Thursday 15th November
This was the first day of the trip where I deliberately had very little physical activity planned. I now had little choice given that my leg wasn't working. My main aim was to get this online journal up and running, so I called into an internet shop for a few hours shortly after lunch.
Whatever happened during that time, I got up from my seat when I had finished and my gammy leg felt fine, totally cured. It was a huge relief to get off the crutches, not because of any sense of inconvenience to myself, but due to my mounting feeling of embarrassment as I hobbled through the town.
In a place where people carry washing machines on their backs up 45 degree hills, or who have walked hundreds of miles over the most arduous of Himalayan passages on journeys to freedom, the sight of a bloody tourist on crutches is hardly going to win much sympathy from the locals!
My face would get particularly flushed every time I walked past a member of the limbless community. I dreaded to think what the poor people without any legs thought of this namby-pamby impostor in their midst. I'm not sure what the Hindi for 'gaylord' is but it was most likely muttered at me in the last day or two.
Anyway, the truth was that I couldn't walk without crutches, even if I did look kind of pathetic in comparison to some of the others I have mentioned. Maybe this was a subconscious motivation for such a quick recovery. Or maybe it was the pills I was also taking.
So, much of the day was spent on the internet, catching up on emails and doing some reading. I also watched some of the 4th India-Pakistan ODI - with India winning the series - although you could always hear what was going on as the radio or television commentary was in earshot no matter where you went in the town. I also found out that the first test match takes place in Delhi next week - over the weekend I will be there - so hopefully I will get another chance to see some international cricket.
