Passion…unbridled

All stories draw inspiration from stories written in the past

The universal themes of human nature forever last

Many modern stories are derived from old classical tales

Some stories are such that their charm never fails

Many new stories are being retold

From a different perspective, but on the same scaffold..

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There are so many classical stories that need

Retelling from a different viewpoint indeed..

Most of the fairy tales, fables, folktales we have read

Have been narrated from a male-dominated viewpoint, instead

We need to give the women in those stories well-known

A distinctive voice, a voice of their own

Reimagine the stories in such a way

That women are not just bystanders, but have a real say

In determining the storyline, let these stories end differently

Let finding a prince the stereotypical ending not be..

And why should only the journey of the hero be highlighted

The journey of the female protagonist would leave me more excited

In retelling these stories let women find their place

In a patriarchal world, let their ambitions surface..

The word “ritual” somehow brings to my mind

Orthodox practices of a rather primitive kind

Governed by dogma and carried out

By followers of a blind faith devout

Maybe this word I have encountered being used

Only in the context above, therefore I am confused

When “ritual” is used in reference to routine practices everyday

Apparently developing rituals is beneficial in many ways…

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There is thought-provoking research that I read:

When routine activities are performed mindfully instead

Of being performed perfunctorily, what is habitual

Can be transformed into something more meaningful-a ritual

Rituals can imbue our lives with a sense

Of purpose, while bringing pleasure immense

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I believe I have a few “rituals” of my own

I had thought of them as quirks, I had not known

That they could be called my personal rituals indeed

These mindful practices in my daily life I need

To keep me grounded and centered through the day

So I can confidently navigate my way

Through life’s unexpected twists and turns

I can retreat to familiar rituals when the day is done.

We learnt to store an inordinate amount of information

In our hippocampi, we learnt data analysis and pattern recognition

To synthesize a patient’s complaints and tests

Into a diagnosis, and then treat it to the best

Of our abilities is what we have been taught

No one told us that one day we would not

Be the only ones capable of doing what we do

That Artificial Intelligence would encroach upon us too..

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Each study with AI seems to suggest

That AI is a better clinician than the rest

Of us, should we be worried indeed?

Would our expertise the world still need?

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Would the “DocGPT” make eye contact

Would the sanctity of patient-physician relationship stay intact

What would AI do if patient management fell outside the norm

How would AI in complex situations perform?

Would AI understand cultural nuances in healthcare

In shared decision-making with patients, how would AI fare?

Would AI read every minor abnormality on an imaging study

That is inconsequential to the overall health evidently..

Some say AI would free us humans up to do more

Of talking to and examining patients, like we were trained for..

How would we compete with AI that has stored data vast

We cannot learn that much that fast..

*

Are we going to enter an era that is new

Where robots, just like humans diagnose and treat too

To do it right would require some ingenuity

So humans and AI can work simultaneously

Time is a precious commodity and in short supply

Therefore every hack to save time I try to apply

To my daily routine, be intentional with every move

I am constantly thinking of ways to improve

The length of time I take to complete any task

Hoping that in the glory of leisure time I would bask

One evening, when all my chores are completed satisfactorily

I would sit back and relax, read and sip my tea..

*

At completing tasks fast I have acquired considerable skill

Yet I seem to have more and more work to fill

The finite amount of time I possess

The imaginary leisure time over which I obsess

I have never found, work fills it up in some way

I don’t feel that productive but I am working all day…

*

I am tired of pushing myself constantly

To complete work faster, no benefit I see

To my well-being by being on this hamster wheel

Therefore today I have decided to steal

A few moments of leisure in the midst of my chores

I am sitting down with a cup of tea, I am not going to think any more

About work until I am relaxed and completely satisfied

With this little break, quite hard I have tried

To place work above my needs, but I have lost

A sense of balance, and incurred a heavy cost

To my physical, mental and emotional wellness

But now I am determined to reverse this process..

Sometimes I have trouble remembering where I kept my keys

And it terrifies me each time to think one day I would cease

To remember matters of greater consequence

The idea of memory loss brings with it distress intense

New memories I wouldn’t be able to form

At work I wouldn’t be able to perform

Who would I be if my brain does not cooperate

The mere thought of being in a demented state

Makes cold sweats run down my spine

I want to do everything to preserve my mind…

*

I must keep my body and mind engaged

In activity so that I do not get to the stage

Of overt dementia, I want to preserve

My precious brain cells, so that they continue to serve

Me in every sphere of life as well as they do

I must eat responsibly and get adequate sleep too

Interact and connect with people all around

Replay old memories in my head, experience nostalgia profound..

*

Who knows what age has in store for me

What would fail first, my mind or my body

I know I must sleep now, because memories consolidate

In the stillness of a slumberous state

Most of the stories I have read

Most of the history my mind has been fed

Has come from the voices of those who dominated

Over countries and people, they have narrated

History from their point of view

But I want to hear from the other side too

Those who were subjugated, those who were forced

Against their will, I want to source

My comprehension of the world from their side

I want to learn the stories narrated with pride

Of their struggles, their frustrations, their powerlessness

In the face of tyranny and oppression relentless

Of how their collective consciousness was shaped

By the constant undermining they faced..

