The Cotton Candy Reward

In the hustle and bustle of work, there’s so much we tend to forget. But there's a few things that stay behind, leave an impression on us that lasts long after we've left the casualty. Some patients might make you question, why in the world did you choose this profession, but others would  just provide you with an answer. In barely 48 hours of casualty/emergency room duty, I can revisit countless anecdotes, with many more to come and many more to cherish.

Day two of casualty duty and among the numerous cases that came, there was a man, assaulted. Broken teeth, a bone or two broken but what stood out was his broken spirit. We called the orthopedician, tried to calm him down and also his family/friends. In a while, all preliminaries done, he was sent for a confirmation x-ray and then shifted to the ward for further treatment, while we quickly hopped on to the next case, forgetting the last, and followed much of the same routine.

At 3 am, tired and wanting a break, we decided to go for a stroll. With that very patient's party were two giant sticks with cotton candy packets, to which we were drawn, quite literally like kids in a candy store! (Being a bunch of “just” 24 year olds). Drooling, I went with a 10 rupee note, asking for as many packets it would get us (knowing it won't be more than 3 to 4). Those people, overjoyed to see the Doctors who saved their friends life, gave us not just a packet, but loads of them. They even refused a mere sum we  offered (which we later forced them to take).

The next statement from them is probably the reason being a doctor is considered so satisfying.

“Aap Toh bhagwan hain hamare liye“
(You are like God to us)

Being in the middle of it all, a cog in the machine, sometimes we forget that patients are people and not just work. These humbling words were a reminder of how Medicine IS a noble profession, how we save lives. And even though it's become more of a business, but when a patient comes back to you, recovered or even recovering, his words are so so much sweeter than cotton candy!

P.S. many thanks to Ramakrishnan Dindigal for the editing :)

#55wordstory:Naughty

He was nice to all the other kids, finished his homework on time and gobbled up his vegetables. Everything leading to this day.

It had been 365 days since the last visit. But this time it would be different.

His eyes sparkling, anticipating the "bestest" present! No chance that Santa could call him naughty this time.

#55wordstory:Meet again as strangers

Two bodies but a conjoint soul they were. In their journey from juvenile beings to responsible adults, they had learnt everything together. Even to love.

A year after their separation, they sat hand in hand watching the sunset. It was all same to a passerby. But deep down they both knew, they were just strangers.

My White Canvas

A touch of blood or a whiff of blue,
A drop of green to add to the hue.
The pride in violet or a little black
For all the darkness in my head, in the back.

The grey of the burnings,
Or the Orange is it, cry the flame within
Or should I stick to bliss
With the pink of the skin.

If with all these shades, is a canvas,
Keeping the painter arise
It Should be a window
Into a task yet to surprise.

But here I stand clueless (a complete blank)
The brush in one
And holding the palette in another,
My empty mind failing to slither.

What should be my first stroke?
Do I have no start?
Or have I exhausted my options?
Have I done nothing so far?

(But wait)
Is the canvas actually blank?
Seems like I've done this all before,
The white staring at me, is it emptiness
Or a reflection of all the shades from the base to the core.