Clinical visit

Touch wood! My association with clinics have been limited and rare. I am not the healthiest specimen on the face of earth but probably the laziest and a firm believer of time being the best healer. My better half being non-believer of the idiom, forced me to visit a clinic for a chronic issue that I had been carrying around for over 10 years. The issue was a harmless swelling behind the ankle that kept me company all these years without complaining of my foot odour or any other discomfort that I subject my lower extremities to. 

So off I went to the nearest clinic. This was a new one that I was venturing to as I had moved house recently and the old clinic did not move with me to this side of the town. This clinic, looking more like a five star hotel, was recommended by a well meaning friend. I walked into the cool confines of the entrance lobby and looked for the reception. Having located the reception in the bright cavernous lobby, I marched  purposefully  to the lady manning the counter. To a  not so welcoming look I said the greetings, which got reciprocated grudgingly and the eyebrows formed a interrogation sign. Paradoxical words " how can I help you" sounded from below the interrogation sign. The conversation went this way .

Me - I would like to see a GP, please.

She - We don't have GPs , we only have specialists. Which specialist would you like to meet?

Me - I am not sure, that's why I prefer meeting a GP who can then direct me to the right specialist.

She - what exactly is your problem?

Me  - I have a swelling behind my ankle 

She - Can I see ?

Me - Are you a doctor ?

By then she walked around the counter and said - I am not a doctor but I can decide which specialist you should go to.

I exposed my ankle and she let out some sympathetic noises, which sounded like the mother hen chiding young chicken, and said - let me refer you to Surgery.

As the word surgery cut into me, I stitched it with a response - I would still prefer a doctor to diagnose and refer me to anyone else. 

That response of mine questioned her years of experience sitting at the reception and handing out diagnoses and remedies to uninitiated souls like me. She certainly did not take it kindly and pronounced her final judgement.

She - I have seen this before also and the surgeon will have to operate on this and cut it out. The only way to treat this is to surgically remove it. 

Me - Thank you .

I rushed out of the clinic and i could hear her trying to reassure that it wasn't as bad as she made it out to be, but I was keen to break Usain Bolt's record. Once in the safer confines of my car and a kilometer from the clinic I wondered with such receptionist around what would the doctors role be?

Seeking refuge

Whose shores are these 

Water so cold

And sand so hard

My heart so still. 

No sand castles

Our castles destroyed

Not running barefoot in the sand

But running away from motherland. 

No laughter no cries of joy

No lazy sunny afternoons

This shore so quiet

As tears lap the shore. 

To the welcoming shore

They said we will go 

Unwanted , unloved and unknown 

We have been washed up the shores. 

Why is this shore not mine

Why did  I inherit a land with mines

Why is three year old a refugee

Was I born to wrong parents. 

I feel the cold water coming back

To caress my cheeks so white 

Is it sea water or tears of humanity 

Both so salty. 

Not an iota but IoT

I did not know that the term Internet of Things (IoT) was coined almost 15 years ago. It is only recently that I have seen IoT is being discussed and commonly referred to. I recollect reading about RFID tags around the same time as the coining of IoT took place. These tags were going to revolutionize inventory management and many other Retail and logistics processes. The rider was - RFID tags should cost less than a Nickel, only then would it be feasible to be used extensively. The reason I mention this is, because in my opinion, it is a precursor to IoT. For the 'Things' to communicate to each other some such 'intelligence' like an RF tag is necessary.

I relate to IoT as a sci-fi concept from much earlier times. Where every inanimate object that we surround ourselves with is able to communicate with each other and take 'appropriate' actions. In an ideal IoT scenario my bed is able to calculate the amount of sleep I have had, it is integrated with my calendar and knows how soon I should get up. I get woken up by the bed - singing, screaming or shaking determined by the choice of the day. As my feet slip into my slipper, my kettle comes on and the water temperature in the bathroom adjusts to the optimal temperature that I seek. The Possibilities are many and as we fantasize or visualize.

And perhaps scary. Am reminded of a comic I read more than 4 decades ago. The robots take over the world. The robot decides everything for you. No you can’t have that second bite of cheese cake; not another shot of single malt; time to hit the sac - lights out; and on and on. Do we need that big-brother? Perhaps selectively required. We could end up a healthy race and wouldn’t end up spending a lot of our time searching for keys that were kept in a 'very secure' place. 

An ideal IoT world will not just be flat but everything within arms distance. Does that make future generations less active? My grandfather was a healthy nonagenarian. My father in his mid-fifties could beat me, a 17 year old then, in a game of badminton. Their health was vouched by their physical life and habits. IoT through devices wearable and otherwise will remind me to get off my seat and walk, scream when my cuppa has more sugar or the dinner plate has more calories, prompt me to walk those extra steps to achieve my daily quota of 8000 steps.

50 Billion devices are expected to be connected to the IoT by 2020. Only another 5 years, most of us will be around and we will know whether it will be 50 or 500 Billion. From the intelligent fridge that will order replenishment to the medicine bottle which will not only order replenishment but also remind the user to have the medicine, the possibilities are enormous. 50 or 500 billion is just a number.

cattle class

Cheap travel 

The terminal 

An apology for its namesake

Number two it is.

 

The gleaming tiles

The flashy lights 

Closer look shows the cracks. 

The passengers too 

Like merchandise at outlet store

Discounted and cheap

Giving a 'I am not here' look 

No fancy branded

Luggage here

Just the anonymous black boxes. 

The duty free another

Country cousin

With cheaper brands and sparse shelves

Empty nest

Etchings on the door
Still tell how you shot up in inches
The door you went out
Waits to get you in.
Your door has the labels
Your name so well drawn
The door is open not closed - your habit
Your swivel chair so still
So inviting the soft leather
The table un characteristically neat
Now the phone and skype connects us
When you are less busy
My dad called you busy bee !

Waiting

The thick glass keeps me cool
As I look at the groaning birds
Some waltz around
Looking for a nest
Others look to fly away
The master voice keeps them engaged
Birds are big
Birds are small
Their tails different shades
They carry many tales
I look for mine
With a palm so green
I can see others too with the palms on tail
Yes birds of same feather flock together

Coloured world

You believed my say of  a 

Black and white world  'ere you

Colour came with you

Disbelieved when

you saw some summers.

I still say I didn't lie.

Your endless stories

made me part of  your life

Your silence kept me out.

you are wiser now.

You have stepped off the nest
my world is missing some colours now