(C) libertyballers.com

I.

March the 31^st was World Cleavage Day. That’s probably long-forgotten. But that was a day dedicated to celebrating ‘feminism’ or ‘female empowerment’ or whatever conundrum is coined by the 21^st century woman to celebrate the fact that she’s equal to the task of wearing a man’s trousers. Women round the world (not all) especially in London prowled the neighbourhood in lingerie (bras and pants bla bla bla). The situation’s weirdness forced me to find out if it was so declared by the WHO or UN or whichever organization is responsible for dedicating particular days to a cause. I surfed the net, found no single bit of information to that effect. The day was, perhaps, arbitrarily declared by no one in particular!

II.

Today I had cause to view the radiograph of an 8-year old boy that had osteomyelitis. I kept peering at the radiograph seeking the offending anomalies. After a brief period of low-pitched mumble jumble the House Officer beside me proceeded to explain some things (that) he only could see. He started ‘these white dots (I couldn’t see any white dots) signify bla bla bla, these clear borders (didn’t really see that too) signify osteosclerosis bla bla bla,’ he rattled on. Then he pointed at some spot and said that that was a pathological fracture at which point I had to tell out loud I wasn’t seeing any fracture.  My colleagues and I had to squint a little more to see what we thought looked like a fracture. Only the gods, perhaps Zeus  alone, know if what we saw was it. If Zeus wasn’t in the middle of a tryst with Aphrodite (or some Part I girl) at that mo, that is. This incident reminded me of the many things that i never saw, heard or felt but had to see, hear and feel…and since the world is so weird that it could dedicate a day to women’s cleavage, we could well dedicate a day to those things we never saw…

III.

When I was in Year I and still studying physics, countless number of times those laboratory attendants attempted to show us images behind pyramidal prisms that UNILAG probably purchased in 1963. They’d complain loudly, surprise registered on their black faces that we couldn’t spot the so clear images only they could see. Week in, week out I stared at those prisms till my eyes began to convince my brain to create them images. I was pretty sure those men never saw a thing. When I think back now I believe some of them suffered from presbyopia or diplopia…they just musta had some sorta poor eyesight!

Histology slides in Part I were so vague! The only ones I can recall till date are those ones showing fibroblasts and nails. The slides (probably prepared in 1962) were just like watercolor shades of red and blue and we crammed them like that into our brains expecting to meet them in the exams. Of course, the questions changed. Many of us, without doubt, have had experiences like this. If you ever looked through the microscope or offered chemistry in secondary school, you must have at some point seen an organism which wasn’t there or smelled a gas which you never got after several mixtures. Share if you will.

IV.

Should a day be dedicated to those things we never saw, heard or felt? The ayes have it! Let’s have May the 31st then.