After five months of patience, perseverance, and a certain sense of pride, it was finally accomplished. And, come to think of it, I am really feeling lighter now. Quite literally.

Many said, there was nothing wrong with me. I had looked fine and had come across with the same enthusiasm as I always did. They said, artists, musicians, sportsmen, even maverick poets and scientists were in the same boat. So, nothing seemed wrong with the way I was. In fact, it got better as the days, and weeks, rolled by. I could have been Hussain, the Indian painter, or Yanni, the Greek musician. 

Finally yesterday, I decided to go under the ‘knife’! I was welcomed by a battery of ‘surgeons’ with wide smiles and, somehow, I felt like a lamb entering a slaughterhouse. They were all dressed in gear that seemed necessary in an operation theatre and beckoned me to be seated for the ‘procedure’ which people the world over had been deprived of since early 2020.

I glanced at the table before me and took in the surgical tools, all sterilised and neatly arranged for the job. 

Did I see scalpels out there? (I swear, I did!) And suddenly a chill creeped up my spine. But the team attending on me, eased me into my seat and asked me to close my eyes and relax.

The world dimmed out as I submitted my existence to dexterous hands that went about their job with clockwork precision. Chopping (chopping!), slashing (slashing!), shearing (shearing!). 

I didn’t hear the sounds but I could feel my world (neck upwards) being reshaped, redefined, revamped.

The fact that I had myself volunteered to get rid of what I had been reluctantly carrying for the better part of 2020 wasn’t any consolation. 

But 20 minutes later, when I woke up to reality, the mirror in front of me introduced me to myself – the self I had surrendered to the grip of a worldwide pandemic five months ago. All new, clean, trim.

Guys, I visited the barber’s yesterday. It was a much-awaited accomplishment. Now, the ‘surgeons’ await you!