Memoir: A police officer on how he competed in the Ironman triathlon despite suffering from cancer

The most difficult ordeal a person endures is pain without explanation. Pain, physical or mental, is bearable if one understands the underlying cause. It becomes less intense. Sometimes, it’s even pleasurable. You might blame yourself or the bad things that have happened in your life. You have a reason and, whether consciously or unconsciously, you like it. The process can be addictive. Though it might leave you depressed.

But if you are experiencing severe pain and do not know why, you are unable to attribute it to anything. Then the pain becomes unbearable. Such was my state from November 2020 to January 2021. I was in excruciating pain, yet no one could explain it. I consulted the best doctors, but none could provide a satisfactory or convincing response. For more than two and a half months, I bore the excruciating pain with no explanation. When I learnt I had cancer, I was more happy than sad. The agony of not knowing had been intolerable. Deep inside I was satisfied, even while my entire world shook around me. At least, I now understood why I was in pain.

In early November 2020 on my way back to my posting in Lakshadweep, after finishing...

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