The whole life is a symphony of ups and downs, good and bad, beauty and ugly, heat and cold, love and hate and many such contradictory terminology twins.  Under lying factor, feeling-wise, however is the too familiar pleasure and pain.  To be more precise all the terminology twins mentioned above, have their confluence either in pleasure or pain.  Pervasiveness of the above need not be elaborated upon as it has been done so excellently well by Bentham while expatiating his political thoughts. 

Pleasure and pain, though different entities, do not contribute to Kipling’s “……… never the twain shall meet” theory.  There are many occasions indeed when the two are rather intertwined. 

Take for instance the first flush of love and especially when you know for certain it is reciprocated.  There is lot of pleasure but at the same time a nagging apprehension – what next, is it all right, what will next of kin think etc.  – which is nothing but counterpoids for pleasure.    

On the other side, you have instances of persons subjecting themselves to pain for the pleasure of communion with God.  This is there in almost all religion.  Or for that matter the common place instance of inflamed gum and how despite your dentist’s advice and knowledge that if touched it will be painful you still sometime run your tongue over it.

In this, pain – pleasure, you have many more instances like what I learnt from an on going experience.

Recently one afternoon after my usual daily routine of yoga, walk, breakfast, lunch and siesta, I felt strange while walking.  My steady legs, firm footedness and sure steps all becoming suddenly near non-existent.  It made me as steady as some one returning home from the pub.  Later the next day added to this, efforts at ablution revealed yet another strangeness.  The toothbrush loaded with paste landed on the nose and the comb, which I employed to bring order to chaotic hair in disarray was making more furrows on the forehead!

Doctor and MRI declared it was a stroke (diagnosis is too mild and not in the same league where sureness is the criteria).  It was pain indeed and rendered more so by an understanding wife at distant Tamil Nadu (this struck me while at Karnataka) who is uncanny in reading between lines and coming to her own conclusions and slapped many don’ts beyond what the “doctor ordered”.  Partying, rich food and all good things got eliminated in one stroke.