To be cared for

I have a history of landing in Kolkata sick or landing here and getting sick. Cracking the subliminal mystery of why that happens will be a project for another time, but for the moment as I type up this gratitude all I can say is that nothing will endear you more to life than being cared for when sick. I am being nourished and spoiled. I woke up to tea in bed, followed by a breakfast of luchi-torkari also in bed. I am sipping a special concoction to drive away sickness, prepared with ingredients bought for it specially in the morning. I am in the very lap of care. There is a paper to be finished for the conference, there is the conference itself tomorrow, but right now all that feels manageable. Life, with all its mess, seems manageable too. Grateful to Paromita and her mother for tending to me.