Not-so-blissful ignorance

I am losing weight and I am not happy about it -different ailments and remedies I have employed aren't helping it.

Some say that ignorance is bliss. I found the truth in this the hard way.

A while back, I noticed I was losing weight and the correlating inches off my waistline which made me feel very happy that I was looking smart. But my loved ones, including my wife, forced me to go for a medical check-up. Then I felt the pain of knowledge.

Searching for a good doctor in the twin cities was a difficult task because you have to hear everyone’s two cents on whether or not the doctor is any good, or if he/she has had good results with past patients. So I played a mathematical game and started listing some selected doctors names.

Fortunately, when I reached number 10, I found a good doctor.

After my medical check-up, I was holding a paper with names of the camps I would have to stay in while conquering the next mountain: the laboratories.

After the long procedure and lots of blood donations at different labs, I came to know that I was ill and a disease had taken root in my body, which was slowly going to do what it could to kill me.

During my search, I found that there are many polymaths in Pakistan. At least 90 percent are doctors. Apart from their medical expertise, those 90 percent seem to also be skilled architects, engineers and religious scholars, judging by how they discuss these subjects.

In my quest, I was asked to go to Baba Chitti Qabar, Sain Dam Wala or Bibi Phoonkan Wali Sarkar. And to visit ‘specialists’ who had special time-honoured treatments, prepared by their forefathers, whose flags they are now carrying for the betterment of the nation.

I was advised to eat some fruits but each doctor recommended a different type. One engineer-cum-doctor advised me to eat bananas, while another said the secret cure was guavas. Pomegranates and grapes were suggested as well. That does not include the dozen different diet plans I was recommended to take which had little to no overlap in their contents.

If only there were a dozen different cures in life to one single problem, especially medical. In spite of the ailment and the different remedies I have employed to counter it, I am still losing weight, but suddenly I am not particularly happy about it.

Ignorance is not always bliss, after all.

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