Nostalgia has a way of sneaking up on you. You try to avoid comparing the “good old days” to the present, but somehow, you end up doing it anyway. The younger generation hates it. They roll their eyes when we compare the 60s and 70s to today. But as you age, those comparisons just happenโwhether …
Bharit, Bhakris and the Fire Within
โStop this vomiting,โ she said firmly, her voice steady enough to make even the nurse stop fidgeting with the clipboard. โEase the pain a little. Once I gather some strength, Iโll take you to my village. Youโll sit on the mud floor, eating from banana leaves. Hot jowar bhakris, fresh off the chullah, with just …
Walking With Vitthal
Pandurang (name changed) is not a guru. He doesnโt stand on a stage, preaching to thousands. He isnโt a YouTuber making millions from daily wisdom. He hasnโt written books, nor made money from his teachings. He is a daily wage laborer from a village near Hinganghat, a 73-year-old man who never went beyond primary school. …
Of Kachha Chiwda and Aloo Bonda
Donโt forget to eat that ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐,โ he said again, his voice steady now. โI will,โ I replied with a smile, stepping away. Only a week earlier, his son had wheeled him into the hospital OPD, visibly anxious. A driver in our hospital, his face betrayed his helplessness as he pushed the wheelchair into my …
The Silent Surrender
In our quiet ward, a son softly asked, “Can I take my mother home?” Usually, such requests mean relief. Patients leave with hope, their struggles behind them. Grateful families thank the doctors, smiling. It feels like a victory. But this time, there was no joy. No happiness. His question wasn’t about hopeโit was about saying …
A Hole in Her Heart
It was a typical Thursday, my OPD day. After completing rounds, I settled into the clinic, surrounded by my medical residents. The waiting hall buzzed with life, crowded with patients, many standing near the door, each waiting their turn. Mornings like these felt routine, but they never lacked purpose. Our hospital, a beacon of hope …
Dolls of Clay: A Journey Through Life’s Stories
Dr. Shivnarayan Acharya and I share a bond from our days as alumni of GMC Nagpur. We both did MBBS and MD around the same time, though our paths took different turns after that. He became a nephrologist in Nagpur, while I focused on teaching and serving in a rural medical school in Sevagram. Over …
HMPV: A Dรฉjร Vu or a New Chapter?
With HMPV looming over us, I wonderโare we on the brink of another Covid-like hysteria? Act 1: Fear Takes Center Stage Fear of the unknown. The reflex to overreact. Every cough and sneeze under a microscope.Labs mushrooming everywhere. Machines humming. Pockets emptying. And panic rising. Act 2: Media Circus One pneumonia case hits the headlines. …
Delay. Delay. Delay.
This Diwali, Ravi (name changed) turned 19. He lived in a small town, 100 km southeast of Sevagram. Fresh out of his teens, he had completed his tenth grade at a local school and enrolled in a technical college. A promising future awaited himโsteady income, a stable life. His parents, both laborers in the fields, …
How much time do I have?
“How much time do I have now?” His voice on the phone was calm, almost casual. We had discussed the sudden cold wave, his family, his niece’s recent grand wedding, Jasprit Bumrah’s lethal bowlingโeverything except his illness. Then, out of the blue, he asked that question. Itโs a question I hear often. Families ask it …