Sticking My Neck Out, Again, Quoting/Blaming Shakespeare - IMRAN™ “Yield not thy neck to fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind still ride in triumph over all mischance.” -- Henry VI, Part 3: William Shakespeare Blessed to have made it through a complicated surgery, I was grateful to be alive, and back home. Soon I decided I was going to (carefully) take my first shower - and without the neck brace. I was sticking my neck out, literally again, but the words of Shakespeare above echoed in my ears. You will have read the story of what happened. You can see the incision was quite wide and still pretty raw (although not pretty LOL). Yes, I cropped the selfie to hide my non-Hollywood star body from scaring you! Where does Shakespeare come into play, no pun intended? I fortunately elected a Cambridge University curriculum schooling at age 9 when I moved from co-ed Christ The King School in Karachi, Pakistan to the all-boys St. Paul's High. I was blessed to receive and benefit from that education - although it was a very new thing in Pakistan at that time. (It is now basically the system every educated family puts its kids through). It was, and still is, also much tougher than the local schooling standard, which the vast majority of students went through. Only about 20% students of the whole batch in a year elected Cambridge back when we started. Nearly 50 of us started in Class 6 in 1971 at St. Paul's, but literally whittled down to just 15 by the time we took the Cambridge exam in 1976. Four of us from that group (who know each other since 1969) are in the USA. We still do annual reunions in Manhattan. May we keep meeting in good health while we have the chance. Besides some incredible teachers, even in a developing nation at the start of the 1970s, getting introduced to an elevated level of English Literature (especially the work of William Shakespeare) was one of the great joys of that education. Late Sister Mary Francis (Language) unleashed my passion for writing. London Shakespearean actor-turned Literature teacher in Pakistan Edward L'Steve opened the gates for a flood of my multi-level bad puns that many of you suffer from! A pain in the neck, you could say! For example, the word "neck" literally appears in the first four lines of Romeo & Juliet, with dozens of interpretations (based on what meanings the different words and pronunciations are used with). However, it is not just puns and double entendre that I love the bard's words for. There are even serious quotes about wishing ill on someone's throat, and throats that only voice lies like some political figures. From my surgeon's perspective there is an apt one: “There is Throats to be cut, and Works to be done.” ― William Shakespeare, Henry V ! I do not quote Shakespeare much in my posts. However, his many inspiring turns of phrase, and verbal tapestries, often come to my mind at different times during the days of my life. With what I had recently been through, and with gratitude to God and all the prayers and love I receive, I repeated this one about "neck" to myself, once again... "Yield not thy neck to fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind still ride in triumph over all mischance.” © 2023 IMRAN™ #IMRAN #Shakespeare #Cambridge #education #CambridgeUniversity #SainPaulsHighSchool #Karachi #literature #language #gratitude #wordplay #puns #inspiration #autobiography #PakistanSticking My Neck Out, Again, Quoting/Blaming Shakespeare - IMRAN™ “Yield not thy neck to fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind still ride in triumph over all mischance.” -- Henry VI, Part 3: William Shakespeare Blessed to have made it through a complicated surgery, I was grateful to be alive, and back home. Soon I decided I was going to (carefully) take my first shower - and without the neck brace. I was sticking my neck out, literally again, but the words of Shakespeare above echoed in my ears. You will have read the story of what happened. You can see the incision was quite wide and still pretty raw (although not pretty LOL). Yes, I cropped the selfie to hide my non-Hollywood star body from scaring you! Where does Shakespeare come into play, no pun intended? I fortunately elected a Cambridge University curriculum schooling at age 9 when I moved from co-ed Christ The King School in Karachi, Pakistan to the all-boys St. Paul's High. I was blessed to receive and benefit from that education - although it was a very new thing in Pakistan at that time. (It is now basically the system every educated family puts its kids through). It was, and still is, also much tougher than the local schooling standard, which the vast majority of students went through. Only about 20% students of the whole batch in a year elected Cambridge back when we started. Nearly 50 of us started in Class 6 in 1971 at St. Paul's, but literally whittled down to just 15 by the time we took the Cambridge exam in 1976. Four of us from that group (who know each other since 1969) are in the USA. We still do annual reunions in Manhattan. May we keep meeting in good health while we have the chance. Besides some incredible teachers, even in a developing nation at the start of the 1970s, getting introduced to an elevated level of English Literature (especially the work of William Shakespeare) was one of the great joys of that education. Late Sister Mary Francis (Language) unleashed my passion for writing. London Shakespearean actor-turned Literature teacher in Pakistan Edward L'Steve opened the gates for a flood of my multi-level bad puns that many of you suffer from! A pain in the neck, you could say! For example, the word "neck" literally appears in the first four lines of Romeo & Juliet, with dozens of interpretations (based on what meanings the different words and pronunciations are used with). However, it is not just puns and double entendre that I love the bard's words for. There are even serious quotes about wishing ill on someone's throat, and throats that only voice lies like some political figures. From my surgeon's perspective there is an apt one: “There is Throats to be cut, and Works to be done.” ― William Shakespeare, Henry V ! I do not quote Shakespeare much in my posts. However, his many inspiring turns of phrase, and verbal tapestries, often come to my mind at different times during the days of my life. With what I had recently been through, and with gratitude to God and all the prayers and love I receive, I repeated this one about "neck" to myself, once again... "Yield not thy neck to fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind still ride in triumph over all mischance.” © 2023 IMRAN™ #IMRAN #Shakespeare #Cambridge #education #CambridgeUniversity #SainPaulsHighSchool #Karachi #literature #language #gratitude #wordplay #puns #inspiration #autobiography #Pakistan

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