Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

If I Was Trapped

Toronto, Ontario

It was my first full day back from the hernia surgery and in moments of pondering while walking in progressive baby steps, I flashed-back to the highlights of my stay in the hospital. Frankly, no one wants to be in a hospital. Shouldice with its surroundings was more like a hell in heaven. There's inevitable pain, but all that is eased by the pleasant arrangements around it.

I reflected on two occasions that are highlighted in my mind at the Shouldice. The first one was the visitation by my friends form The community. I lead a chant (very softly) with a crammed group of visitors in my hospital room. As is customary after a chanting session, credits are given to the line of prominent guru teachers of the past. Their names are categorically chanted out by the lead person while everyone responds with a reverential head bow to the floor and genuflecting. So your head is down and your butt is up. The nurse walked in to see all these rear-ends sticking up facing her direction. She got the shock of her life.

The second incident was when I was departing from the hospital and dealing with the accounts. There was a new guy being trained and so the procedure for the accommodation payment went rather slow. In the lineup one of the fellows broke the monotony of waiting by cracking jokes that were both spontaneous and witty. He would make a remark that wouldn't leave us in stitches but which aggravated the ones we did heave. Every time you laugh, it hurt in the newly sewn area.

I contemplated though, if I was trapped in a mine for days what kind of people would I want to be trapped with. I, for one, would certainly not wish to be with grumpy folks, even though the gloomy attitude would be justified. I would rather have a humourist or a laughologist in amongst us. But better still, I would like to be stuck with someone who would remind me of the spiritual component in life.

Indeed, I think chanting would be the best thing to do in whatever bodily position you are in if trapped for days in a deep, dark mine. These were my thoughts while walking some streets in the process of recovery.

3 KM