I asked where, they said, Gadchandur,
I stared, thinking, 'must be pretty दूर';
Cribbed all the way, cried and fought,
It was the last place, I expected to be brought;
Language, food, culture, everything was new,
Friends, movies, hanging-out, were bye-bye, I knew;
First few days were all a pain,
Kept wishing I could take the very next train;
One week went by, and then another,
Slowly things became less of a bother;
Scooty, बैल बंडी, sometimes the walk,
Learnt the world through hearing people talk;
The stories were crazy, sometimes insane,
Realized the world has so much pain;
Understood public health like never before,
Found my calling, never gonna run after that crore;
Laughed, joked, argued, sometimes shed tears,
With the women, men, children, and even the peers;
Field-work became the reason of my being,
Forgot the wheels of time.........whirring;
5 months, was it? Went by in a flash,
Just remember the first day, unpacking the stash;
A cluttered room, half-stuffed still-open bags,
Behind the brain, the heart still lags;
What to take, what to leave behind,
People, culture, smiles, and love, clogging my mind;
One more photograph clicked, another cup of tea,
Anything to keep the thought of tomorrow, away from me;
Gadchandur has become so much, a part of I,
It feels almost unnatural to say Goodbye;
But moving on in life is a must,
For what is life, but for newer adventures, an endless lust......
