Sore Throat and Fever

For the last couple of days, I have been suffering from an acute case of sore throat and mild fever because to that. Food is tasteless; the nose is blocked and so are my ears. I know that I would make the perfect “case study” to an ENT doctor, but I’d rather let nature take its course.

My friends have accused me of being “obtuse” but I’d personally prefer the term “old-fashioned”. I hate visiting a doctor!

The worst part of this damn thing is that everything tastes the same! The very thought of eating does not inspire any poetic passion as it usually does. I get reminded of what my grandfather used to say when he was down with cold.

“Naaku sethu pochu” (The tongue is dead) my grandfather would painfully declare. He appreciated a fine rasam and sambar. RIP KPR!

I fell ill on Wednesday, did not go to office on Thursday as I was busy recuperating; in other words “sleeping”. On Friday, I deemed that I was fit enough to go to office and reached office promptly at 9 AM. But then, it just took two sneezes from me, for the others to get convinced that I should stay at home and not be within 500 feet of the office premises. So I had to take a leave on Friday as well.

I have seen/heard many people sneeze, which is barely in the audible range. I have no idea as to how they do it.

Does nature provide a genetic silencer? Coz I do not seem to have it.

My dry cough, which usually racks the insides of my chest, sounds like a Pulsar-180 (badly in need of an engine service) misfiring and my sneeze, sounds much like a cross between a bomb explosion and a jet fighter going supersonic. The louder it is, the surer I am that I have released more germs into the atmosphere.

No wonder, my colleagues wanted me to go back home on Friday. I only wish that I had lived in the time of ancient Greece where a loud sneeze was considered to be a sign of goodwill from the Gods. A legend tells us that a bloke long back, even convinced the Grecian army to declare war on its enemy, thanks to the decibel count of a sneeze!!!

As usual, the public have been lavish in their advice. The truth is that every person is an expert when it comes to other’s health.

“Tylenol dude; this stuff should do the trick,” was a piece of advice I received.

What Paracetamol is to India; Tylenol is to America. But after having it in the tablet and liquid form for three days, it has not made much of a difference.

“Drink a lot of Rasam and chicken soup. It works wonders for the throat,” was another piece of advice I received.

I have been doing that for three days now but to no avail. The CS for the soul sucked and so does, CS for the throat.

“Three spoons of brandy in a cup of warm water,” was another excellent piece of advice I received.

This was the kind of remedy that my soul yearned for but I got over-anxious and went in for the kill. I had three spoons of water in a cup of warm brandy with a pinch of pepper. It also did not work but strangely, I felt positively buoyant after having it. The therapeutic qualities of brandy though temporary in nature, are hard to deny. Our old fashioned remedies sometimes work better than modern medicine.

“Stand on your head for half an hour,” was another one that I heard.

Nope, I did not try it, in case you are wondering! The prognosis from mere sore throat/fever is a lot easier than a prognosis from sore throat/fever coupled with a sprained neck.

If any of you should try this one out, please do let me know.

Anyways, from experience, I know that the only thing which actually works is living a blameless, abstemious, vegetarian life for a few days coupled with a lot of sleep.

Hopefully, I will be back in full form by next week and start creating kalippus again.

PS: Listening to this song now.