A Minor Setback

As usual, my wife and I went to the club at 5.00pm for our tennis game. We had already arranged with the other pair to meet at the club at the appointed time. When we made the arrangements the weather was beautiful. Beautiful for our tennis players means a cloudy day.
When we arrived at the courts the weather had changed. The clouds had decided to move toThailand or somewhere far away from us. It was blazing hot but that didn't deter us from having our game. It was probably the heat that made me forget to warm up and do some stretches before starting the game.

Everything was fine until the second set. I was going forwards to retrieve a drop-shot from our opponent when I felt a sharp pain in the back of my thigh. It was probably the ham strings just below the biceps femoris. That was the end of the game for me. Fortunately for the remaining three players there was somebody at the pavilion to replace me. I slowly hobbled to the pavilion and watched the rest of the game from there.

When I reached home that evening I applied a cold pack on the wounded part to control the swelling and the expected internal bleeding. I guess it will be at least a week before I can do any physical activity.

There goes my tennis and my plans to resume golf! What a bummer! The magic word now is RECUPERATE. Rest and let the body heal itself or maybe I can go to the swimming pool and just use my arms to move around... heh heh..

An Old Lady's Poem

Received this poem by email. Supposed to have been written by an old Scottish lady who died all alone in a hospital near Dundee, Scotland. Such a beautiful and meaningful poem. I just had to post it so that those who pass this way can read it.


CRABBY OLD WOMAN
What do you see, nurses?
What do you see?
What are you thinking
When you're looking at me?

A crabby old woman,
Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit,
With faraway eyes?
Who dribbles her food
And makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice,
"I do wish you'd try!"

Who seems not to notice
The things that you do,
And forever is losing
A stocking or shoe?

Who, resisting or not,
Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding,
The long day to fill?

Is that what you're thinking?
Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse,
You're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am
As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding,
As I eat at your will.

I'm a small child of ten
With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters,
Who love one another.

A young girl of sixteen
With wings on her feet
Dreaming that soon now
A lover she'll meet.
A bride soon at twenty,
My heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows
That I promised to keep.
At twenty-five now,
I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide
And a secure happy home.

A woman of thirty,
My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other
With ties that should last.

At forty, my young sons
Have grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me
To see I don't mourn.

At fifty once more,
Babies play round my knee,
Again we know children,
My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me,
My husband is dead,
I look at the future,
I shudder with dread.

For my young are all rearing
Young of their own,
And I think of the years
And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old woman
And nature is cruel;
'Tis jest to make old age
Look like a fool.

The body, it crumbles,
Grace and vigor depart,
There is now a stone
Where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass
A young girl still dwells,
And now and again,
My battered heart swells.

I remember the joys,
I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living
Life over again.

I think of the years
All too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact
That nothing can last.

So open your eyes, people,
Open and see,
Not a crabby old woman;
Look closer . . . see ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an old person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within . ... .. we will all, one day, be there, too!

Freedom Of Expression

The recent blunder by some Danes in drawing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed shows very clearly the great divide between Westerners and the rest of the world. They are too concerned with the individual's rights to freedom of expression to the extent they forget about the feeling of others especially regarding religious beliefs.

They ridicule anything and anyone as can be seen in the sit-coms or talk shows where the politicians of their country become the targets. When you start ridiculing religions in the name of freedom of expression you are treading dangerous ground. The Danes have found that out the hard way. Many of them will be wondering if it is safe to go on tours under these circumstances. Although many of them do not agree with the culprits who started this problem, they are undoubtedly affected by this whole episode.

The whole world should learn an important lesson from all this. We need to have mutual respect for each others beliefs. Malaysians know this and we have lived peacefully because we respect each others cultures and religious beliefs. Lets hope that this silly incident will in no way destroy what we have in Malaysia. There is a disturbing trend from some people who come back from the Middle East or Pakistan after studying there and suddenly show very little tolerence towards other races or other religions than their own. The Arabs have their own culture. The Pakistanis have their own culture. We don't need to follow them as we have our own and it is beautiful. Let us show the world how to live peacefully in diversity. We have managed so far and we can still do it for many more decades.