It feels as though we are cursed. Nothing and nobody will lift this curse, not even the unseen forces. It seems to have arrived for a permanent stay, a formidable force, sharp enough to freeze anything in its embrace. Should anyone proclaim it’s going to fade in its intensity any day now, there’s no response but to laugh out loud. Laugh at our helplessness. Uncertainty. And finally, disorder of the worst kind.

I often visit hospitals. They are my second home. They have nurtured me. I remember their walls. I kiss their floor. White coats and injections are holy to me. I can gauge, from the way a person speaks or walks, what emergency they are facing or what’s going on in their mind. I am well-acquainted with every aspect. I know when people are at their best and when they are at their lowest.

I am familiar with everything. Don’t you trust me? Meet me. I will show you a mountain of prescriptions, a heap of test reports, and a mound of medicine wrappers. I will substantiate it with the stories I witnessed. With exhaustion, I felt around me. With unnecessary hardships I have seen people subjected to it. I have witnessed fistfights, verbal abuse, and screams throughout all these........

© Greater Kashmir