Smiling In The Rain.

 Behind the veil of innocence,

Lies a heart of steel and resilience.

Behind the tantrums and tears,

Is a child facing its worst fears.

Innumerable pricks from labs,

A childhood scarred with needles and jabs,

Alien to the scientific terms of the specialist,

Yet human enough to understand the grave tone of a realist.

Some children have ambitious dreams and reach for the stars,

While some wish for a healthier day and infrequent scars.

Childhood is all fun and frolick,

Unless it's a little one who has to endure being sick.

Smiling through the rain.

Working with children over the past few months has been an experience unparalleled. Every child has a story and a lesson to be learnt in management of a condition.

But there are also times when you realize that some children will have to live with their condition all their life, be it Thalassemia or Diabetes Mellitus or Chronic Kidney Disease, to name a few. 

It made me realize how their childhood is never the same as others, more often spent in between hospital visits, affecting their education and social life, more often than not.

Yet, these children come and go with a smile on most days, aware of the reality and facing it with as much courage as they can muster.

Little Treasures.

 

If there was, perhaps, a way to measure
The love of a parent for their little one,
Their wellness is the only treasure,
And in this pursuit, they would stop at none.

Amidst barriers big and small,
No length too far for a sign of hope,
Wishing for recovery in the long haul,
Sometimes clutching at the ends of a thin rope.

To watch the joy in their eyes at last,
When the critical phase has been surpassed,
To watch the smiles of the family intact,
Makes every busy moment, immensely memorable, in fact.

Loss.

A tiny miracle that grew within her,

Nursed with all the love and care she could muster

Arrived earlier than anticipated on a monsoon night,

Yet she knew, it did not feel right.

A little too soon, they told her and whisked the little one away.

Amidst beeping monitors and mangled wires he lay.

While artificial warmth and breathing tubes were applied,

Out of the comfort of her womb, he struggled to cope with the outside.

One evening, he forgot to take his breath,

They say when you're born to soon, that's bound to occur,

As he was hooked on to a bigger machine in a blur,

Perhaps she realized he was inching closer to death.

She prayed for his strength, a tiny miracle,

But to aid his breath, his lungs were atypical.

They said they tried, with all the clinical care they could provide,

But none could hold back as the young mother cried.