That blind spot on the back

“Will you scratch my back?” I asked my wife. 

She looked at me with a suspicious expression. “So that you can scratch my back?”

Romance was the last thing on my mind. I was being annoyed by a blind spot on my back that was irritatingly itchy. And I could not reach it. That was why I called it a blind spot. 

I have had a back ever since I was born. And one part or the other has been getting itchy over the years. Earlier the back was small, and I was flexible. I could reach every area with one hand or the other. 

Now on the wrong side of 50s, flexibility has taken a hit. There is a small area of the back which I can’t reach without dislocating my shoulders or breaking the bones of the arms. 

Come to think of it, maybe I am unable to scrub the area in shower and it shows its resentment by going itchy. Now, if I can’t reach it with soap, I can’t reach it without soap also – simple logic. 

I been observing the animals with same problem. But many of them have long necks or very agile limbs and they can scratch any part of their body. It is only the bigger animals like buffaloes, cows and the hippopotamus that face this problem. I saw them rubbing their bodies against poles. But I discarded the idea for two reasons – one, there always was the danger of electrocution and second, poles are on roadsides only and I had to go out of the house for the needful. I tried rubbing my back against the corner of the wall at home and it was quite satisfying. Though I had to face satirical comments from the family. 

I reached out to friends who have been practicing yoga for many years. Their bodies were far more flexible than mine, but they also had the blind spots over the back. May be yoga does not include a specific Asna for the problem. 

I remember my mother using a long pencil with a small hand like structure at one end, to reach the blind spot of the back. Now I realise the utility and importance of the simple invention. The genius of the inventor is lost to the world, it is not mentioned anywhere. Edison might have invented the bulb, but he must have struggled to reach his blind spot. 

I talked to a doctor friend, and he handed over a tube of ointment to me out of his drawer. I was happy with the anticipation of relief that I was about to get. I reached home and squeezed the tube over my finger. And then I realised I can’t reach the spot. 

I am going out to the stationary shop to get a long pencil with a hand like structure on one end.