*

When I have the privilege to meet people from different lands

I hope to hear their unvarnished stories, I hope to understand

The world as they see it, which differs frequently

From the dominant narrative drilled into me

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Every story deserves to be told

That is how the truth unfolds

Why should only the victor’s narrative

In the public knowledge live

When we see history from a different lens

The world begins to make more sense

Equity begins when everyone has a voice

To tell our stories, we all should have a choice

Read every message, every e-mail

As soon as it is received, without fail

And compose a reply to the message sent

To act immediately should be the intent..

Answering promptly is a way of showing respect

For the sender’s time, by not showing neglect

You would be perceived more favorably

You would enhance your networking capacity..

*

To this culture of immediacy I find it hard to subscribe

It causes me unease that I cannot quite describe

To see and respond to a message immediately

Fragments my time and reduces my productivity

Once I am distracted by a message, it is hard to get back

To the work at hand, therefore the best productivity hack

For me is to schedule specific times during the day

To check messages and e-mails and answer them away..

*

I want to take time to understand the messages sent

To thoughtfully compose replies is my intent

That takes time, and cannot be

Accomplished with a looming sense of urgency

*

If you’ve sent me a message be prepared to wait a day or two

The most appropriate reply I want to send to you…

An unpleasant thought enters my mind

And an inexplicable urge I find

To replace it with a more palatable thought

The original thought has perturbed me, I cannot

Wait for it to exit my consciousness and make way

For another, more pleasant thought to enter and stay

*

What if I could merely a passive observer be

The thought passing through my mind I would see

Without reacting to the emotions that the thought

Would unfortunately to the surface have brought

Once the thought passed by, an empty space I would find

A vast sea of silence and tranquility in my mind

I would let my mind stay there, of thoughts devoid

Until another thought floated in to fill the void..

If I could then observe the new thought similarly

Without reacting with emotion, I could train myself to be

Comfortable with the empty space in my mind

In this fast-paced world, peace I might be able to find

I think therefore I can thrive

I think, because I have the drive

To maximize my potential and productivity

I try to engage my grey cells to their capacity

I don’t know any other way to live

Much importance to careful thought I give

I rarely rely on intuition alone

I think and sift through all data known

*

As I grow older I am beginning to realize

Perhaps I think too much, it may not be wise

To overthink each decision like I do

I should learn to go with my gut feeling too

I think too much and give myself the illusion

Of being in control, while my mind is embroiled in confusion

*

I had been trained to consciously weigh

All pros and cons of a situation, to never throw away

Caution to the winds, but sometimes this strategy

Gives me completely avoidable anxiety

*

I am trying to learn to trust my instinct

And go with the flow, not overthink…

Your social media posts on the internet

Live forever, they do not let you forget

The past- your old posts show up in memories

Sometimes it’s from the past a pleasant breeze

You see old pictures and wonder how time has flown

You marvel at how your children have grown..

*

Then there are the old posts that you now find

Extremely cringeworthy, you wonder what was going through your mind

That you wrote something like that for the whole world to see

Now they appear ridiculous, childish or incorrect politically..

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If you critically evaluate your posts longitudinally

How social media and you yourself have evolved, you would see

What was once innocuous to post may no longer be so

You have grown older, you also do not want the world to know

About everything you do, you are more aware

Of privacy settings, you do not dare

To give too much of yourself away

Like you unknowingly did back in the day

*

You post stuff that appears appropriate now

May be in ten years, you would wonder how

You could have posted something like that indeed

When old posts surface in your social media feed

What happened to us in healthcare that we

Have collectively experienced moral injury

That throughout the spectrum of healthcare we face

Increasing distress and burnout in the workplace..

*

High achievers and industrious workers we had always been

But the pandemic brought challenges unprecedented and unseen

Our coping mechanisms were stretched thin

Yet we thought with vaccines and treatments we would win

The pandemic ended, but exposed deep systemic issues in its wake

Our resilience could no longer keep up, we were ready to break..

*

Some of us broke down and left healthcare

Some decided to disengage and not care

Some of us are still trying to compensate

For systemic failures by overloading our plates

Feeling unmotivated and burnt out

Still inside but looking for an escape route

Feeling guilty because burnout is supposed to be

An individual failing, its avoidance individual responsibility

*

When so many healthcare workers have faced moral injury

The onus partly lies on organizations to see

That healthcare workers have the resources they need

To minimize the impact of such injury indeed

I see a shooting star and want to wax poetic

I want it to be a sign, a vision prophetic

Then I chide myself because it is just an astronomical body

Nothing extraordinary about it, don’t know why anybody

Would ascribe romantic connotations to a meteor in the sky

I feel a bit silly thinking about movie-style romance, I won’t lie..

*

A vibrant sunset with the sky colored in vivid hues

I witness on the the horizon, I marvel at the view

I feel a sense of awe, I want to stop and stare

At the sun going down, but I do not dare

To be so impractical as to waste precious time

In doing nothing but watching a sunset sublime..

*

A cardinal I see in my backyard, I am mesmerized

By its flame-red plumage, I admire it wide-eyed

When it flies away to another perch, out of my sight

I feel a bit disappointed, but that feeling I fight

I know there are bird-watchers but I am not one anyway

Staring at a beautiful bird is not how I should spend my day..

*

There are times when I experience awe in a regular day

But instead of savoring that experience, I tend to walk away

From the scene, convincing myself it is of little value

To spend time thus, that I have productive tasks to do

In writing this verse I realize how cynical I’ve become

That the wonders of nature seem to me bothersome…

*

Next time the universe showcases its splendor to me

I shall take a pause, and immerse myself fully

Into the scene, soak in the feeling of amazement

To let my romantic fantasies loose would be my intent