DILEMMAS AND DIRECTIONS
DILEMMAS AND DIRECTIONS October brought with it, the quick transition in weather as the chill blanket of fog, pushed the monsoon winds to oblivion. Likewise, the in-patient department of Ashakiran hospital was putting up its contrasting facets like an artist flouting various costumes. At a moment it was a sanitised version of hell; in the next it became the sentinel of hope. At an instance it offered solace; it broke the hearts of men in the next. In those moments of rapid incarnations, the ward offered valuable lessons as I sit down and ponder over a Sunday that took me through a full circle of dejection and contentment. The phone rang persistently voicing the urgency of the call that Saturday night. The nurse on the other side spoke in her typical dialect, “Saar , naya patient asla!!” (Sir, a new patient has come). Clearing my eyes of the scales of somnolence, I looked at the watch. It was 2:00 am. Facing a cold that was sending a shiver down my spine, I set out of my room