Friday 10 April 2015

The Road Goes Ever On and On

My mother asked for the address of this blog, for an acquaintance. Having gone to some trouble to actually find the damn thing, I read through the posts and, I must confess, laughed heartily. Life moves at breakneck speed, and I tend to forget everything I don't write down. How lucky, then, that I recorded these blog posts!

Looking back, there is lots of pain, but also lots of joy. Staying at the Recoup clinic was in many ways a bizarre experience, but I look back only with fondness.

The blog ends abruptly in April 2011. It looks ominous; one wonders what happened to the writer. Was there a terrible accident? Did shoddy handwashing lead to a fatal outbreak of typhoid? Did the trauma from being tickled every day for three months lead to a mental breakdown?

Worry not! Here's what happened:


Hyderabad


Me sweating outside the Charminar, in Hyderabad,
with my lovely (and totally non-sweaty) hostess.
I'm wearing my kurta, by the way. And my tiny jeans.
I went to Hyderabad! It was fantastic! I visited friends of my parents, who spent the whole day spoiling me rotten. We went to an interesting museum, and visited a temple, and had amazing food, and drank coffee with cardamom. I sweated profusely throughout.


The best meal of my life!
Although Hyderabad is a beautiful city, and my friends' parents showed me all around, what sticks to my memory is the food we had in the evening. I had chole bhature, and to this day I remember this meal as the best I have ever had! I'm not kidding. Just thinking about it makes me salivate.

I was also very pleased with the coach journey to and from Hyderabad. The coach was indeed air-conditioned, and I experienced some extremely interesting toilets along the way.


Leaving the clinic


Doing Jeshma's crazy exercises
 Towards the end of my visit, I could do this! My RSI pain was still present, but I was fit as hell, and on well my way to becoming more aware of my body, treating it kinder, and improving my posture. The staff at Recoup were all extremely knowledgeable, and always very, very kind. They taught me much.

Coming home


Yorkshire from the train
 When I came home, Yorkshire looked like this! I left in January, and returned in April, right around Easter. Yorkshire is beautiful in all seasons, but especially in spring!

I then devoted considerable energy to consuming inordinate amounts of beer and cheese.
(Don't get me wrong - I adore Indian food! I have been know to heave actual wistful sighs thinking about the food I was served in Bangalore. I just really missed beer and cheese while I was away.)


Then what?


I left Yorkshire three years ago, and moved back to Sweden. I have since occupied myself with getting a history degree, and studying to be a teacher. There have been many part-time and temporary jobs, but I'm well on my way to being a qualified teacher. Teaching is not only fun and intellectually stimulating, it is also an excellent way to avoid having one's joints and muscles going stiff from sitting on one's arse all day.

Every now and then I bump into someone who has similar pain problems to my own. I'm happy to think that I can offer - if it is wanted - the advice that I didn't get when I first got RSI. I run the RSI Action Facebook page (there is also a Twitter account), volunteer at a women's shelter, write my other blog, hang out with friends and family, drink the odd beer, and generally take care of myself and others as best I can.

The Recoup clinic didn't cure my RSI, and I don't believe there is a cure for what I've got. RSI will always be with me. However, it no longer troubles me. I have learned that there is such a thing as primary pain, and secondary pain. The primary pain I can do nothing about, but the secondary pain I can manage.

I still do Manjula's yoga programme every morning, and do the physio exercises I got from Jeshma and Nirav regularly. To be honest it's a pain in the arse getting up early to do yoga, but it keeps me strong, flexible, and reasonably sane. I go to yoga classes at the gym, which I enjoy hugely, and try to be aware of my breathing.

I try not to worry about things I can't do anything about. I try to find something in every situation that brings me joy, or if not joy, then wisdom.

I notice that I wrote on this blog that "there is a word for people who are tranquil, calm and joyful, and that word is annoying". 

I do my best to be annoying.