The Scalpel Speaks

"I can relax now," declares A, relief writ large on her face. "Are you going on leave ?" asks S, knowing full well that it is a rhetorical question. There is no leave for doctors through this Corona pandemic. "Have you tested IgG positive ?" (signifying that you have developed protective antibodies against the Covid-19 virus and therefore are not vulnerable to it), that's the only news that can give some joy. "Are you permitted to work from home ?" That is nasty coming from one Gynaecologist to the other who can work from home only as well as a pilot can ! The questions flow, fast and furious (too much Netflix) as we sit around in our demarcated chairs, six feet apart in the waiting area of our now deserted OPD on the fourth floor of our hospital, the OPDs having been shifted to the first floor for the duration of the pandemic. I have packed my 'Covid Bag' and kept it in the car and am ready to walk into Quarantine as and when requi...

“Will you marry me ?” he asked. The tall, good-looking, articulate SDM of the city. I run away, though it broke my heart to do so. Why? I was a doctor and he wasn’t- and I had to marry one. One day his patience with my work will run out, or my love for the good life will tear me away from my calling. It’s like taking the holy vows of The Order! Marry I did. An upcoming physician, and me, a gynaecologist embarked on our journey of Life and Medicine together. During post-graduation, the only sizeable leave that one gets is the preparatory leave before exams, so we prepared to get married in his prep leave. I must have been the only newbie wife to pack a couple of his books on our honeymoon trip and even badgered him to study, balancing the ardour with the arduousness ! Love is... cooking together... till it’s not. When you return from the hospital, long past anyone’s lunchtime- tired, hungry, to a half-cooked meal which is the best you could manage before dashing out. Before the...