Regrets

  and i rushed to the airport

  wanting to board that flight

  they finally revealed to me

  he was dying

  and a voice says: you must see him 

  once or you will regret it 

  the tornado hit the east

  the flight is cancelled 

  comfortable in my fancy hotel room

  i wonder what it meant

  was it the storm or was I

  that stole him away

THE LOST CONSTANT

That early constant

In the making

Since I first laid eyes

A childhood innocence

Unable to unsee

For seven seas apart

With reasons unknown

That stubbornness 

Became my life

Transpired into

A relationship that endured

The cosmic collusions

And the playful ruse

As a lighthouse in thick storm

That shone my course

When in doubt

My strength galore

With time

Things change

That law of universe

But is that true

For all?

Where I wonder

If constant is a deception

For even a star

That shines from afar

Step close

And it’s fated to be lost

Leap

Taking a leap from one world to another,

Falling through the crack was not her plan

Daily Wisdom - PM&R | How to deal with an angry patient?

Patient, "The medical doctors didn't do anything. They don't know what they are doing. They didn't fix my shoulder. They didn't even do an X-Ray."

Dr. A, "Are you angry at them?"

Patient, "Yes, I am."

Dr. A, " Are they angry at you?"

Patient hesitates and then responds, "I... I don't know."

Dr. A, "Just like you are angry at them for not fixing your shoulder, they might be angry at you for bringing to them a problem that they were not able to solve."

Patient ponders over this statement and does not respond.

Dr. A, "Medicine is teamwork. You help them and they help you. You work as a team to solve a problem."

And the rest of the patient encounter went on in a more peaceful and calm manner. Dr. A did not fix her shoulder in this encounter, but she was certainly more satisfied. Wow!

Daily Wisdom - PM&R | Pain is like sexual assault

Working in a Rehab Medicine rotation (which I desperately tried to cancel) with a senior physiatrist who seeks every opportunity to impart wisdom to this young soul.

We are talking about pain management in rehab medicine and how it is so difficult to assess pain because of its subjective nature. He says, "pain is like being sexually assualted. I might just have just looked at you and you may feel uncomfortable and decide to complain against me whereas somebody else won't even consider it twice. That is how pain is. It is very difficult to get an estimate of how much pain your patient feels. Even if you don't believe them, you have to go by what they say."

Mind blown!

Cool Flight Attendant Connor

Flying South West Airlines for the first time was a memorable experience. For those who are not familiar with it, the airlines provides cheap fares with the option to reschedule and/or cancel your flight with no additional penalty, until 10 min prior to the departure of the flight. The only catch is that you do not have assigned seats and hence, you have to check in online as early as 24 hours before, to be able to board your flight earlier and find a seat to your liking. It wasn't a concern for me since I always check in online. I was placed  in boarding group A (woohoo!) and because I was flying from NYC to Chicago to Flint, MI on a weekday.

My flight to Flint had exactly 32 passengers on a Boeing 737-700 which means each of us had an entire row, all to ourselves, with no trouble storing our carry-ons whatsoever.

The highlight of my journey was the cool flight attendant Connor. He made sure our trip to a boring city, known only for its lead water contamination, was not as boring as it sounds. From mandatory safety announcement (which he did in less than a minute, I swear) to finally landing in Flint, his announcements were delightful. Some of them are as follows:

Taking off - "Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your seat belts on because we are now taking off. We don't want to be too excited about what the Captain has in store for us today."

Mid air - "We are now 10,000 feet above ground. Please keep your seat belts on. In a while, I will come and take your order for complimentary beverages. Until then, sit back and relax. Or sit up and stay tense - it is up to you"

And finally, on landing - "We have now arrived in Flint. After this we are going back to Chicago. So if any of you want to return with us, please stay seated. If not, please make sure you take all your belongings with you. If you leave something behind, make sure to check Ebay tomorrow."

Ending 2016

This post is long overdue. 2016 was a trademark year for me. Other than learning to enjoy NYC by myself, taking up my love for reading again, learning how to deal with people not very polite to you, I also learnt that kindness begets kindness. And sometimes there is no reason for kindness.

It is very normal for us to question the intentions of others when they are being nice to us. Am I on MTV Bakra? Do they want my money? What's the catch? But sometimes there is none. People are nice just because they like us (or not, for whatever weird reason, who knows!?) and truly want to help us (especially because they are able to).  From getting rides to work (and sometimes back home) to dealing with seniors who were really kind, encouraging and supportive, 2016 totally made up for all the drama I lived through during first half of the year.

New friendships, new relationship developments, new self-discoveries, new joys of life!

All in all I realized, no matter how hard you try, people stay in your life only if they want to. Friends (or family), no matter how awesome they are, get so busy in their lives (like have a child, find a new job, move to a different city), that you can't do anything to top their priority list again. Usually I would try hard and harder to keep in touch with them but why should I? At some point I have to focus on myself. Why can't I just enjoy my own company in a city as cool as NYC. I am blessed and I am grateful for it.