Ravana

A bleeding heart, a suppressed soul

Silent tears, gaping wounds

A mountain on my back, earth beneath

I cry out with my ten heads

Ravana I have become.

Many Roles

Shakespeare was probably right, for once.

"All the world's a stage and we are just actors" rings true in my ears. 

Aren't we all exactly that? Trying to portray a different image to others than what we actually are? I try and ask a patient to give up smoking and drinking when I myself can guzzle four large pegs without even batting an eyelid, and not even doing the customary swaying bit. I talk and speak to people as if nothing has happened when in reality, things will never be the same again. I lie to people whom I never thought was possible to lie. Hell, sometimes I get so much 'into character' that I manage to even fool myself.

I wonder where the 'Director' leads the play, where my part is truncated, or where I emerge victorious with the spoils, only to go down again... I just wonder...

"All the world's a stage and we are just actors".

Overheard in OT

Hold the tissues as if you are holding your girlfriend.

The Ordeal

The bang of a blast, the ricochet of a bullet,

A ride too fast, a disease of the heart

A blade pressing on the wrist, being mauled by a beast

Falling from a cliff, a claim of the deep

An accident on the road, being devoured by the Fire God

A noose around the neck, stoppage of the breath.

Surviving in this world is an accomplishment

Make the most of it while you can.

Death is the ultimate truth

And no one gives a damn when you are gone.

(PS: This is no poem :))

Nepuism 10

Soon is an expression of time. Time is relative. Need I say more?

coming soon

AD-MAD

Whats in a name?

Nothing. As Shakespeare Uncle will (or did) probably say. Quite a lot. As me and others may say. 

But its not to discuss this very important question that I am writing here. If my memory serves me right, nomenclature woes have been discussed in detail earlier. Its just that spending the night at the hospital Doctor's Room with nothing else to do (at the present moment), I just remembered something about some patients and people I met here. In part, this post is inspired from another post titled 'Some names'.

1. The day 'New Era' was born, an earthquake rocked her village. 

2. 'Antim' was the first patient in OPD today.

3. 'Curious' was supremely uninterested in the goings-on around him.

4. 'Healthy' suffers from recurrent abscesses in the gluteal region.

5. 'Drink' fell down and came with a bleeding wound. Appropriately, he was drunk.

6. 'Blushing' is always angry.

7. 'Beautiful' is the worst case of acne I ever saw.

8. 'Be Careful' wasn't careful enough and was hurt in an accident.

:)

Tobacco Tales

I have never liked tobacco in any form. Be it khaini, saada, beedi or cigarette. Maybe the hatred took root during my childhood. My dad used to (still does, for that matter) chew tobacco (saada). It involved careful preparation. Stripping the tobacco leaf, tearing it to small pieces, putting it in the palm of the left hand, adding lime to it and rubbing it with the thumb of the right hand. Things used to be fine till that stage. The next step involved the blowing away of the minuscule pieces, usually by clapping the hands. While it had the desired effect for the preparation being made, small particles used to float in the air taking their time to settle down. Eventually, some would find their way to my nostrils and tickle the sensitive nerve endings on the upper part of the nose resulting in some violent sneezing fits. Till this day, when I see a person preparing tobacco in this manner, I take off as fast as possible from the vicinity.

But its not my hatred of tobacco that I was going to talk about. It is something else, something all of you have probably noticed and marveled at at certain points of time.

It is my ardent belief that if all men were tobacco chewers (of the leaf variety, not the fancy preparations), a great feeling of unity and harmony could be easily achieved. Tobacco usage and sharing extends beyond race, religion, caste and tribe. Ever seen a person preparing tobacco in a crowded train compartment? He pulls out the pouch from his pocket with great difficulty, extracts the stuff and starts preparing. As soon as the stuff reaches the edible (chewable?) stage, scores of palms stretch outwards - known and unknown. He never hesitates. There is always enough and for everyone! And then a camarederie forms between those people who shared the tobacco from the same palm as that of two children who fed from the same breast (what an analogy!!!), a camarederie that is broken only by the ending of the journey. 

Incredible, isn't it? Incredible that a bunch of people who care so much for race, religion, culture and all that stuff and who share the same air, the same water, the same misfortunes, the same enjoyments of day to day life but fail to recognize others come together with that pinch of stuff called tobacco. Boundaries are broken, feuds forgotten and good will established. Would that all the people of our country were tobacco chewers, we may have had a better state of affairs than what  presently exists.

Statutory warning: Consumption of tobacco in any form is injurious to health. This post doesn't advocate tobacco chewing even if it be for the express purpose of achieving national integration.