Was she smirking at my work?
She liked my work
She stood in the middle of the road.
Not different from her appearance she had some 16 years ago.
It was 2016. I was a palliative care doctor.
She wore a similar saree as in school days..
Not that I remember the colors she was clad in.
I noticed her face brimming with joy wider when she saw me.
I was on the opposite side of the road.
I recognized her immediately.
Was I hallucinating?
Why was she at the back of my mind?
God forbid it was her…..
My Biology teacher.
She was looking at me pleased.
I wondered if that smirk was for me and my work.
I was on my way to deal with a cancer patient.
Who placed her there, did she shift her abode.
I remember the 4th hour at school before lunch.
I remember her every word.
It is 2024.
I authored Precision Public Health last year.
She taught me genetics.
I am proficient with genetics because of her.
It formed the basis for my understanding of precision sciences.
I am indebted.
In grief and happiness, howsoever I went through in my life; she is remembered.
My car passed by on that day.
We exchanged a glance only.
She was the foundation and these were my modest achievements.
Don’t know if it would be good to share.
I deal with so much everyday.
The impetus for such dealings was long ago.
Such is my reverence for her.
Such is my reverence for my teachers.
The work is done when we get the right guidance.
The work seems impossible when there is no one to guide or emulate.
I got married, with her ideals.
I left my marriage because things became against those ideals.
Today I am alone.
But for my memories, there is no scope for loneliness.
She fills me partially and vividly tonight.
My bed time will be relaxing because I thought of her.
Then I thought of her some 3 years later than 2001.
She was who taught me the Haversian Canal System.
How beautifully I remember the osteoclasts.
She was similar; my histology teacher.
She spake softly.
I had to strain my ears.
Its astounding I thought even her.
My being alone keeps pulling me back to those years.
They were productive and full of people.
I am a people’s person.
My nostalgia is my companion like we regard the photos of our baby’s first birthday.
Images, let us be friends.
I am at peace with it.
Chattering online, poetically coping with nostalgia makes it interesting.
This is the power of a human mind.
Three projects await my attention.
I will finish them by next year.
This year was productive.
I have no regrets as for having lived the way it should be this year.
There is uncertainty ahead.
But let me be present, acknowledging this nostalgia.
I got my strength from the remains of the lessons I learnt throughout my lifetime till date.
And then as it is said “Life is like that!!”
