Apparently, I have about half a dozen cavities in my mouth and the above world-view was a part of the process to rid me of those cavities.

For the first time in 25 years of my life, I visited a dentist. The dentist in question, a lady, who without question, was an excellent practitioner of her profession was going to make the next hour of my life miserable. My loud mouth contributed to this misery - "No doctor, I think I can manage without anasthesia". Conclusion - Mard ko Dard hota hai boss.

There were a few amazingly stupid questions/wisecracks I put to the doc.

• "Whoaa? Drill?... Doctor, its my tooth that we are talking about"
• "Doc, its paining like hell; Is this normal or am i being a sissy?"
• "Doc, why is not bleeding?"
• "Doc, you would give me time-breaks during the process right?"
• "Its like your entire dispensary is in my mouth. How about making me lay here with all of these in my mouth and calling in the next patient?"
• "Cement?? You must surely mean ceramic?"

Its amazing how doctors can switch their emotions/reactions so easily. Heres a piece of advice - 'Cute' questions don't work. Just because the doctor laughed at your wisecracks, does not mean she'll go easy with the dental apparatus in your mouth. I learned it the hard way - you might have gone through this earlier. If you haven't, thank me for forewarning you.

You see the light in the picture above? That is your only distraction when you sitting like a crocodile (in waiting for its prey). All the while, to forget the 'sensitivity' I was trying to detect motion in and around this light and then came my third inference - "This is boring."

Everything makes you think, well ideally, everything should. Pain is no exception.I was wondering what they might have been doing when technology was not at a level where it is today. On a parallel line of thought, I was also thinking - Man, this is just a tooth, imagine the pain our mums would have undergone when we were extracted from them.

Even as my thoughts wandered beyond the realm of 'what the hell is going on in my mouth?", the ordeal was gradually coming to a close. Man, this was just the left side. I followed up the set of 6 mentioned above with another 'whatever you want to call it'.

"Doctor, lets keep the next appointment a while later. I do not have a very good memory(well not anymore). I think that'll help me forget whatever happened today.....(and I can come back as a Mard and tell you "No doctor, I think I can manage withou......)"

Crap!