The literal Hindi translation could actually imply 'My murder' as in a murder I committed or my own murder committed by someone else. I know gets to the point where I may have to be committed. Whatever that means.
But this is not really about anything drastic like that. Rather a satirical view of this annual ritual we wimps in the US have come to follow in the form of an annual check up at your friendly neighborhood doctor's office. First you get that appointment. Typically you want to shoot for an early morning chit chat since the blood suck has to happen after you have fasted for at least 12 hours since your last meal.
Last supper notwithstanding there is nothing holy about this experience. You have to drive on an empty decaffienated tummy to the docs office and expect some strange person who might or might not look like they just stepped off a boat from faraway lands stick needles in your arm. This while putting on a face that is ready to make small talk like weather forecasts and traffic nightmares. You don't want to upset the boat person when they are attempting to drain you of the vital fluid - aka blood.
The extraction begins after the extractor stares at both your arms to see which looks juicy enough to yield the Khoon quickly. Once they select the winner a rubber band is tied at the upper arm tight enough to make the donor section more juicy and eager to squirt.
Then comes the longish stainless steel that like an Anopheles at a buffet smoothly glides in to the artery and starts filling up the glass tubes at the rear end of the needle.
Several test tubes later they snap the rubber band off your arm and proclaim you are free to go.
Then you wait to see your khoon's quality assessment. Depending on how fragile or ailment ridden you are there can be multiple tests ordered on your juice and the results are made available within 24 hours. At least if you are a person on his last breath you have the pleasure of going online and looking at what you were made of.
Today's world is hyper connected. I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot. It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is. Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy. It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff? Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality. So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing? Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...
Is ek boond khoon ki keemat tum kya jano, boat mein se nikle hue prani...a variation of a famous recent dialogue.
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