Category Archives: musings

Often it appears I’m just hanging by a thread The thought of it snapping fills me with dread I hover dangerously near the breaking point most days And wonder what would happen when the cords broke away But I’m always pulled back before the breaking point I reach So far the wall of my resilienceContinue reading “Hanging on”

You claim heartbroken you’ve been left By circumstances or other people, you’ve been bereft Of optimism in your life many times before You have almost stopped keeping score.. But have you realized how you could be Breaking your own heart repeatedly? * You develop attachment when you know That you should stay neutral, you letContinue reading “Don’t Break Your Heart”

Healing happens in circles, not in lines If you walk on a straight path leaving behind Your past trauma, you are unlikely to heal But if you retrace your steps backwards, it would not reveal The tools that you need to release from your soul All traces of trauma, to make yourself whole What youContinue reading “Healing in Circles”

Some cities seem to function as if they were designed With tourists, rather than residents in mind When we visit them as tourists it is hard to visualize That people actually live and work there, we don’t realize How the relentless emphasis on tourism affects residents How they have to grapple with sky-high rents HowContinue reading “On Overtourism”

About a hundred trillion microbes live Within our bodies, but until recently their collective Impact on our well-being was unknown Now an increasing number of studies have shown How minuscule organisms a big punch pack Based on which ones are abundant and which ones we lack Different disease manifestations we face In health and sickness,Continue reading “The Multitudes Within Us”

As a child all that was expected of me Was to be a good student, to excel academically There was one thing in which I could take pride- It was the ability to read and imbibe knowledge of subjects wide And apply that effectively to take tests That was what I was capable of doingContinue reading “Studious and Confident”

It is incredible that work makes me experience The highest highs and the lowest lows, some of my most intense Emotions are linked to events at the workplace Each day at work a different set of challenges I face.. * Since work is an integral part of my identity It is hard to work dispassionatelyContinue reading “Work…”

I feel mildly depressed and uninspired A pick-me-up is sorely required My pantry and refrigerator I raid I eat with abandon until I have made My stomach so full I cannot have another bite Eating mindlessly has helped me fight The void in my heart, to fill which I could not find Any constructive activityContinue reading “Coping”

I had been composing poems, but was afraid to show My writing to the world, I thought I did not know Enough about poetry to have the audacity to claim That my rhymes were “poems”, surely poetry of literary acclaim Is not supposed to rhyme in the way my verses do Regarding the literary elementsContinue reading “How to Write a Poem”

When I think of feminism I am drawn invariably To the many embodiments of “Goddess Shakti” She is the personification of divine feminine energy Who inhabits various forms legendary She has both benign and fierce incarnations That for me signify women’s liberation * The fierce “Kali” teaches me to fight Against injustice, through her displayContinue reading “Goddess”

Around a philosophy of saying yes, my career I had built When people asked for more, I would give, because the guilt Of knowing someone could suffer if I said no Would keep me up at night- thus my responsibilities continued to grow When people expressed gratitude, I felt gratified That to go above andContinue reading “Boundaries”

You can never become indifferent You can never become immune When your patient despite your efforts loses their life It affects you profoundly, it cuts like a knife You retrace your steps, you wonder if there was something you could have done That you did not do, something that would have changed the outcome YouContinue reading “Facing Mortality as a Physician”