Quarter of a Century.

Uncertainties and doubts loom large

But it was time for the annual recharge.

They say nature has the power to heal

With renewed vigour and zeal,

I set off towards yet another climb,

Except this was one was past bedtime!

Through the city we trudged for an hour or so,

And then we began our trek underneath the starry glow.

Puffing and panting, I was breathless in minutes,

Looking down, I could see the lights of the nearby rustic huts.

Why go through this, I asked my sedentary self plenty

But perhaps this is Nature's cashless fee.

As the cold winds taunted us towards the edge,

I knew this was a test I could not sledge.

Settling down into a sleeping bag on the hilltop

I realized there are so many things in Life I cannot stop

But the beauty of the nightsky was mine to cherish

The whizzing shooting stars were mine to wish.

Waking up to an ethereal streak of colour

That slowly grew into shades of pink and amber,

A peacock screamed lustily in the distance,

And Nature thus showcased her brilliance.

In the midst of the uncertainty that lies ahead

Not knowing the upcoming paths I shall tread,

This moment would be mine for eternity

Nature demands, but also unconditionally provides.

A New Decade.

10. Makhna - Drive 

9. Naznina

8. Manzar Hai Ye Naya - Uri

7. Believer

6. Fight Song

5. Hall of Fame

4. A Million Dreams

3. The Fighter

2. Challa - Uri

1. And recently - Malang Malang

And some more songs that gave me a lot of peace. It's almost like a routine to begin the day with some of the invigorating hymns of Shiva/ Hanuman/Durga.

There's a lot uncertainty about the road ahead and it's hard to deal with this cloud hovering above but we can only hope that there's going to be sunshine soon. If not, try to create my own happiness and take what life has to offer with gratitude.

The 2019 was a year that was a challenging transition; from the routine of hostel life to adapting to one at home. It's been a bittersweet experience but one that is perhaps necessary to progress to the next phase of life.

Here's summing up the journey through the subjects that I love and the ones that I have grown to love.

Biochemistry's cycles and pathways have a similar destiny,
Molecules interact within our body with the sole aim of energy.
The hand and foot are an Anatomist's prized tricks,
Leaving us baffled with overlapping muscles and intricate vessels.

Physiology attempts to simplify the complexities of our body,
With flowcharts, formulae and graphs.
While Psychiatry divides the maladies of the mind,
Based on myriad symptoms and specific durations.

Worms and their larva, but some with their operculated egg,
Don't even get me started on identifying mites and ticks by their leg!
Viruses with their myriad shapes and sizes arrive,
Only to be silenced by vaccines; killed and alive.

Through mosquito stats and sanitation facts we sojourn,
While nutrition facts and occupational hazards cause some heart burn.
Through charts and graphs we hope for some reprieve,
But the normal distribution curve has several tricks up its sleeve!

The pathways of disease were dealt in Pathology,
Mechanisms inside the microscopic cell lead to macroscopic changes!
With its artistic histopath slides in 50 shades of Purple and Pink,
Every tissue marker seemed to have a link!

Transporting us to the Labor Room,
OBG thrived on giving us scenarios in the womb.
From interpreting the partograms of obstructed labor,
To staging ovarian and endometrial carcinomas,
This subject surely couldn't be ignored!

What begins with audiograms and tympanograms,
Escalates into a variety of -plasties in tiny orifices.
ENT has its tuning fork tests and hearing devices,
Even as we fumble with the inner ear diagrams.

Cunningly similar, yet subtle differences emerge,
Fundoscopies of the eye have seen a recent surge.
Ophthalm explores beyond the mundane cataracts and conjunctivitis
Into the realm of corneal ulcers, dystrophies and uveitis.

Be it the tall and tented T Waves of Potassium excess,
Or the giant a waves of tricuspid stenosis,
The ST elevations of an MI to its exact artery involved,
Waves of all kinds are always favoured.

If splints and tractions of Ortho fill you to the brim,
Wait for the named fractures of every limb,
In Dermat, you navigate through the many layers of your skin,
Fungal infections and STDs are its kith and kin!

Milestones from a neonate to an unsteady toddler,
Abundant Syndromes like Turner, Edward and Potter.
Facts and figures, scores and cancer stages,
IPCs and CrPCs fill our pages,
A race against time, a chance, perhaps of a lifetime!

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