Have words ever suddenly seemed unfamiliar to you, Imaginary Friends? Words that you’ve spoken, and used a million times, change abruptly to something different, and feel like cold hard smooth stones in your mouth.
They become like strangers. And it catches you unawares. And you ponder over them. And turn them around on your tongue and wonder why they seem so... altered.

It happened to me a few days ago. We were being shown a case of SLE, a rather obscure autoimmune disorder. The guy next to me was asked to explain the pathogenesis.

Pathogenesis is a word I’ve read millions of times. And spoken tens of thousands of times. Even written a few hundred times. In medical terms, it signifies the progression of disease.

But ‘Wow’, I caught myself thinking. ‘Pathogenesis? You are asking about the birth of this woman’s pathos?’
Is that just her illness?
Must human beings be diminished solely to their organic function?