is that most people are unable to
do more than one thing properly at a time: in my case, my job and career has
more or less taken the centre, and I guess that’s nothing to complain about.
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