Once you are in Delhi, you can not keep yourself insulated from the innumerable show-cases of medical facilities that are strewn all around.
Every ailing person in this part of the country tries to reach one of the corporate hospitals in the hope of getting a new lease of life.
However, the seat of excellence and the Alma mater of all medical superstars AIIMS - All India Institute of Medical Sciences remains a place of reverence for one and all. My visits there, both as as an accompanying attendant and as a patient, evoked certain feelings that I could not resist penning down as a tribute to this unique institution.

AIIMS - All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Streams of Homo sapiens rushing through a creek,

Shoulders bent, faces lorn and  bodies weak,

Heady ones pushing through the frail and meek,

Silence of thousands broken by a painful shriek.

Already suffered beyond the limits of pain and grief,

Flocked from far and distant in search of relief,

Huddled together by the bond of faith and belief,

You are herded in the waiting area like a thief.

New acquaintances waiting for doctors and nurses,

Women forgetting grief holding to their purses,

People howling on each other choicest curses,

Listen to them and you get lines for your verses.

Pathways to registry are bumpy unless greased,

Yet, once you see the doc, you are surprisingly pleased,

Your pain is heard and your stress is released,

You feel satisfaction and your suffering has ceased.

Here eye is on your disease and not your wealth,

Hope is alive even with a semblance of breath,

It's not like the starred centers of health,

With discounts on life and premiums on death.

After a huge gap of time, that was lost in activities non of which today appear to be worth a dime, I am back to my natural self of trying to read, recall and rephrase my experiences. These experiences have potential of evoking enormous feelings and each feeling is worth a million words.

Having spent a sizable time of life in countryside like towns and townships, life in a metropolitan city like Delhi, its rush, its material world and its speed left an indelible mark on my psyche.

This piece was penned during a metro-ride across the city.....

Surviving City Life

Sea of humanity jostling to get in a stream,

With a lot of hustle, silently without a scream,

Across lanes and stairs, escalators and elevators,

Each trying to march a foot ahead to his dream.

Not that they are different from each other,

Yet they are so indifferent to each other,

Neighbours so anonymous and so conspicuous,

One in the queue is killed, the next doesn't bother.

Seas are unlimited but are fed by tiny rivers,

The sea engorges all, thus the stream quivers,

Horizons widen with waves so mendacious,

Boats get raked and fishes get shivers.

None would escape the rage of times,

The bells keep tolling and the clock chimes,

Citadels of power with stories so salacious,

Men weighed in numbers and women in dimes.

Winners take the path less travelled,

Running through bushes and paths not graveled,

Searching solitude with grit so tenacious,  

Seeking puzzles and mysteries to be unraveled.