After 7 years

I never had a road roller run over me but I know exactly how it will feel. The same as it feels after having played badminton for 4 hours after 7 years. Yes, I played badminton this weekend and every single bone and muscle in my body is killing me now. Given a choice I would NEVER have ventured into the badminton court by myself. However it being a team building initiative in office there was no way I could have skipped it. We have a team building activity each month and a badminton match was what was decided upon for this month.
It was a bright sunny Saturday afternoon and I very reluctantly stepped out of home after an extremely heavy lunch for the club (the venue for the match). Yes, you heard it right. The game was to be played post lunch on a typical Indian summer afternoon. I wonder if POWs are treated any worse. Some may say (and some did) I could have skipped lunch but I was invited to a friend’s place for lunch and I promised to be there. The plans had been made two weeks earlier and I did not want to cancel that plan at all. After all it’s not every day I get good home made food.
Anyways once I reached the club I got into the mood and very happily and very enthusiastically joined the match. After all I realized badminton was the only game I could play besides solitaire, minesweeper, roadrash and their likes and if I had actually gone to the club it only made sense to try and enjoy myself.
So after 7 years I picked a badminton racquet and swung into action. I played for around 2 hours and then started feeling the first repercussions of my act. I could not bend down to pick up the shuttlecock. My back was hurting and I had a feeling that my backbone had turned into steel. It just would not bend. Anyways at that point it was just my back and finally at 18:00 in the evening we wound up and left for home. I went home and applied ice to my arm where I had hurt myself pretty badly after holding my racquet in an odd manner.
If I thought that my hand and back hurt that night I was being completely silly because it wasn’t till the next morning that the pain actually set in. Every muscle and every bone in my body was aching. I was not even aware of the existence of so many muscles in my body till then. But since I had an appointment with the dentist Sunday morning I woke up earlier than I would have wanted to and left home. Every second that day I was made aware of the existence of so many muscles and bones in my body by the extreme pain. Simple daily tasks like brushing my teeth, sitting on a chair, climbing a staircase, changing my dress all required tremendous effort and I had to bite my tongue each time I did anything to stop myself from screaming out loud. To make things worse I have my bed on the floor and every time I lied down I wished I would not need to stand up again and every time I stood up I hoped there would not be any need to bend/sit down.
It’s shocking that at my age I feel like an octogenarian. I should seriously join a gym to get myself back in shape. After all once I used to pride myself on being fit and fine, in perfect shape to go trekking at the drop of a hat. I guess those days are gone now. With my sedentary lifestyle it’s more than enough that I can still walk a few kilometers when required. All I know is my colleagues are not going to see my face at the next monthly party no matter where it is. I need to rest and rest for at least another 7 years.